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BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2013		Cordero failed as a closer in two different countries last year and looked overwhelmed by the task of adapting his repertoire to his lessened velocity. He ended the season with shoulder problems, so he may have been pitching in pain all season long. That will be the hope (along with hopes that he'll be fully recovered) of whatever team takes a chance on him as a free agent this year. As bad as he looked, he'll be lucky to get a major-league contract with incentives. While he has the mental makeup teams want in pressure situations, he has let left-handers on base at a .362 clip in his career, so expectations that he can be more than a role-player should be kept in check.
2012		To paraphrase Pierre Trudeau, the essential ingredient of free agency is timing; Cordero had it once, getting a four-year, $45 million deal after 2007. Unfortunately, that set him up for serial spurning during this winter's stopperpocalypse, when it seemed like half the closers in baseball were free agents and all of them were getting deals before Cordero did. That's in part because he's no longer the same pitcher, relying heavily on his slider and change to make up for flagging velocity mirrored in a strikeout rate that has plummeted to 15 percent, less than half what it was in his salad days in Milwaukee. If ever simple save totals were supposed to represent quality you'd put a price on, Cordero would have gotten serious money for his 327 career saves; as we go to press, he hasn't, reflecting the smarter industry he's struggling to survive in.
2011		Cordero’s SIERA rose for the third consecutive season, as further erosion in his skills left him dependent on a continued ability to suppress home runs on fly balls to maintain any semblance of value. The Dominican hasn’t lost any velocity since his heyday, but his plummeting strikeout rate has made him much more contact-oriented. Since that elevated contact rate hasn’t been accompanied by an increased incidence of ground balls, the current Cordero is more likely to get himself into trouble and less likely to get himself out of it. He is no longer what you would look for in a closer, but since he’s still being paid like one, he’ll continue to hold the job. The Reds are only on the hook for one more season, after which they’ll consider a $1 million buyout a bargain to rid themselves of a rapidly depreciating asset.
2010		It’s a shame that it was a buyer’s market for closers this past offseason, because the Reds should have been selling on Cordero. By ERA and save percentage, Cordero had one of his finest seasons in 2009, but he saw a sharp drop in his strikeout rate, was very lucky on home runs (he allowed just two as a minuscule 2.1 percent of his fly balls left the park), and his line-drive rate has been on a steady upward trend over the last few seasons. Add in that he’ll be 35 in May and is the second highest-paid Red in 2010 ($500,000 behind Aaron Harang) and under contract for another $12 million in 2011, and now is the time for the Reds to sell.
2009		While most of Cordero's peripherals have been pretty steady over the years, his walk rate has fluctuated, sometimes violently. The surprising thing is that these fluctuations have seldom signaled a substantial change in his performance level—few players have picked up more than two walks per nine innings from one season to the next with less tangible effect. Cordero is a functional closer, whose save conversion rate tends to be on the low side of acceptable. He may not fully reward Wayne Krivsky's decision to outbid the Brewers for his services prior to last season over the full course of his four-year contract (plus a 2012 club option), but Walt Jocketty can shrug it off as something that wasn't his call.
2008		Cordero had no trouble staying in the groove he found after arriving from Texas in 2006. He dominated hitters with his high-90s heat, posting career-best strikeout and walk rates; among NL closers only Takashi Saito had a better K/BB ratio, and among relievers with 60 or more innings pitched, only Juan Cruz and Carlos Marmol struck out more men per nine innings. Cordero expressed a desire to return, and the Brewers bid competitively, but he wound up taking a four-year, $46 million deal with the Reds. Those looking for sour grapes in small sample sizes can take heart: as a Brewer, Cordero put up a 1.08 ERA in Miller Park, 5.40 elsewhere.
2007		Don`t let the high ERA in Texas fool you; park effects, bad defense, and very strong peripherals argue it should have been about a run lower. After arriving in Milwaukee, Cordero stepped in as closer, allowed one run in his first 23 2/3 innings despite control problems, and was promptly rewarded after the season by having his option picked up for the low, low price of $5.4 million. That`s a bit on the steep side, but he`s been a reliable reliever for six years running, and he`ll keep Derrick Turnbow away from save situations. Ask a Brewer fan how much that`s worth in white-knuckle currency.
2006		Cordero battled a shoulder injury in spring training, but delivered on the first year of his two-year, $8 million contract. His ratios were almost an exact repeat of 2004-a remarkable feat for a reliever-with the only difference being a slightly higher home run rate. His contract has a clause that increases the value of his 2007 option year from $5 to $6 million if he`s still the team`s closer. Have we mentioned that modern bullpen management is archaic, arbitrary, and costs teams wins by misallocating talent and cash? Case in point: the extra million it`s likely to cost the Rangers.
2005		Very tough all year long, throwing gas by stunned batters unable to catch up with his high heat. Ran out of gas down the stretch and gave up a home run Sept. 29; this would normally be an unremarkable event, except it was the only homer he allowed all season. The Rangers signed Cordero and his ridiculous slider to a two-year, $8 million deal in July, avoiding arbitration. Between Cordero, K-Rod and the A's stable of young, power arms, AL West late innings should be a pitching clinic in '05.
2004		On the face of it, it seemed like a gross mismanagement of resources for the Rangers to spend $4.5 million on Proven CloserTM Ugueth Urbina when they had the 100-mph arm of Cordero ready to take over the role. But that ignores the inflated value attached to the Proven CloserTM throughout MLB front offices. When John Hart was able to convert Urbina into a top-notch package of prospects at mid-season, it turned out to be money well spent. Meanwhile, Cordero's still here, still cheap, and still throws 100 mph. The closer role looks to be his for real this time, but stranger things have happened.
2003		It took four months and a few amusing auditions (Hideki Irabu?), but the Rangers found themselves a closer. Recovered from the lower back stress fracture that cost him his 2001, Cordero finally made good on the promise he showed in the Tigers organization before coming over in the Juan Gonzalez trade. He found his command and boosted his K/BB ratio from a dismal 1:1 in 2000 to an outstanding 3:1 last year. He may not put up a 1.79 ERA again, but he should be the anchor the bullpen was missing in 2002, even if it’s not in the 9th inning role just yet—he’s lost his closer job for now with Ugueth Urbina’s signing.
2002		It was a lost season for Francisco Cordero, twice sidelined with stress fractures in his lower back. Despite the injuries, the Rangers believe that he will eventually assume a setup role and pump some of the gas that’s been missing in the bullpen. Cordero still has an option remaining, so he’ll likely open the season as a RedHawk so he can rebuild arm strength and hunt for his command, which has always been his bugaboo.
2001		Here's the next exhibit in the plundering of Motown. There’s actually a lot here not to like, despite the kind of velocity that you don’t see very often. Francisco Cordero throws hard, but like a lot of fireballers, he can’t always control that velocity within the strike zone. So he walks a few guys, patient hitters work the count on him, and he has to take a little off the fastball to throw a strike. The result can occasionally cause neck strain for Cordero and the fans. If he can improve his control just 10-15%, that could translate into great success as a closer. Of course, you could have said the same for thousands of ex-pitchers who never made the bigs at all.
2000		Cordero has been the Tigers’ closer-in-waiting since 1997, but a pair of stress fractures just above the elbow stalled his development. He finally had definitive surgery to correct the problem, then had a breakthrough year. For someone who has had his name in bold print for so long, he’s still very young, a full year younger than Matt Anderson. He throws nearly as hard, with more movement on his fastball, but unlike Anderson, he has already learned to adjust to failure. Included in the Gonzalez trade, he adds to the deep and nasty Texas pen.
1999		He was major-league closer material a year ago, but he kept hitting the DL with elbow problems and then was shelved for the season with a stress fracture in his shoulder. He’s still very young and quite capable of a very strong comeback this year, but minor league closers - especially in the low minors - are historically bad bets. And his arm has to heal in two places first.
1998		Cordero’s got good stuff and an extremely polished Rogenus Madduxia, or pitching gland as it’s known to us laymen. If he can stay healthy, he can be in the majors for a September callup this year. It’ll probably take him about a month to get used to the new level.

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PITCHf/x Pitcher Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC

Although he has not thrown an MLB pitch in 2024, Francisco Cordero threw 5,755 pitches that were tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2007 and 2012, including pitches thrown in . In 2012, he relied primarily on his Slider (86mph), Change (86mph), Fourseam Fastball (93mph) and Sinker (93mph), also mixing in a Curve (78mph).