Signed to a 3Y/$25M contract during the 2006 offseason. The reaction to his signing ranged from horror (for giving an old, mediocre pitcher 3 years at that price) to apathy (for giving a consistently average pitcher an average free agent contract).
Miguel Batista prior to 2007 was a groundball heavy pitcher who threw more balls and less strikes (despite having good velocity) than the league average. He posted mediocre strikeout to walk rates, but did a good job limiting homeruns and thus kept his FIP numbers around league average.
In 2007, Miguel Batista has upped his strikeout rate slightly while dramatically cutting his walk rate by more than half. However, his HR rate has doubled due in part to a 10% drop in his GB rate.
In 2008, Miguel showed fans that he is a masochist who gets his rocks off by pitching (poorly) while injured.
Miguel writes mystery novels in his free time, and plays a mean flute. An anagram of his name is: I am beluga tits.
