Jan 6th 2009 4:04PM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
The Arizona Diamondbacks are showing a bit of interest in right-handed reliever Chad Cordero. According to Nick Piecoro of , the ‘Backs will watch Cordero throw sometime this week and may decide to sign him to a cheap deal. He’s coming off surgery for a torn labrum — which he had July 8 — so conventional wisdom states that he won’t likely be effective until sometime in the middle of the season.

Considering the Diamondbacks have a stable of guys who can close, but none who really stands out as a top-of-the-line closer, I think this would be a great gamble. They likely won’t have to pony up much of an offer at this point, and can do so in the form of a one-year contract.

If Cordero returns to form by August, they will have a very solid closer. He put together a truly dominant season in 2005 as a 23 year-old, accruing 47 saves with a 1.82 ERA and 0.97 WHIP. In the following two seasons he was good, but not great. Still, he saved 66 games in two years for a terrible Nationals team, compiling ERAs in the low 3s each time.

At age 27, his career is far from over. Again, this has the potential to be a significant bargain.