November 3, 2009, at 9:01 pm
Five Years, 85 million.
That’s likely what it would cost to make sure that what’s happening to the Yankees right now won’t happen again anytime in the near future. That’s what it would cost to have stop Tim Mccarver stop making reference to pitcher’s from his era (before the dinosaurs, by the way) pitching on two days rest. That’s what would make sure that the name Chad Gaudin is never said in the same sentenced as “starting game 5 of the World Series” ever, ever again.
That’s what it will likely cost for the Yankees to get John Lackey.
I’ve never been a real big fan of signing free agent pitchers. Generally, they cost far too much, and almost never perform up to the standard that they set before they became multi-millionaires. Just bring up the name Barry Zito in front of a San Francisco Giants fan and pass out the entire cast of Fast Forward.
As much as that thought makes me squirm in my chair, I can’t take this “three days rest” thing anymore. I don’t want to hear about C.C. Sabathia doing it, it’s clear that the dude is a freak. He’s just a huge horse of a man that can take the ball every other day and dominate one of the league’s best lineups while barely breaking a sweat.
What no one has mentioned about that this whole pitching on short rest thing is that pitchers are a grand total of 19-34 in the division playoff era on three days rest. They haven’t told you that only the Minnesota Twins of 1991 have won a World Series recently by pushing up their entire staff. They didn’t tell you that starting A.J. Burnett on short rest was a TERRIBLE idea.
The truth of the situation is that it wasn’t the fact that his stuff wasn’t crisp that screwed A.J. It was the fact that the mix in his schedule screwed with his frequently discussed head. He still threw gas, but just couldn’t locate his curveball for anything. That was mental more than physical.
Even better, let’s put his personal catcher in that sabotages the end of the team’s batting lineup?
How many different ways did the Yanks want to screw themselves in this game?
I’m not one to just complain and not offer a solution, so let’s think about how we can keep this craziness from happening in the future. The first would be to finally stretch out Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes and just leave them the hell alone. No more of this situational pitching or putting them in the bullpen because there’s a hole. They are starting pitchers. That is the most important position in the game and that’s where they belong. With a full season to gauge their progress (which will be far superior if Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi let them be) the team can just let them go in the playoffs.
But, there is another way. The team can take a grizzled, veteran pitcher who wants the ball every time the manager is willing to give it to them. A guy who has a winning pedigree and a career 3.12 ERA in the postseason. A guy who screamed at his manager for taking him out in a tight game because all he wanted was to pitch out of the jam he got into.
All it would take is a commitment of five years and about 85 million bucks.
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