It is always fun to look back at bidding wars and with the
assistance of hindsight laugh at one team and applaud another.
When it came to going after Jose Contreras the Red Sox had
the inside track and then lost it. The Sox found him pitching lights out, and
no one had heard of him. The Yankees came away with him, and overall, for the
Yanks, he was a bust.
Winner = Red Sox
When it came to going after Carl Pavano the Red Sox had the
inside track again and seemingly lost it again. The Yankees came away with him,
and overwhelmingly, he has been a bust. Here are all the numbers you need to
know: 4 years, $39.95 million for 19 starts, in which he was only a skant 5-7.
He has elected for Tommy John surgery which should effectively end his stint
with the Yankees. Do the math: that is basically $8 million per win and about
$2 million per start. Talk about robbing a team outright. This is worse than
Mark Blount playing big in the second half of his contract year and getting a
truckload of cash from the C’s, only to basically sit back and cash his checks.
Winner = obviously
the Red Sox
It was a dream reunion: Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson,
back together again, this time in Beantown. Johnson didn’t want any of it,
chose to go to New York and we all know how that ended.
Winner = anyone
except New York
Talk about another dream reunion: The Rocket could have
landed in Boston again, this time, come back at his own pace, hold off, and be
a work horse for us come September. The Boston Faithful signed online
petitions, created movies to lure him here, and in the end he chose the
Yankees, again. He had a chance to cement his legacy in Boston, to make good on
leaving for Toronto (remember, it wasn’t the money…riiiiight), and help us win
another World Series. But he didn’t, and signed with the one team that makes him
dead to us. The Yankees are in need of a plugger, someone to stop the dam from
over flowing, and they see their savior as Clemens. They are hurt all over the
place and are rushing him back, pushing him to start this coming week. He’s
looked less than average in his rehab starts, and will look even worse once he
plays against real major league hitters. He needs more time but the Yankees
need him more. We’ll see who hurts more after this.
Winner = yet to be determined, but do you see the pattern?
These are only pitchers too. At one point there was talk the
Sox would wind up with Jason Giambi, and many Fenway Faithful thought Johnny
Damon would remain a Dirt Dog for the rest of his career. Alas, neither did,
both shaved their beards and goatees off and swear they made the right
decision. For some reason, I’m not entirely sure I believe that.
The burning question that is in everyone’s minds is: are the
pressures in New York (not just the city, the clubhouse) killing hugely
overpriced players? Could Pavano have been a #2 for the Sox? Could Contreras
been the lights out pitcher we scouted first and found before Steinsbaby swept
in and snagged him? We’ll never know, but if past circumstances tell us
anything, I wouldn’t bet against the Sox.
Comments