Game 95, Mariners at Yankees
DMZ · July 19, 2006 at 9:16 am · Filed Under Game Threads
10:05 AM here, and no TV (long rant about MLB’s stupidity w/r/t broadcast rights here). As a result, I’ll probably end up watching to see if Zach Duke can continue his resurgence, if Zito can whup the Orioles, or… well, probably not the Nationals-Marlins game.
Meche v Raaaaaaaaaaandy Johnson. Yup.
Interestingly, Jones stays in the lineup:
RF-L Ichiro
3B-R Beltre
2B-R Lopez
LF-L Ibanez
1B-R Sexson
DH-R Perez (!)
SS-R Betancourt
C-R Rivera
CF-R Jones
Tonight’s Yankees lineup only has four guys who suck: their 6-9 hitters are Phillips/Cabrera/Guiel/Green.
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Putz, Soriano, Lowe . . . three awesome relievers. —Except two of them should be starters next year. I’m with Dave on trying Lowe in that roll, and I’ve been hoping so see Rafe back in the rotation after he pitches this year out of the pen to get his arm back in the game.
This offseason, barring a total meltdown in August Meche is going to get a deal pretty much like what Washburn got, same dollar range, except probably 3-and-an-option due to the injury history. That’s what the present market is for the kind of season he’s having. Washburn blew some air into the mix and baked a nice ‘number souffle’ after a couple of season’s not much better than Gil’s ’04 and ’05. And Meche knows that this is his cash in season.
I’m totally unenthusiastic on Meche being re-signed; I’d far rather replace him with Soriano or Lowe. Getting a #1 pick if and when Gil walks in the off-season would be acceptable, but in principle I’d rather they trade him, ’cause they could get something of real value if they moved him about now. Except the recent dunderheaded trades by the Ms FO, and their soggy track record in the last few years suggests that they’re more likely to bungle a trade then a draft pick. As long as he isn’t this offseason’s Washburn-signing, I guess I’ll have to settle for that.
For some reason I’m not sold on moving Soriano to the Rotation. I’d say give Lowe a chance though, since he’s more a starter than reliever. And they’ll need at least another guy in the rotation.
I’m too sold on Soriano/Putz in the late innings.
This offseason, barring a total meltdown in August Meche is going to get a deal pretty much like what Washburn got, same dollar range, except probably 3-and-an-option due to the injury history. That’s what the present market is for the kind of season he’s having. Washburn blew some air into the mix and baked a nice ‘number souffle’ after a couple of season’s not much better than Gil’s ‘04 and ‘05. And Meche knows that this is his cash in season.
I don’t buy it. Washburn had two sub-4 ERA seasons and an 18 win season, plus a shiny ring so he could play the “veteran leader on a championship team” card. Meche will probably have one sub-4 ERA season and something like two 15-17 win seasons- plus Washburn didn’t have TWO minor league demotions in consecutive years. It seems that starters on FA contracts largely get paid for past performance- buyt Washburn had more “past performance” to point to.
To me, the comp is Jaret Wright, who cashed in HIS walk year after some success, injuries and sucktasticness- but only got 3/21 because George overpays everyone. I also don’t see how Meche gets an average of 9 million per when guys like Byrd and Loaiza didn’t. Also keep in mind Smoltz and others may suck out some of the high-paying oxygen. Remember- only so many teams are going to be shelling out deals…and some of them (the smart teams) will likely notice how Burnett/Millwood/Loaiza/Washburn/Weaver/Clement/Pavano/Vazquez/Garcia/Mulder/Hudson are going to collectively cash about 80 million+ in paychecks without ANY of them getting Cy Young votes, as opposed to the kids in Detroit, Minnesota and Oakland.
I also think the peripherals (assuming he keeps on keeping on) might favor Meche on being a decent 3-4 guy for 3 years and 15-20 million- I really think this is a case of a guy learning his trade in his late 20’s and due for a 3-4 year stretch of being a decent starter, barring injury.
The problem I have with a strategy of depending on youth is that the rotation’s already down one with Joel Piñat-I mean, Piñeiro, being gone. Moyer’s not a lock to come back OR stay effective. Realistically, you’d WANT a competition for kids starting, as opposed to a coronation (unless it’s The King). So you HAVE to sign someone, or make trades, because I don’t think we can expect to win with THREE inexperienced starters (Lowe, Soriano and ??) behind King Felix and Washburn- and ideally, I’d rather it was signing two starters with the money Eddie and Piñeiro represent, and Lowe and Soriano duking it out for #5 come spring training.
In light of that, and the options being older (Smoltz, Schmidt) or questionable (Zito, Mulder)… a 27 year old who might be putting it together like Meche might be the best answer.
Although our record has not shown it the last few games, we have played pretty well. We were robbed of a win by a bad call and went into extra innings three times against winning teams. I am not discouraged.