You love them or not, baseball is all about Yankees. Article from sportingnews.com
Damn! It's the Yankees It's no fun picking the Yankees. When a team outspends its nearest competitor by some $70 million, or whatever the ungodly sum will be this season, that team not only should win the World Series, it also should inspire books, movies and songs.
These soulless Yankees mercenaries won't do that, unless some Hollywood type writes Enemies in the Infield, the story of third baseman Alex Rodriguez and shortstop Derek Jeter, or "The Balco Blues," some alternative band record with separate verses dedicated to Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield.
Heck, it's not even smart picking the Yankees, at least not lately. For four straight years now, Darth Steinbrenner has failed to win the Series -- quite a trick, considering The Boss has spent enough during that period to fund an invasion of South America. This season could end in a fifth straight disappointment -- half a decade of futility! -- given the strength of the Red Sox and Angels in the American League and the Cardinals and Giants in the N.L.
Who knows? Maybe the Twins finally will upset the Yankees in the first round or a team even more astonishing than the 2003 Marlins will win it all.
But then, you wouldn't predict any of that. The Yankees' trade for a certain 6-10 lefthander -- combined with signing free-agent righthanders Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright -- makes it smart to predict they will win the World Series. Commissioner Bud Selig will need to restrain himself when the Yankees win it all, presenting Steinbrenner with the Series trophy before handing him a luxury tax bill and shouting, "Pay up!"
Yes, I'm picking the Yankees. I don't love their outfield defense, especially with Bernie Williams, 36, back in center. I doubt that all three of their older starting pitchers -- Randy Johnson (41), Kevin Brown (40) and Mike Mussina (36) -- will stay healthy. The lineup also is old -- every regular will be 30-something after A-Rod reaches that age on July 27 -- and team chemistry is more uncertain than ever.
Questions, questions -- every team has 'em. The Yankees buy answers the way Wheel of Fortune contestants buy vowels. Yet, for all their star power, the reason I'm picking them might surprise you. It isn't Johnson, who could win 22 games if he stays healthy. It isn't the offense, which again should challenge the Red Sox's as the game's best. It isn't even the likelihood that the Yankees will address any holes that require attention before the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline.
Believe it or not, I'm picking the Yankees because of two pitchers who received free-agent contracts that many deemed excessive, two pitchers who must confront the ghosts of those who failed before them, from Ed Whitson to Kenny Rogers to Hideki Irabu, Jeff Weaver to Jose Contreras to Javier Vazquez.
I'm picking the Yankees because they've gone back to their late-1990s formula of winning with starting pitching.
I'm picking them because of Pavano and Wright.
General managers normally can't wait to talk up their offseason acquisitions. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman knows better; even A-Rod, one of the game's best all-around players, struggled after joining the Yankees. Thus, Cashman declines to gush over Pavano, who left the Marlins for a four-year contract worth just under $40 million, and Wright, who left the Braves for a three-year, $21 million deal.
"Making the adjustment to the New York scene has proven over the years to be rather difficult," Cashman says. "I'm not going to make the mistake of publicly saying, 'These guys can do it.' We're all just going to have to wait and see how it plays out."
Pavano and Wright, both righthanded, both 29, suffer from the same rap: Each has had only one healthy, effective season -- last season, when each was headed toward the free-agent market. Moving from the N.L. to the A.L., each now must face lineups in which the designated hitter bats for the pitcher. The relentless 1-to-9 bashing by the league's best offenses has drained many an A.L. starter.
Wright, like Johnson, has pitched in the A.L. before. Pavano has faced A.L. lineups in interleague and post-season play. But couple the change in leagues with the change in environments -- Pavano thrived in a low-intensity market with the Marlins, and Wright benefited from the expertise of Braves manager Bobby Cox and pitching coach Leo Mazzone -- and Cashman's reservations are well-founded.
Pavano and Wright, however, are different from many of the Yankees' notorious pitching flops. Both have conquered adversity, overcoming significant injuries. Both have succeeded under pressure, even producing impressive postseason performances against the Yankees. And, last but not least, both have embraced this challenge, choosing to pitch for the Yankees.
"With what we've been through, it takes a while to shed back the layers and get to the true layer," Pavano says.
There is also this: Pavano and Wright will benefit from Johnson carrying the burden of a No. 1 starter and Mussina being the presumptive No. 2. The two newcomers would fill those slots for most other teams. Pavano produced 23 quality starts last season, the same number as N.L. Cy Young winner Roger Clemens, and Wright finished with 22. Pavano ranked among the league's top seven in lowest walk rate and home run rate. Wright had the lowest home run rate in the N.L.
The question of whether they can pitch as well in New York won't be answered immediately; Vazquez made the All-Star team last season, then unraveled. But Pavano, a native of Southington, Conn., told his agent, Scott Shapiro, that if he chose another team over the Yankees, he probably would regret it for the rest of his life. Hardly the words of a coward.
Pavano's desire to seize the moment is understandable, considering he missed more than a year because of an elbow injury that required surgery in 2000. As his health slowly improved, so did his confidence. Pavano invites contact now instead of trying to avoid it. He also is a student of the game, much like Clemens and Curt Schilling, using phrases such as "repetition of delivery" and "control of the strike zone" when talking to reporters.
His training regimen, varied and intense, includes yoga.
Wright had a more auspicious start to his career, starting Game 7 of the 1997 World Series for the Indians at age 21. But he was derailed by shoulder surgery in 2000 and again in '01, and the threat to his career sobered him. Wright admits the Yankees wouldn't have been the best fit for him when he was younger and something of a party animal. His lifestyle now is more sedate. He got married last year, and his wife, Julie, recently gave birth to their first child.
"New York is a tough place, but I think he's grown up enough to where he can handle it," says Wright's father, Clyde, a former major league pitcher. "Going through two shoulder surgeries and not playing -- that's the toughest thing he's ever going to have to handle. He was thinking, 'Maybe I'm through.' "
In Atlanta, Mazzone taught Wright the virtue of throwing at less than 100 percent effort, and Wright used the advice to resurrect his career. He will need to remain mindful of not overthrowing in pressure situations. The Braves grew alarmed in Game 1 of last year's Division Series when Wright, pitching with a sore right foot, was throwing 97 mph in the first inning.
Pavano, too, needs to stay the course.
"You get put in a situation, and certain people will change," says Wayne Rosenthal, the Marlins' pitching coach for most of 2003 and '04. "Last year, he pitched his game. Even when he didn't have his best stuff, he still pitched. If he can do it without looking at the right field wall (in Yankee Stadium) against lefthanded hitters, let his defense take over again, he'll be fine."
Ask Whitson, ask Contreras, ask any past Yankee flop -- it's easier said than done. The difference with Pavano and Wright is that they developed a certain toughness while recovering from their injuries -- a toughness that Yankees manager Joe Torre believes will help them handle New York.
"You're dealing with your career and understanding that patience is a virtue," Torre says. "To me, the fact that they wanted to come here and that they're excited about being here -- and the things they had to fight through -- that's pretty good training for them."
To understand how the Yankees became the first team in major league history to lose a postseason series after leading three games to none, go back to their 19-8 triumph over the Red Sox in Game 3 of last year's ALCS.
Brown lasted only two innings in that game, taxing his bullpen on a night in which only mop-up work should have been required.
The Yankees never recovered.
Their bullpen appears deeper now, but the trick for the Yankees will be forming a quality bridge to their late-inning duo of righthanders Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera. Righthander Paul Quantrill and lefthander Mike Stanton are fading, and righthander Felix Rodriguez might not be consistent enough to gain Torre's trust. The upgrades in the rotation should help, however, enabling Torre to use the bullpen more sparingly. The Yankees ranked fifth in the A.L. in relief innings last season. Quantrill, Gordon and Rivera were third, fourth and tied for 12th in the A.L.
Injuries, of course, would alter the equation -- righthander Tanyon Sturtze will be the first option if one of the starters gets hurt, followed by Class AAA righty Chien-Ming Wang. But only a series of unfortunate events would put Torre in a similar position to the one he was in during Game 7 against the Red Sox, when he faced the no-win choice of using Brown or Vazquez.
Forced by luxury tax concerns to choose between the short-term benefit of Johnson or the long-term impact of center fielder Carlos Beltran, the Yankees went for Johnson. The Red Sox, too, kept their rotation strong, despite losing righthanders Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe as free agents. Once righties Curt Schilling and Wade Miller are healthy, the Sox will have six capable starters.
But the Yankees came within three outs of sweeping the Red Sox last October, and now New York has Johnson, plus Pavano, plus Wright.
The Angels, a formidable club, would need to add a top-of-the-rotation starter to reach the Series; their ace, righthander Bartolo Colon, would be the Yankees' No. 4 starter. The Twins, led by lefty Johan Santana, might be a more serious threat, especially if Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau emerge as dominant sluggers. But of the N.L. contenders, only the Cubs could pitch with the Yankees, and Chicago already is dealing with injuries. The Cardinals wilted against the Red Sox in last year's Series. The Giants, my pick to win the N.L. assuming Barry Bonds' knee problems don't linger, could give the Yankees trouble.
Damn Yankees. I hate picking 'em. I see no other choice.
Senior writer Ken Rosenthal covers baseball for Sporting News. Email him at kenrosenthal@sportingnews.com.
