Contreras departure is tough to watch, but worthwhile
While Monday marked a sad day for Jose Contreras, the once dominant right-handed forkballer that led the Sox to pay-dirt in 2005, it was not a day for South Siders to hang their heads low.
As Contreras searches every square inch of AAA Charlotte for his release point over the next few weeks, our big league squad is going to be blessed with the opportunity of seeing Clayton Richard at work.
Richard is not off to an All-Star start by any means and his 4.32 ERA is certainly not going to turn any heads. However, if you look back at what this kid did in last year’s postseason, as well as the potential that he has, this was absolutely the right move by Ozzie, who has already called Richard “the future” of the Sox.
In last year’s ALDS, Richard pitched a total of 6.1 innings as a rookie and surrendered only one earned run to the Tampa Bay Rays, who were flat out laying a hurt on the ball at the time. And what’s more impressive is that Richard looked good doing it.
He didn’t have the running scared look of a rookie hurling his first postseason innings. He stood and delivered and gave, at least in my eyes, one of the most memorable performances of the season.
Besides the fact that Richard hasn’t allowed a run it his last three appearences and seems deserving of a chance to start, it’s gotten downright difficult to watch Jose struggle the way he has.
Our one-time ace and our one-time winner of 17 games in a row has started this year 0-5 with an ERA over eight. I know there are those out there who say that we need to just let him work through it and get back on top of his game, but he is just too much of a liability right now. And besides, at 37 years old, he doesn’t really look poised for a grand comeback.
He found success in 2005 when he changed his delivery, but with everyone hip to that game and his forkball not moving, it might just be time to move on.
Because of his experience, Jose could still make a great righty to have down in the bullpen, but for now it doesn’t make sense to try to revive something that has been dead for 2 1/2 years.
Let’s move forward and give a guy like Richard a shot to become a young, reliable, quality starter.
I know it’s tough to put down an old dog like Jose, but there is no use letting young talent go stir-crazy in the bullpen as we wait for signs of life from the big Cuban.
Don’t worry. Jose Contreras is in a better place now.
United we stand… Against the Yankees
the baseball world seems to be able to agree on one thing – it hates
the Yankees.
be the exceptions to that rule, which can be found in that guy whose
defense is, “No dude, I’ve always loved the Yankees!”
common type of Yankee-sympathizer was that guy in your high school who
rotated his Derek Jeter T-shirt in with his New England Patriots hoodie
and Kobe jersey.
disdain for the Yanks is now, more than ever, great enough to award
them the first-ever “D.J. Piehowski Most Hated Team in Sports Award.”
considering the candidates for this award, it was important to remember
to put personal rivalries and biases aside and really look into what it
is that makes the Yankees put that bad taste in the mouth of everyone
in America.
a time where the word “economy” is used roughly every five to six
seconds, the Yankees went out and made off-season moves this winter
that turned the heads of baseball fans all across the country.
signing stud veteran CC Sabathia to a seven-year contract worth $161
million, and free agent slugger Mark Teixeira to a $180 million deal
over eight years, the Bronx Bombers have mounted a total payroll of
$201,449,289 for 2009. That major-league leading number is nearly $66
million higher than the second-place Mets and nearly $165 million
higher than the last place Florida Marlins.
further put things in perspective, if the Marlins started signing
players and paying them the Yankees’ average salary, they would only be
able to afford a four-man team.
these types of caution-be-damned moves, there is no way everyone in
baseball and the better part of the universe, will not be cheering
against the Yankees this year.
in America’s hatred for this team lies in the fact that, unlike years
past, the Yankees seem to have put the pieces in place to make a
legitimate championship run in 2009.
put up one of the most dominant pitching stretches in major league
history last year with the Brewers and Teixeira has already been a star
with a number of teams. Now add into the mix A.J. Burnett, who flirted
with a no-hitter Tuesday night, and the immensely-hyped prospect Joba
Chamberlain, as well as a supporting cast that features solid
contributors such as Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and arguably the best
player in baseball – Alex Rodriguez.
of the above-mentioned reasons feeding the world’s hate for the
Yankees, I think there is actually some good that could come out of the
construction of this baseball superpower. Baseball fans everywhere can
join together in their pinstripe-fueled loathing.
the AL East is so stacked with good teams, the Yankees may not be the
runaway favorite, but they are, perhaps more importantly, the team we
absolutely cannot let win.
2008′s story of the year was the Tampa Bay Rays and its unlikely ascent
to the World Series. But now, with the Yankees literally trying to buy
the pennant, every team becomes the Rays.
time a team steps into the new Yankee Stadium (a brand new ballpark
that cost about $1.5 billion, no big deal) they become the underdogs. I
mean, how can a team whose payroll is hundreds of millions of dollars
less than the other seriously compete?
about the fact that the Yankees seem to try these big-name signings
every year, but haven’t won a World Series since 2000. And forget about
the fact that Alex Rodriguez prefers to phone-in the playoffs.
the target the Yankees have placed on their own backs, it doesn’t
matter who it is that takes them down, we can all take pleasure in
watching them fall.
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