Let me get this straight. Are people nuts? Since when Yankees become a small market team that trade away their star players before they are going to get their big contract? Trading Wang for Chone Figgins? Bring some good young positional prospects? There always are some positional players are available in the free agent market. Prospects are prospects. Before they show they are major league players, they are prospects. Yankees can get a lot of them through draft or amateur signing. Not to mention one thing: Yankees already committed to some long-term contracts to some positions. No matter where you want to put them, Yankees will have Jeter, A-Rod, Teixeira and Cano for 4 spots. Three more years are left for Posada and Swisher.
If my memory serve me right, Yankees not only just spent over 400 million dollars for winning it all but also still want to get Pettitte back to add depth to their rotation. A rotation consists of 5 pitchers. Not to mention we need at least 4 good starters to compete in this strong AL East division. No matter whether you believe Wang is an ACE or not, Yankees need Wang in the rotation. The Wang's first 4 seasons for Yankees in the AL East division, Wang proves he is front end starter. With the amount of efforts and hardwork Wang put up for Yankees, giving credit or respect Wang deserves I don't think it's asking a lot.
In the end, It's all about strikeouts which Wang will never have a lot to show for. Wang knows that. Wang knows people criticize his low strikeout rate. Yankees told Wang in arbitration hearing. Taiwanese media keep asking him to add more pitches in order to get more strikeouts. Wang always answers he only cares about winning ball games and championships. He will try to figure out more ways to get hitters out in order to win ball game. Getting more strikeouts is not something he concerns about.
This is similar to debate which player to choose when one of them can hit a lot of homeruns and the other can do everything else but hitting homeruns. Wang knows Yankees is one of teams giving him the best chance to win every year. If Wang stays healthy and Yankees don't need him anymore, I believe other teams will need him. I always tell my friends or myself who get fired one thing: Getting fired is not because you are not good enough, is because you are not suitable for that company. If that day comes, I still root for Yankees and no matter where Wang goes.
Don't get me wrong. I am not angry about this issue. I still believe most Yankees fans, players or officials appreciate what Wang has done for them and understand his value. I believe competition will bring the best out of people. Let record tell us who is the best one.
P.S. That's why I don't think Yankees need to trade any of their outfielders unless they are thinking about getting Manny. Competition can bring the best out of people. Yankees certainly can rotate them and rest someone once a week. If someone get injury, we have someone else to go to.
Updated:It's amazing for me to know the importance of strikeout to a pitcher by reading what Braves' reporter and fans' think the possibility of acquire Wang and Swisher from Yankees. But, again. Even Braves' reporter and fans recognize the value of Wang.
Updated: By the way, If Cashman didn't trade Wang for Santana, why do you think he will trade Wang for a do-everything guy or positional prospects? Not to mention Cashman put a lot of value on players prove they can play well in New York.
Updated: By the way, If Cashman didn't trade Wang for Santana, why do you think he will trade Wang for a do-everything guy or positional prospects? Not to mention Cashman put a lot of value on players prove they can play well in New York.
9 comments:
It looks like Burnett is being projected as the number two starter over Wang, despite every statistic (aside from strikeouts) pointing to Wang as the superior pitcher. I know groundouts don't get you on SportsCenter, but a strikeout still counts as one, yes, ONE out and a minimum of three pitches.
This is almost like the reverse of the Adam Dunn argument. Just as you can be an excellent hitter while striking out a lot, you can be an excellent pitcher without a lot of strikeouts. The bottom line is how many outs you get per run surrendered and Wang gets more than Burnett and most everybody else.
Maybe Wang can go to Scranton, too!
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When I wrote the post, I had a feeling about Adam Dunn's argument as well. This is pretty interesting.
That's why I don't get too upset about this because I know most Yankees fans know the value of Wang. It proves once again from what you said.
I went to your site which is cool one, Ironpigpen. However, I don't understand what the main focus of your blog. Are you guys Phillies fans? Do you write about minor league? What do you try to sell about Wang going to Scranton(Yankees' AAA team)?
Not "sell". I want to say "say" in that sentence.
One more quick note : it's a lot more unusual for a good pitcher to have a low strikeout rate than for a good hitter to have a high strikeout rate, but it's still not unheard of. Conversely, a high K/9 rate doesn't guarantee success :
Nomo : ~8.74 K/9 98 ERA+
Burnett : ~8.35 K/9 111 ERA+
Wang : ~4.01 K/9 117 ERA+
Lyons : 2.32 K/9 118 ERA+
The K/9 for Wang, Nomo, and Burnett are by my rough calculation, not official stats. The final comparison there is Ted Lyons, the White Sox Hall of Famer with 286 RSAA.
The way Wang pitches and acts just doesn't get people exciting. This probably makes people take him for granted and feel everyone can perform the way he put up.
I don't want to start reading the "lets go Braves Blog" and I won't! So lets hope Wang stays put. He is too valuable in this rotation. A model of consistency, and an outstanding citizen. I just wish he was a better athlete!
Don't worry. I will still be a Yankees fan and blog for Yankees even if Wang leaves Yankees in the future. I understand the difficulty for a players to stay at the same team for their whole career.
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