Losing Beckett

Two days ago, I wished that the Yankees had made a run for Josh Beckett. And, immediately after the Red Sox traded for him, I thought: “Boston has experience dealing with a stellar, but brittle, and emotional young pitcher. This, getting Beckett, might pay off for them like getting Pedro around the same age.”

But, then, I decided to look deeper into the numbers, to see just what Beckett has done to date. Thanks to the Sabermetric Baseball Encyclopedia this is what I found:

So, Beckett’s not Pedro at the same stage – in terms of accomplishments to date. Heck, he’s not even Mark Prior. Basically, he’s Jake Peavy – and, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, I wish the Yankees could have a Jake Peavy-type talent right now. But, it’s not like there’s some evidence to say that Beckett can do what Pedro did for the Red Sox from 1998 through 2004.