Mike Mussina 2009
Posted by Steve L. on November 1st, 2008 · Comments (10)
While he’s coming off a wonderful 2008 season, over the last 6 years, Mike Mussina has been about league average in three seasons and well above league average in the other three. And, two of those three above average years have come during his contract “walk” season. [Wink, wink. Nod, nod.] By the way, he’ll be 40 in 2009.
While Moose has hinted towards retirement, if he decides against it, the Yankees should let him walk.
The phrase is “wink wink, nudge nudge”.
That’s what I get for writing this late last night and setting it as a chron-job to post this AM.
I was probably thinking of the old ‘All in the Family’ line of “A wink is as good as a nod, to a blind man.”
Let Moose walk. The Yankees do not have a responsibility to see players out into the sunset. This is where I think Theo is vastly superior to Cash. He seems far more willing to cut ties with a player, not matter the sentimentality. Unless there is no one else out there, I expect him to show Tek the door as well.
Depends on Mussina’s demands. If he’s expecting 3 years, let him walk. Otherwise, I’d keep him for a year or two.
I think you are right, newguy, that Theo is superior in this respect. He wouldn’t have given Mo or Posada what Cashman did (or give Jeter what he’ll get for his post-age 35 seasons). But if Tek can be gotten on a two year deal, I think Theo would be happy with that.
i don’t think we have to bring mussina back, but if we did, it would be a positive thing. steve said it best, talking about being average or above average in the last 6 seasons. consistency. reliability. two things i think we as fans greatly undervalue in our rotation. no, mussina may not be a home run, but he won’t be a a strikeout either. 180+ innings, era+ of 100 or better is a reasonable expectation. this is a double. if you hit enough doubles in the rotation, you are going to be okay. if you don’t, you end up running darrell rasner and sidney ponson out there for a million starts (nothing against those guys, but they are what they are).
If Moose wants another year, I’d give him another year. Beyond that, not so much.
If Moose can post an ERA+ of 100, he is much better then the average #5. Since Joba and Phil will be on IP limits, even with an FA signing, we could still use Moose.
If Moose resigns it will be for one reason only… to win 300, or get as close as possible. To someone with plenty of money, I would think this would be better motivation then a contract year offers. Plus, he probably wouldn’t mind if he got a ring somewhere in the process.
With the Yankees, Mosse has posted an ERA+ somewhere in the 115 range, 123 Wins in 8 years.
Yeah, the Mariano deal is working out terrible so far, isn’t it?
Let’s see what they do with Varitek before we start hearing about what Theo would or wouldn’t do- he did bring back Lowell last year after all, which was not an indefensible move but it seems that he is aging fairly rapidly.
Steve, would you let the contract year crap go already? So much for that respect Mussina earned from you after you read “Living in the Black.” Personally, I don’t have a problem with bringing him back for more year as long as we realize he won’t repeat 2008′s results.
Yeah, the Mariano deal is working out terrible so far, isn’t it?
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And do you believe without a doubt that Mariano will complete his contract without any drop-off or injury? The fact is you were going to keep him. Him being good in 2008 wasn’t a long-shot, it was a pretty good bet. The question is whether he’ll be useful at 15 million a year in 2010.
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Let’s see what they do with Varitek before we start hearing about what Theo would or wouldn’t do- he did bring back Lowell last year after all, which was not an indefensible move but it seems that he is aging fairly rapidly.
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Uh, I think that its foolish to wait until Varitek signs or doesn’t sign to speculate about what Theo would like to do. That’s the whole point. Its obvious he doesn’t want to give anything close to a four year deal, as Posada got. He wants to move toward Varitek’s replacement, keeping him if a reasonable deal can be had, and making the best deal possible to replace him if a reasonable deal can’t be had, or some other team does something stupid.
Lowell was obviously not indefensible, he got him for less annual salary and fewer years than Philly was offering. And there’s no no-trade clause so if he has to be jettisoned because they get Teixeira, he can be.