Yanks Sign Casey Fossum
Via wire services -
Former Texas A&M pitcher Casey Fossum signed a minor-league deal with the New York Yankees on Saturday, then was the starting pitcher in the team’s Triple-A club that afternoon.
The 31-year-old left-hander pitched 3 2/3 innings in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s 5-1 victory over Norfolk. Fossum allowed two hits, one run, striking out four and walking two.
The New York Mets designated Fossum for assignment Sunday after clearing waivers, but he elected for free agency.
Fossum opened the season with Triple-A Buffalo, making two starts. The Mets called him up on April 19. He didn’t have a decision in three games, pitching four innings with a 2.25 earned run average.
Fossum has pitched in 237 major league games, 120 of them as a starter. He has a career record of 40-53 with a 5.45 ERA.
When I think of Casey Fossum, I think of two things:
1. The sound of his name, “Casey Fossum,” rings in my head with the sound of Michael Kay’s annoying usage of the words “flotsam and jetsam.” Say it to yourself a few times…Casey Fossum, flotsam and jetsam……Casey Fossum, flotsam and jetsam……Casey Fossum, flotsam and jetsam…see?
2. The fact that the Arizona Diamondbacks were stupid enough to trade Curt Schilling for this guy and a bunch of other bushers. And, that the Yankees could not manage to better of the offer of Fossum, Michael Goss, Brandon Lyon and Jorge de la Rosa for Curt Schilling.
Re: #2
Wait…wasn’t the asking price for the Yankees something like Soriano, N. Johnson +? That’s a lot more than the Sox had to give up. I was under the impression that the Arizona owner disliked Steinbrenner and had no intention of trading him Schilling unless he could basically bleed the Yankees dry.
bfriley76 wrote:
Yankee fans always spin it that way BUT the Yankees supposedly prefered Vazquez over Schilling as well.There was supposedly bad blood over the David Wells deal, where Wells shook Colangelo’s hand on a deal to pitch for Arizona. It’s also ironic that Soriano and Johnson were traded that year just the same. Imagine, if Schill came to the Yanks like he wanted to? The curse wouldn’t have likely been reversed in 2004……
Casey Fossum = LH Brett Tomko.
They both pretty much stink, which is not to say that:
1) They will still be touted as cure-alls for the Yankees pitching staff, because you gotta have a long man in the pen, even if he stinks. You just gotta.
2) Either one could actually come up and pitch decently for the Yanks, because this is still real baseball, and not a video game, and strange, unexpected stuff happens.
Which one could pitch well? Neither, I think.
But it’s possible, if the Yanks get lucky.
I doubt we see Fossum. He was signed bc AAA only had three starters due to injury.
when i think of casey fossum i think of lots of runs coming in with us facing tampa.
the yankees couldn’t better the offer because the diamondbacks would not allow it. they were charging some sort of tax on the yankees that the red sox did not have to pay. if i recall correctly (and i just looked up a few articles from that time), the diamondbacks were demanding soriano AND nick johnson for schilling and junior spivey. nobody in their right mind is doing that deal when you consider age, contract etc. for some reason, the red sox were allowed to get him for a lot less.
for some reason, the red sox were allowed to get him for a lot less.
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Because the Red Sox were dealing from a position of strength.
Buffalo’s the Mets AAA club now? There has been a lot of affiliate shuffling as of late. They were the Indians AAA club for a while, and the Pirates’ club for a while too.
Raf wrote:
I disagree about the position of strength.The Red Sox Owner is perhaps better liked by Bud, witness the whole Marlins/Expos ownership deal that went on. And the Red Sox prospects were hardly the cat’s meow comparative to what the Diamondbacks wanted from the Yankees. Colangelo wanted to extract more from the Yankees because of the Wells debacle. And why would he help out the then Evil Empire, so they could start winning World Series again?
And the Red Sox prospects were hardly the cat’s meow comparative to what the Diamondbacks wanted from the Yankees.
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Which speaks to the point that the Sox were dealing from a position of strength. They had the leverage.