“You can have too much pitching.”YANKEE MANAGER
JOE TORRE
TAMPA – Now back to the controversy we all came here for.
It is just like that team player Derek Jeter and that crafty owner George Steinbrenner to come up with this brilliant distraction tactic of ripping each other so folks don’t ask the question of the ages – can you actually have too much pitching?
After all, seven brides might work for seven brothers, but seven starters for five rotation spots simply does not sync with the old math, new math or the metric system.
“You can have too much pitching,” Yankee manager Joe Torre conceded. “It’s nice to have guys in the bullpen who can start. But they are human, and to get them to accept that when they think they can be starters elsewhere takes a lot.”
All seven starters right now are playing nice, offering team-first testimonials. But the seven will cost the Yankees $55,147,189 toward the luxury tax, a total that reflects both their status and expectations. What they say in mid-February is not as relevant as how they will really feel as April nears. Torre has always had the good sense to patiently allow injury, trade or performance to make a decision before he must.
And you do have the age of Roger Clemens and David Wells, the physical frailty of Sterling Hitchcock and Andy Pettitte, and the uncertainty of Jose Contreras and – to some degree – Jeff Weaver. Only Mike Mussina has limited red flags. Still, you wonder what happens if pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre gets his wish: “The best scenario is they are all ready to go, all healthy and all doing well and we have a very, very tough decision.”
Some of that decision seems set. Clemens, Mussina, Pettitte and Wells are in. That leaves the No. 5 battle to Contreras vs. Weaver. If you are asking what about Hitchcock, you really haven’t been paying attention of late. Hitchcock is more tribute to everything wrong with the recent Yankees – Steinbrenner’s meddling combined with fiscal overkill – than a real contender for an injury-free rotation.
He was signed to a two-year, $12 million contract – about $6 million more than imagined – because Steinbrenner wanted something done when he was annoyed at the slow progress of the Jason Giambi negotiations. Then Steinbrenner instantly made Hitchcock a No. 6 starter by signing David Wells against his baseball officials’ wishes. This offseason, Hitchcock dropped to No. 7 with the retention of Clemens and the luring of Contreras.
On Thursday, the first day of workouts, Hitchcock was not grouped with the other starters, but rather relegated to work with Juan Acevedo, Chris Hammond and Antonio Osuna. Stottlemyre said it was done this way because Hitchcock was the only one who was going to throw a second straight day yesterday. But by yesterday, both Stottlemyre and Torre had talked with Hitchcock to reassure him he is part of the battle. Hitchcock said, “I’m not concerned what group I’m in.”
For now, that might be true, that Hitchcock and all the veteran starters are focusing on just getting ready. But Torre and Stottlemyre already are admitting they will have to do planning gymnastics to get all seven starters the proper work.
The Yankee situation sure beats trying to figure out who your fourth and fifth starters are. But in 2003, with Steinbrenner-induced anxiety again as palpable as the vast talent, the Yankees actually have created a problem of having too much pitching. And we haven’t even mentioned Jon Lieber yet.