I try not to focus on the New York metropolitan area too much in my blog. There are already too many reporters and analysts of all types who clog the N.Y. media with ridiculously opinionated stories and worthless bias. While my favorite team is the Mets, the media surrounding them tends to get on my nerves, and thus I try not to shove news about them, or the other New York team down your throat. But seeing as how it's been a little slow around the baseball hot stove recently, and there are two good stories coming out of that area, we shall dedicate this blog to The Big Apple.
The first bit of excitement you probably already heard about, and it's regarding the retirement of one of the best clutch pitchers of this generation. I speak, of course, of Andy Pettitte, and his wonderful 16-year career that came to a close on Thursday. Pettitte finishes his career having pitched 13 years with the New York Yankees, and 3 years with the Houston Astros. He retires with a 240-138 record, which is a staggering .635 winning percentage, and ranks 43rd on the all-time list. While he won 20 games or more just twice, he never had a losing season, and posted a very respectable 3.88 career ERA for his efforts. He also struck out a very hardy 2251 batters over his 16 years. Health and stamina were also a key ingredient to Andy's game as he pitched over 200 innings 10 times, and concluded his time in the league with 3055.1 total innings. But a proper analyst of the man cannot be done until we talk about the postseason.
As writer Ben Nicholson-Smith puts it, "he has 19 wins and a 3.83 ERA in the playoffs", and "is the all-time winningest pitcher in postseason history, ranks first all-time in postseason starts and innings pitched and is tied for second with 173 strikeouts." Wow! Granted, these numbers are due to the fact that the teams he played for only missed the playoffs 3 times in his 16 years, but Pettitte was a major factor in getting those teams there in the first place. If you combine Andy's regular season stamina with his postseason clutch-pitching mastery, you have to rank Andy as one of the best pitchers in the last 25 years. I certainly consider Pettitte a Hall of Famer. However, I don't think he's a lock, simply because I haven't heard that being tossed around. And in baseball, if you don't hear about something, it's usually because there is some doubt surrounding the subject.
Until very recently, the New York Yankees were still hopeful that the 38-year old lefty would come back to the Bronx for one more illustrious year, but apparently the dedicated family man chose to hang up his cleats despite millions that would have come his way for playing in 2011. This is a blow to the Yankees in two ways. First, it leaves the club without a winning, veteran lefty presence in the rotation. That can be fixed with a trade, though. Second, it shows that although the Yankees have a seemingly endless bank account, the franchise no longer has the gravitational force of a black hole when trying to bring in players.
Since they missed out on bringing Cliff Lee in, and Andy Pettitte back, Yankee fans have voices some frustration with the front-office for not reeling in the high-priced talent. And Yankee fans are used to getting the biggest players on the board. To be fair though, the Yankees are still in a very good position to win, make the playoffs and run for the World Series. After all, GM Brian Cashman doesn't simply make a team in winter and sit back. There are lots of moves to be made still
So regardless of what happens to the 2011 N.Y. Yankees, congratulations are in order for Mr. Andy Pettitte on a wonderful career. On a personal note, Pettitte was one of the only Yankee players I would have liked having on the Mets. And speaking of the Mets, let us turn some attention to a little story that's brewing in Queens. For starters, there is some financial drama unfolding for the Metropolitans as owners Wilpon are still stumbling from monetary losses due to the Bernie Madoff scandal. As an excellent October 2009 NBC Sports article put it, "in financial terms the Wilpons could have suffered a huge loss in terms of forgone, legitimate gains, and they may have been making financial decisions based on a radically different position than the one in which they actually found themselves to be once the fraud was discovered."
Regardless of the actually amount the Wilpons lost or never gained, finances have been a huge topic of conversation for the organization for a couple of years now. Not only did the owners of the team get fleeced by a scam artist, which is never good publicity, but the team is also drowning in bad contracts. This issue will be somewhat remedied with time as the pricey contracts of Carlos Beltran, Oliver Perez, and Francisco Rodriguez are all coming off the books after 2011. But there is more at stake here than just money issues.
The image of the Mets franchise since 2007 has been a blundering mess. After the Mets loss the 2006 NLCS with Beltran's bat on his shoulder, the team never again played up to par. Even though the owners continually threw money at the situation, lackluster management, combined with sloppy play, and continuous injuries plagued the team as they moved from Shea Stadium to Citi Field. There have been a few moments of joy, but for the most part, David Wright has taken a step back in his development regarding strikeouts and fielding. Beltran and Jose Reyes has been hampered by injuries. Perez and Luis Castillo have been wastes of roster spots. The farm team hasn't produced solid, dependable players yet, although I personally believe Ike Davis, Josh Thole and Jon Niese are something to build on. In short, times are tough in New York.
In order to try and fix things now, though, the Wilpon ownership is seeking a minority part-owner who will funnel money into the team, without having a particularly large say in the day-to-day operations. This seems somewhat like a pipe dream, as no respectable businessperson would want to risk millions on a floundering franchise without having a voiced opinion. Perhaps the Wilpons are offering more control then is rumored. As it stands, anyone who comes in is most likely going to murk up an already murky situation, which in these lean times for the franchise and its fans, could be disastrous.
How, you ask? Well image an already beleaguered fanbase having to deal with conflicting ideologies coming from two owner groups. One may want to deal away a young prospect in order to get a veteran presence, while the other many want to do the exact opposite. It's a tricky business involving the passion of baseball with the stench of money. Fred Wilpon, like some other owners, got into the business because he was genuinely a baseball fan. Others sometimes get into it as a way to increase financial holdings and don't really care about the actually game itself. The potential risk of mixing those two tactics on one team is dangerous, and just might be where the Mets are heading.
I hope not, though. I'd rather see the Wilpons maintain control, ride out the last few drops of bad blood that is soaked into the team right now, and start fresh with a plan to make the playoffs in 2014. Not all hope is lost for fans, as there are still some good players on the team, and there's a chance that new manager "Tom" Collins could reinvigorate the current roster. But more likely, the 2011 Mets will falter and be fractured via June/July trades and offseason free-agency. This isn't necessarily a bad thing for the future. It's just tough seeing your favorite sports team having a massive coronary right in front of you.
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