I’ve pointed out some of the stunning contracts that have materialized during this baseball free agent season. And they just keep on coming… The KC Royals – never before known as a spendthrift team – just signed Gil Meche for $55M. Meche is 28 years old and has spent his entire MLB career with the Seattle Mariners. Last year, he was 11-8 in his 32 starting assignments with an ERA of 4.48. That may not sound all that stunning and that might make you wonder why he got $55M from a team that normally tosses half dollar coins around as if they were manhole covers. But that was about the best year of Meche’s career.
For his MLB career from 1999 through 2006, Gil Meche is 55-44; his career ERA is 4.65; in 815 innings, he has given up 810 hits. Gil Meche is a solid citizen who could be a valuable addition to a good team that needs a 3rd or 4th starter. But what makes the Royals’ braintrust think he’s worth $55M is certainly not clear to me.
Obviously, from Gil Meche’s point of view, none of this was about the money; he just wanted to play for a team that had a shot at winning the World Series…
Let me be clear on this next point: $16M is a lot of money, and $16M is the amount of money involved in two other strange signings during this baseball free agent season. The SF Giants will pay Barry Bonds $16M to play for them next year. Absent some other hot pursuit from another MLB team, I have to wonder why the Giants were so anxious to get this deal done quickly – thereby driving the value up. Last season, Bonds hit .270 and drove in 77 runs in 130 games. He needs 22 homeruns to break Henry Aaron’s career record; last season he hit 26 homeruns with appearances in 130 games. I understand that Bonds will attract fans to the stadium as he gets close to Aaron’s record and that puts money in the pockets of the Giants’ ownership, but still… A .270 hitter with 77 RBIs who is a liability in the field and a human embolism on the bases can’t be worth $16M per year from a performance perspective. In fact, it’s not certain that Bonds will drive in with his bat as many runs as he lets in with his defensive “prowess” in the outfield.
The other $16M contract that I simply do not understand is the one given to Andy Pettitte. I do not intend to trash Pettitte because I think he’s above the level where one can trash him and retain some semblance of stature as an objective observer of the sports scene. Nevertheless, this contract is a huge gamble by the Yankees. Pettitte will be 35 in June; last season he was 14-13 with an ERA of 4.20; last season he lost more games than he ever did in a single season and last year he gave up more runs than he ever did in a single season. When I put that mosaic together, I don’t see the figure of $16M staring back at me…
Look, if it happens that the SF Giants and the NY Yankees meet each other in the World Series and if Pettitte and Bonds have been contributors to that level of success, I’ll be happy to admit that someone in the baseball operations of these two teams saw lots more in Bonds and Pettitte than I do at this stage of their careers. Getting to the World Series would make $16M a cheap price to pay. However, without several more positive moves on the part of these two teams – and more than several for the Giants – it’s just not gonna happen. I reserve the right to repeat that Bonds and Pettitte are going to be well overcompensated for the coming season.
Back on 10 December, Bernie Lincicome wrote a column in the Rocky Mountain News where he pretended to interview the supercomputer that just defeated chessmaster, Vladmir Kramnik. The supercomputer invokes loads of sports clichés and the column is worth reading. Here are two Q&A exchanges to whet your appetite:
Q: …in fact, you were favored to win, the first time a machine was considered superior to the human,
A: I think that man vs. machine question was settled long ago with the invention of the Zamboni.
Q: Do you feel as if you have struck a blow for the younger generation of computers? In fact, maybe even the entire world of machines?
A: I’m not a role model. I am a desk model.
The Green Bay Packers are 4-3 on the road and 1-5 at home. If someone wants to try to make some semblance of sense out of that data, I’m all ears.
In the spirit of curmudgeonness, I think we need to give a nickname to the Indy Colts defense – - the unit that gave up 375 yards rushing to the Jags just last weekend. We should call that unit the Mexican Border Patrol Defense – - because they don’t seem to be able to stop anyone either.
The Saints and the Jets are feelgood stories of overachievement. I prefer to look at the painful stories of underachievement this year in the NFL. Tampa was thought to be a contender for the playoffs; they’re 3-10 at the moment and sinking fast. But they did lose their starting QB early on and have had to go with a less-than-ready rookie at QB. Sports Illustrated had the Dolphins going to the Super Bowl; Miami is 6-7 at the moment and will be watching the playoffs on TV just like you and I will be watching. Carolina too was a trendy pick for the NFC champion’s mantle; the Panthers are 6-7 at the moment and need things to break just right to be in the playoffs.
And here in the DC area, the Washington Redskins hoped to build on last year’s playoff appearance and the signings of four “top-shelf free agents” and the addition of an offensive genius to their coaching staff that already had a certified defensive genius on board and go deep into the playoffs and even to the Super Bowl. The Redskins are 4-9 at the moment and they have looked overmatched more than a couple of times this year. Now that December is upon us, most teams have gravitated to that part of the standings where they rightfully belong and the Redskins have the same record as the Arizona Cardinals, the Houston Texans and the Cleveland Browns. The last underachievement of that magnitude happened when Bode Miller went to the Olympics with a shot at 5 gold medals…
Finally, an item from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times:
“Wrapping up a memorable year for sports transactions, hoops star Lisa Leslie is pregnant, former soccer icon Mia Hamm is expecting twins and former tennis champ Andrea Jaeger has become a nun.
“For those of you keeping score at home, that’s two mothers and a sister.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports…