Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 07, 2004
Orlando in Tampa

Jeremy Senderowicz writes:


According to Tyler Kepner of the NYT, the Yankees have signed El Duque to a one-year deal: 500K guaranteed, with a chance for $1M in incentives. They don't expect him to be ready before May or June, and expect to use him as a reliever - possibly a one-batter guy.
Comments:
1) For him to sign for that little money, it seems like his health is still pretty shaky. That's practically tip money for the Yankees.
2) Yes, he's mercurial, mysterious and injury-prone. But El Duque is an exceptionally heady & gutsy pitcher on the mound. Remember Bill James' take on Howard Ehmke from the Book on Baseball Managers, and how it might work again? In a short series, if he's assigned to focus on a few righthanded batters (say Nomar and Manny), wouldn't you trust him to come up big?

I don't know. This seems more like George's typical "let's bring back an old former player so I look like a nice guy" deal.

Connors reported back to Steinbrenner that El Duque was about two months away from being ready, which was more than enough to convince The Boss. Two days after the workouts, Steinbrenner said, "I've always liked El Duque ... He's got courage, and I'm not afraid to take a chance with him."

If he works out, a great deal. If he doesn't, the Yankees haven't lost that much money. I don't see him as having a huge impact.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:07 AM | Pitchers | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I have read also some speculation that El Duque might have a good and calming influence on Jose Contreras, who the Yanks are hoping will be their number 4 starter.

Posted by: eric at March 8, 2004 12:22 PM