December 11, 2004
Wishing Wells
The Red Sox add a large lefty to the rotation:
The Red Sox have come to terms with 41-year-old left-hander David Wells. The deal guarantees $8 million for one year, but if he makes 31 starts he would be guaranteed $13 million. The two-year contract could be worth $16 to $18 million.
Under the terms of the agreement, Wells would receive a $3 million signing bonus and have a base salary of $2.5 million in 2005 and 2006, The Boston Globe reported. He also would have the opportunity to earn an additional $5 million in performance bonuses in each year of the contract. The deal will not be official until Wells passes a physical, reportedly scheduled for Tuesday.
This doesn't sound good for Derek Lowe. I would think the Red Sox would be more interested in resigning Pedro, which would give them a rotation of Martinez, Schilling, Wells, Wakefield and Arroyo. That rotation would certainly celebrate a diversity of pitches.
Wells is no longer a strikeout pitcher, so like Lowe, he'll need a good defense behind him. David has compensated for the loss of his strikeouts by cutting down on walks as well. He has a career K per BB of 3.07, but each of the last two years it's been 5.05.
2004 Was the year of the old pitcher. It seems to be showing up in their paychecks as well.
And I love this:
To end their championship drought, the Red Sox turned the clubhouse over to free spirits like Johnny Damon, David Ortiz and Kevin Millar -- an unshaven and unkempt bunch that foiled the strait-laced Yankees and won an unprecedented eight consecutive games after spotting New York a three-game lead in the AL Championship Series.
Wells would fit right in.
The boisterous lefty missed three starts in late May and early June -- costing himself $1 million in incentives -- after tripping over a bar stool at home, knocking a bottle of wine onto the floor and landing on it and a glass he was holding. He severed a tendon in his right wrist, requiring surgery, and cut his left palm.
I wonder why he tripped? :-)
Asked Friday if he was concerned that Wells' carousing might upset the chemistry in the Boston clubhouse, general manager Theo Epstein said sarcastically, "No, we don't have any guys like that."
I thought that there was a good chance of Boston taking a breather; letting their free agents go, gathering some draft picks, building up the farm system and squirreling away some cash to create a future dynasty. But the signing of Wells indicates they want to repeat. At this point, I would expect them to make a push to bring back Pedro and Varitek. They're not resting on their laurels.
A) I love Theo Epstein. Revenge of the nerds, indeed.
B) That sounds like a rather nice contract. My skin crawls at the thought of signing a 41-year-old pitcher, but Wells is still pitching well and it has the advantage of being short and incentive-laden, minimizing the Sox's risk exposure. I'd rather have Wells on this contact than, say, Wright on the contract he signed with the Yanks....
I don't understand how the first two paragraphs co-exist.
one says he's guaranteed $8m for the first year, the second says he'll make $2.5m each of two years, and have a $3m signing bonus. The first paragraph should read that he is guaranteed $8m over two years?
I read it as
2005: $3m bonus + $2.5m base + $5m incentives
2006: $2.5m base + $5m incentives.
Am I missing something?
The Red Sox decided they weren't going to pay Lowe for 2002 and haven't made any effort to resign him. They're trying to stock up the pen to endure a lot of 6 inning starts. My fear is Wells bad back, Schilling bad ankle, Pedro bad shoulder. My hope is that they resign Pedro and 2004 turns out to be an abberation and Schilling and wells keep on keeping on.