November 17, 2008
Wakefield to Retire?
YFSF notes a rumor that Tim Wakefield may retire due to pain in his shoulder.
If true, that leaves the Red Sox with a big hole -- you cannot replace a starter who consistently posts a 100-115 ERA+ over 200 innings with a salary of just $4 million. On the other hand, it would eliminate the need for a specialized Wakefield-only catcher, making perhaps more possible a Varitek-Saltalamacchia semiplatoon as the one passes his baton to the other.
Luckily, his replacement is in Japan!
Posted by David Pinto at
11:06 AM
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It seems to me that Wakefield has been underpaid by the Sox over the years. He hasn't had an ERA+ under 100 since 2000, but he has never been paid more than $5M for any season ever. Pitchers with an ERA+ of 100 have been getting contracts over $8M recently. Seems like he got a raw deal. Maybe because it's because he's a knuckleballer. Not that I feel sorry for him. He's made over $46M for his career, but still, $46M is a standard length contract for an average pitcher these days.
What happened to Zink? A 8 run cup of coffee and yer done? One would hope that the Sox will be able to get him back up there soon so they can have some knuckly goodness eating up innings...
If Wake retires it's not going to make things easier for Zink - Cash probably won't be there if Wake's gone and I'd like to think everybody gets a second chance but he sure didn't look like a big league pitcher.
Looking back...he will be remembered dearly by Sox fans. He'll fade in the memory of baseball fans, but he'll be remembered for a while in New England for sure.
