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Friday, November 20, 2009

Diamond Notes: Chien-Ming Wang interested in the Dodgers

Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang, a non-tender candidate, told Taiwanese reporters Thursday that his first choice was to remain with New York. But if the Yankees cut him loose, Wang said he would not be opposed to going to the Dodgers.

“Not bad,” Wang said of the scenario presented by reporters that would have him going to Los Angeles. The two-time 19-game winner indicated that he would feel comfortable playing for a manager in Joe Torre who knows him well. Wang also went to middle school with Dodgers reliever Hong-Chih Kuo, and the two remain friends.

Tripon Posted: November 20, 2009 at 03:12 AM | 19 comment(s)
  Related News: General, LA Dodgers, NY Yankees, International

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   1. JRVJ (formerly Delta Socrates)  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 08:37 AM (#3392191)
Well, he'd have a shorter flight back to Taiwan.
   2. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 08:40 AM (#3392193)
Will the Yankees non-tender him?
   3. TVerik and his cavalcade of whimsy  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 08:59 AM (#3392206)
I can't think of a good reason for the Yankees to non-tender him, unless they got a really poor medical report that they haven't released.
   4. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 09:19 AM (#3392221)
I can't think of a good reason for the Yankees to non-tender him, unless they got a really poor medical report that they haven't released.

This is what I'm thinking. They can afford a few million to roll the dice on Wang getting back in form. If they non-tender, I gotta think he's damaged goods and probably only worth an NRI. Of course, pitching being what it is I expect the Royals to lock him up for Yuniesky Betancourt money.
   5. Cowboy Popup  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 09:23 AM (#3392225)
I would be sad if Wang's career as a Yankee is already over. I put a lot of hours into defending the guy here and it was nice to see him succeed in such an unusual way. I hope he's alright and they keep him.
   6. snapper  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 09:29 AM (#3392232)
I can't think of a good reason for the Yankees to non-tender him

They have to pay him at least $4M, and his arm is probably shredded?

They may try and retain him on an incentive laden deal, but I'm almost certain they non-tender him.
   7. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 09:31 AM (#3392235)
They have to pay him at least $4M, and his arm is probably shredded?

Like I said, if they non-tender him, I wouldn't want my team throwing any money at him.
   8. snapper  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 09:39 AM (#3392243)
Like I said, if they non-tender him, I wouldn't want my team throwing any money at him.

Well, if you could do something like a $1M guarantee with some IP incentives and a $6M option, that would make sense for a lot of teams. I imagine that's what the Yankees will try to do after they non-tender, unless his arm is completely shot.

Wang was never a good bet to have a long career, so I'm not too upset about losing him. He's made about $12M in his career, so should be set for life either way.
   9. Campeones de la Serie Mundial('zop)  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 09:45 AM (#3392249)
My understanding is that Wang has been damaged goods since his surgery in 2001, which is why the Yanks have never offered him a multi-year deal. He's got some sort of labrum problem that has a terrible record of operative success, and it doesn't really affect his velocity so they let it be, IIRC. But there's some thinking that the series of shoulder injuries culminating in the capsule repair are related to the labrum damage and he's inevitably going to end up hurt if he pitches enough. Again, IIRC.
   10. Ryan Jones  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 10:11 AM (#3392273)
They have to pay him at least $4M, and his arm is probably shredded?


How much does $4M really matter to the Yankees? After all, they're paying the equivalent of $9M a season to have another acquisition work on becoming the winningest pitcher in AAA history.

Nowadays, $4M is a decent middle reliever. Even if Wang's arm is borderline shredded, it's worth it to the Yankees to keep him around.
   11. snapper  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 10:18 AM (#3392282)
How much does $4M really matter to the Yankees? After all, they're paying the equivalent of $9M a season to have another acquisition work on becoming the winningest pitcher in AAA history.

Nowadays, $4M is a decent middle reliever. Even if Wang's arm is borderline shredded, it's worth it to the Yankees to keep him around.

They seem to be operating on a "soft cap" around $200M. That $4M will buy them another arm for the pen, or go a good ways towards paying for a Mike Cameron type OF.

Plus, he's unlikely to pitch before mid-season. There are better fliers to take.
   12. drdr  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 03:03 PM (#3392808)
Actually, right now 40-men spot may also be important to the Yankees. If they tender him, they need to carry him on 40-men until April (or March?) and possibly lose someone in Rule-5.
   13. what the hell, just use your initials or something  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 03:15 PM (#3392826)
On top of the roster issue, there's the fact that Wang is out of options. So if the Yankees wanted him to spend more than 30 days in the minors, he'd have to clear waivers. And if he did clear, he'd have the right to refuse an outright assignment and become a FA anyway.
   14. In the Disney betting pool, Roy Oswalt  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 03:25 PM (#3392851)
This is starting to sounds like "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie\"
   15. Walt Davis  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 08:24 PM (#3393125)
How much does $4M really matter to the Yankees?

As Snapper alludes to, non-tendering him does not mean losing him. They can non-tender and then re-sign him for $1M with some incentives and a vesting option for the next year (or whatever). From the Yanks' perspective, the question is whether any other team would offer Wang anything close to $4 M. Assuming that answer is no, there's no reason for the Yanks to tender him even if they want to keep him.

If they non-tender him and don't try to sign him, then they think his arm is toast.
   16. rLr Is King Of The Romans And Above Grammar  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 08:41 PM (#3393140)
I would be sad if Wang's career as a Yankee is already over. I put a lot of hours into defending the guy here and it was nice to see him succeed in such an unusual way. I hope he's alright and they keep him.

I would be really sad because I think the Yankees really screwed him up last year by panicking and jerking around his rehab. They might not owe him anything according to contract, but I think they have a moral obligation.
   17. snapper  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 09:03 PM (#3393160)
I would be really sad because I think the Yankees really screwed him up last year by panicking and jerking around his rehab. They might not owe him anything according to contract, but I think they have a moral obligation.

Panicking! He was record-setting abysmal.

I don't know what else they could have done. There was no sign in ST that he couldn't pitch. But he started the season and couldn't get anyone out.
   18. rLr Is King Of The Romans And Above Grammar  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 09:17 PM (#3393181)
Panicking! He was record-setting abysmal.

I mean when they put him on the DL after the three disaster starts and then yanked him off before his rehab window was up because they were a little short in the bullpen. He came back looking wrong and then went out for good. He never should have been reactivated.

Something was clearly wrong when he started the year, which they appropriately reacted to by DLing him. Everything after that was to Wang's detriment.
   19. Vaux, A.B.D.  Posted: November 20, 2009 at 09:56 PM (#3393209)
I got the feeling that they would have handled it differently if he was a pitcher whose strikeout rate matched his ERA. Instead, they acted like here was a pitcher much more expendable than his numbers had been.
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