Insight from Wang: Playoffs, Contract Talk

Sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve had a bunch of committments (including classes) all day long. Anyways, on with the Wang stuff…

Kat O’Brien spoke with Chien-Ming Wang today, and was able to collect some interesting information regarding Wang’s playoff performance (in 2007) and his contractual talks with the club:

As for Wang, he said it took him about a month to get over the playoffs.

Why were the playoffs so bad? “For me, I feel like I’m tired, my arm dropped down and the ball don’t sink.”
Wang wanted to do a long-term contract with the Yankees, saying: “I want to.”
However, the Yankees told him: “Not the time.”
Their reason, according to Wang: “Because the pitchers, hard to stay healthy.”

Pettitte Behind in His Preparation

According to Buster Olney (ESPN), due to the off-field issues he’s been dealing with, Andy Pettitte is behind in his preparation for the 2008 season and the Yankees are worried. Olney even goes as far as throwing out some free-agent names like Livian Hernandez and Kyle Lohse, just in case the Yankees need another starter in his absence.

Honestly, I wouldn’t worry about this too much, simply because we’re not sure where Andy is, exactly, in terms of his workout regimen. As of now, it’s all just speculation. Joba no longer seems like an option to start in his place if he’s not ready, but the Yankees can just bump up their rotation to Wang, Mussina, Hughes, Kennedy and throw in a Jeff Karstens as the fifth man until Andy is ready (or maybe even Kei Igawa? Ah!).

Further Clarification

From FOXSports:

NEW YORK – Joba Chamberlain will prepare during spring training as a starter, but will begin the season in the New York Yankees bullpen barring injury to any of the other five main rotation members, team officials confirmed to The New York Post.

This isn’t anything new, really. Actually, FOX is wrong, just because Bryan Hoch at the Yankees Website had this information last week. Anyway, here’s some more.

The Yanks’ ideal plan works in this fashion, according to executives briefed on the strategy:

1. Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy would stay healthy to form the rotation. All five would be needed from the outset because the Yanks have just two scheduled off days from March 31 through May 4.2. Chamberlain stabilizes the area the Yankees profess offers their greatest uncertainty in 2008: their setup crew in front of Mariano Rivera. The Yanks envision Chamberlain dominating in the eighth based on his 0.38 ERA and .145 batting average against in 19 regular-season games as a reliever last year.

3. The Yanks see the Chamberlain/Rivera tandem helping them be a dominant late-inning team over the first two months of the season. At some point in June, the Yanks would send Chamberlain to the minors for 3-4 weeks to stretch him out to 5-6 innings in preparation to be a full-time starter in the second half.

4. The Yanks’ hope is that over the first two months other relievers show enough fortitude/reliability to be moved into the eighth inning. Only Kyle Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins are guaranteed jobs. The Yanks think Girardi, who was a Cub teammate of Farnsworth for three years, might help the talented righty find greater consistency and grab the eighth inning.

I think it’s a good idea. It’ll eliminate some of the questions going into the season (particularly the bullpen questions), and it’ll help preserve Joba’s arm. He’s too young to be rushed into the rotation and this will help ease the transition.

Tuesday Morning Bits

Some quick bits to report before I call it a night.

• Jack Curry of the Times has a nice report on Joe Girardi and his use of young pitchers. Curry goes into detail about Girardi’s tenure with the Marlins, where his use of pitchers was criticized heavily after his departure. In retrospect, yes, Sanchez, Olson, and Johnson have all had issues ever since (Olson’s can be attributed to legal issues even). However, Curry provides some perspective and commentary from those who have experience on the situation directly. The report also delves into the restrictions put on The Big 3 this year, although the number of innings for each pitcher is never disclosed (obviously).
• Last but not least, we have a report released by the NY Post which states that Andy Pettitte backed up Brian McNamee in his testimony regarding Roger Clemens (which explains why he didn’t want to testify publicly about Roger). According to the report, Pettitte validated McNamee’s story about a workout involving all three men at Clemens’ home. During that workout, Pettitte went up to McNamee and asked him to provide him with the “stuff” that he gave Clemens. Again, Pettitte has verified this claim, despite Clemens’ own testimony, which states that both Pettitte and McNamee are mistaken (and that the “stuff” was actually medications, not steroids or HGH).

Back with more later in the day.