Saturday Night Bits: Rasner Sold, Wang Healed, Padres Desperate, Hughes Good
November 16, 2008, 12:46 amTwo quick bits to wrap up the day:
1. Darrell Rasner has been sold to a Japanese team. It sounds kind of wacky (Kyle Kendrick he is not), but Rasner was sold for $1 million to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Pacific League and is expected to sign a 2-year deal. He basically approached the Yanks and asked for the opportunity to pitch in Japan, as he’ll likely make more there then he ever could here. Rasner is a good guy and this is probably a bittersweet day for him. Maybe he’ll put up phenomenal numbers over there and then the Yankees can bid millions of dollars for his services in a few years (I know it doesn’t make sense, it’s a joke).
2. Well with Rasner gone, we’ll obviously need someone to step up in the Yankees rotation……. good thing Chien-Ming Wang is fully healed. Wang will be in Taiwan for awhile, where he’ll begin participating in a specialized training regimen in order to strengthen his foot (weights, cycling, no running just yet). Here’s a random thought: Wang is a big star in Taiwan and I wonder if the Taiwanese people will feel slighted in the Yankees sign CC and Burnett (or trade for Peavy) and Wang drops a few notches in the rotation. Is it wrong for me to think that? I don’t think so, it seems like a reasonable point of curiosity.
3. According to the SDU-Tribune, the Padres are pretty desperate to “purge” their payroll and think that they will have trouble moving Peavy’s relatively cheap contract (for an ace and under normal economic circumstance). I guess that shows how tough the economic situation is today, as Peavy’s agent cites it as a major problem for the Padres (along with a few other things).
“I think it’s severe,” Axelrod said of the Padres’ financial plight. “I think you’ve got the perfect storm – a rough economy in general, a team that underperformed and then the apparent difficulty of the (owner’s) personal situation.”
The Padres know that the Yankees can afford Peavy and I’m sure that Towers will look to deal with Cashman if talks fall apart with the Braves and other NL suitors. Also, Tim Sullivan, the author of the article, notes that the Padres covet both Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy.
4. Speaking of Hughes, the young righty pitched well in his latest start in the AFL. He pitched 5 innings, gave up 2 hits and 0 ER while striking out 6 (he allowed 1 BB). As trade talks heat up, it’ll be interesting to see how Hughes continues to fare, as he may be inadvertently showcasing himself for the Padres.
I can answer Wang’s question for you. As a Taiwanese, I don’t care Wang is an ACE or not, I just hope he can stay healthy and pitch in front of rotation for another 10 years. In Taiwan, we love baseball very much. The only thing we care about baseball is team victory. For our culture, we believe someone always is better than you. You always have to keep improving yourself.
The first press conference Wang did when he just arrived Taiwan, reporters actually asked Wang’s reactions about Yankees want to sign couple of front-end starters this off-season. Wang said he knew there are a lot of very good pitchers on the free agent market. No matter who Yankees get, they are the best. He is happy to hear Yankees get more pitchers. In fact, he said “Let get champion together!”
I have extend discussion and posts regard of this issue on my blog. Just in case, if you are interested, come to my blog. By the way, I love your blog. Keep going.
I haven’t watch Austin Jackson playing. However, I won’t trade Hughes for Peavy.
Hey Jessica, thanks as always. Really appreciate the info.