Does Ian Kennedy Suck?
November 29, 2008, 11:25 pm
A few folks over at the LoHud Blog (not Pete, but a substantial segment of his readers) seem to think so and I just can’t understand it. Pete was writing about Kennedy’s winter season in Puerto Rico, noting that it’s been a very solid one, and ended his post defending Kennedy’s lackluster 2008 campaign. Pete knows the deal with IPK. He’s a young guy with a great knack for pitching (his minor league numbers concur) and he’s talented (why do you think the Yankees drafted him?). Yeah, he got knocked around in his rookie year, but that’s happened to a lot of first year players and to say that he’s a lost cause is just ridiculous.
Some of the responses to Pete’s post of readers criticizing Kennedy are simply nonsensical, as well. For instance, look at this comment by “sd,” as it is definitive of the negative attitude people have towards IPK.
Pete,
His stuff sucks. That why people gave up on him. Mystery solved.
If you expected him to every be more than a 4th starter (and that is if everything in the world went his way) then you are the one who has some explaining to do… though I doubt you’ll do it.
The last time I checked, number 4 starters are VERY worthwhile, especially to the Yankees (who only have TWO starters penciled in for the 2009 season). Not everyone on your team is going to be Johan Santana or CC Sabathia. You need to fill in your rotation with capable pitchers. Look at Andy Sonnanstine of the TB Rays—if that guy can be a viable player, are you telling me IPK can’t be (those two guys are relatively similar and IPK has better stuff)? In fact, at one point this year, everyone was clamoring for Jarrod Washburn while Darrell Rasner and Sidney Ponson blew up on a weekly basis. I mean, seriously, what does that tell you? If IPK established himself as a back-end starter, I think we’d all be extremely happy with that.
Basically, people need to relax on the Kennedy-issue. The Yankees invested a lot of time and effort into bringing this guy along (and rightfully so) and they’re not going to give up on him (not yet), so why should we?
I couldn’t agree with you more. I think the team will be better off in 2 or 3 years if they try to fit in a few of the young guys as starters this year – Hughes, Aceves, Kennedy, Coke – than bringing in 2nd tier free agents like Burnett and Lowe on long term deals. We need to be patient.
Definitely.
Problem is, going with a rotation of Burnett, Wang, Hughes, Acevas, Joba = no playoffs this year.
If they land CC, I could definately see them saying they are only signing one more pitcher from the Pettitte, Burnett, Lowe, Sheets, Perez group and going with
CC, Wang, the other guy they sign, Acevas or Hughes or Coke, Joba.
But unless they sign CC to make the top of the rotation solid, they can’t afford to turn over two spots in the rotation to youngsters again. Keep in mind, Joba can’t pitch a full season yet out of the fifth spot, so young kids will get starts in his spot, and we all know their will be injuries. I guess, I would just rather have the rotation filled with veterans + Joba in the 5th spot, and then have the kids available for the inevitable injuries, instead of putting the kids in the rotation and if they fail, suddenly Ponson is back AGAIN.