Earlier this week, when the MLBPA made public a formal investigation about collusion toward Barry Bonds, they included a handful of other veteran free agents to the mix. It seemed like a surefire way to weaken their case. Outside of Kenny Lofton, who will be playing for someone come July, using guys like Jose Mesa, Sammy Sosa and David Wells only proved that major league teams had common sense not that they were colluding. Or so I thought. Today's New York Post reports that Wells has been working out and feels he could help the Yankees survive the less-than-stellar work from Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. Wells did not pitch well for the Padres or Dodgers last summer and, at 45, doesn't really fit into the idea of building young players to lead you to the next taste of championship glory.
Perhaps we shouldn't write it off, though, since Hank Steinbrenner seems to have inherited his father's patience.
"What sticks out in my mind, that team in the late '90s, the starting pitching. You had [David] Cone, El Duque [Orlando Hernandez], Wells . . . they were all big-game pitchers. They all came from elsewhere - not in the system.
Everybody talks about the great players from the farm system that we had in the '90s, but it was the starting rotation. That was a huge part of the success. Huge."
They don't come any huger than Wells, so this signing could actually happen.
Lil' Stein's not wrong about the pitching on those teams but he's wrong about Wells of 2008 being representative of that group. The revolving door of veteran pitchers unable to get the job done is what created the shift to developing their own pitching talent.
Brian Cashman is used to his bosses making moves around or behind his back. Raul Mondesi, Gary Sheffield and others all came to the Yankees via the whim of Big Stein. If Wells did wind up in XXXL pinstripes, it's hard to believe that the move would come with the GM's seal of approval. He didn't want to give Hughes's spot in the rotation to Johan Santana, hard to imagine he'd want to hand it to a much older, much less talented lefty.
One last thought, if David Wells gets a job with a big league team this summer and Barry Bonds doesn't, collusion is no longer just a rumor.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. As great as he was in 98 The Boomer is over the hill and hopefully the Yanks wont sign him. It is true that Cone and Wells and El Duque came from outside the Yankees system but Andy Pettite is home grown.
As far as collusion is concerned that's just players assoc nonsense.
Posted at 11:52AM on May 9th 2008 by mannysea18
2. Boomer should wear the babe's hat again for his first start, that would be awesome. I bet david ortiz is praying real hard we dont resign him
Posted at 1:37PM on May 9th 2008 by mike
3. Bring him back sheesh, cant be any worse than Igawa??? Really they should be promoting the likes of the Chase Wright's and Alan Horne's whom are pitching pretty good in AA and more than adequate to be @ 5th starter I think given time
Posted at 6:25AM on May 10th 2008 by Mr.MemoToSteinbrenner.com
4. Boomer if he is only good for 5 will bring fire and excitement to Yankees
Recall Roger last year did not pitch well but was lighting rod for excitement and David Wells could be the same
Posted at 8:31AM on May 10th 2008 by Chris
5. TAKE HIM , LOVE HIM, TORRE IS GONE , SO Y NOT ?????
Posted at 6:32PM on May 10th 2008 by TONY C.
6. I think boomer can only help the yankees not like hughes-kennedy-and o god igawa.
Posted at 5:02PM on May 11th 2008 by DAVID GRATE