Does Nomar Garciaparra have a real Achilles’ problem, or was he just trying to force his way out of Boston? Will Carroll clears the air on that, and provides updates on Mark Bellhorn, Sammy Sosa and Joe Mauer, in today’s UTK.
With no trades and just two games yesterday, Joe Sheehan pauses to catch up on some things. Notes on the Rangers, Barry Bonds and Terry Ryan inside.
But I’ve come to realize that they’re inseparable: Tweaking the rules is a smaller move in philosophy, but in implication and consequence can be just as large as the sweeping one. Which in turn is why this is such a fascinating discussion for me.
Who needs starting pitchers? They’re like the pace car at Indy: They get the thing in motion before the real guys come along to finish up the job. At least, that must be the rationale around Yankee Stadium these days. Only three teams in all of baseball find themselves in the predicament in which the Yankees are in–their best starting pitcher has a lower VORP than their highest-ranked reliever. The Yankees actually go this one better in that their two best relievers are rated higher than their best starter.