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11/28/2005: "Patient Zero"
Back when our NL Central pals inked Scott Eyre to a three year, eleven million dollar deal, I chalked it up as a kind of madness localized in a certain segment of Chicago; of course it was related to the Philadelphia Aging Reliever Virus, and sure, there were some wild-eyed scientists claiming it had a direct link to the Great Isringhausen Scare of 2001, but we didn't know then what we do now. Like AIDS and the typhoid fever, only now have we realized that the Scott Eyre signing was evidence of a much more sinister problem, lurking beneath the surface. He was Patient Zero of the 2005 Above Average Plague, and like all such Wobegon-derived maladies it's not funny--not funny at all.
And as the Esteban Loaiza deal proves--three years, twenty-one million bucks--the epidemic is going to get worse before it gets better. Esteban Loaiza had an outstanding year in 2003, and a good year in 2005. He is going on thirty-four, and his career ERA is just barely below average. Last year he played in a ballpark that is rumored to have applied for statehood sometime in the nineteenth century. He is a fine pitcher for the back of rotations everywhere, but he is presently making nearly as much money per year as Jeff Suppan has from 2004-2006. Suppan, who is three years younger, posted a 120 ERA+ last year.
These things spread, as is now becoming abundantly clear; one spread several years ago, in the age of giving stars like Manny Ramirez and A-Rod contracts that could only be doled out in huge, weekly chunks of molten platinum. What we are witnessing now is the new plague--one in which above-average, inconsistent pitchers like Loaiza, A.J. Burnett, and Matt Morris get paid closer money, and ace closers like Billy Wags and B.J. Ryan get paid Oprah money. These contracts are going to look bad now, but just wait until one of Wagner, Ryan, or Burnett is millstoning his team as they try to sign a player during the next outbreak. Middle relievers who throw the screwball, for all I know.
Replies: 24 Comments
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