Wang and the Dodgers
November 20, 2009, 4:00 pm by iYankees · 5 Comments
Via MLBTR, we learn that Chien-Ming Wang would be open to the idea of reuniting with Joe Torre and playing for the Dodgers if he and the Yankees don’t reach some sort of agreement later on (assuming he’s non-tendered). There’s no word on whether the Dodgers would be interested in Wang, but one would assume that they would be given their current staff’s uncertainty.
Another team to consider if Wang hits free agency is Seattle. The Mariners courted Wang before he joined the Yankees and while the personnel there may have changed since then, he’s still an attractive low-risk, high-reward option for a great defensive team like the M’s.
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
If I was Wang and I was coming off surgery I don’t think I would put my health into the hands of Joe Torre.
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Amen to that. Wang had better hope he doesn’t try to stretch him out from the bullpen before he plugs him into the rotation, he’d never pitch again after next season.
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Or Torre would try to go all old school Wang and make him pitch a CG in his first start back and end his career.
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I forgot the rule 5 draft is before the non-tender deadline, so Wang I believe is still technically on the Yankees 40 man roster (correct me if any of this is wrong). So, I bet they non-tender him but come to an agreement on a incentive based major league deal rather than the minor league deal most think they will offer.
Since he can’t affect protecting players for the rule 5, the only reason to push for him on a minor league deal instead of a major league deal is concern over room on the 25 man roster (but if he isn’t healthy to start the season and won’t be for the first couple months, he can go on the 60 day DL, and do a 30 day rehab in the minors). The only other reason a minor league deal would be better than a major league deal is the limit of 30 day rehab stints in the minors for pitchers.
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Yes Wang is still technically on the 40…
My only concern with bringing Wang back is that he once was a great hard sinker pitcher who threw 94-95 MPH sinker balls that smashed into the ground and he would throw in the occasional slider… Now after another surgery you can almost guarantee he is going to almost completely abandon the slider again and if he is still throwing 91 next year he is a 1 pitch 91 MPH sinker baller and if that’s the case he isn’t worth re-signing.
It’s hard to know what he will be though so that is where the question comes in…
Everyone kept saying his problems last year were all due to not working out in the offseason as he was told but if this were true wouldn’t you have seen his velocity go back up some at the end of the year as he got stronger? Because we never saw that we just saw him change arm angles to try and get more sink and when he did he got injured.
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