Wasdin a punk, and other matters
Atlanta Braves first baseman Andres Galarraga outweighs Colorado Rockies pitcher John Wasdin by and 40 pounds. Nonetheless, Wasdin daringly and foolishly hit the Big Cat with a pitch in the 11th inning of last Tuesday’s 7-6 Colorado victory. As Galarraga walked down to first base, Wasdin began taunting the Braves slugger and making challenging gestures at him, which caused Galarraga to charge the mound and both benches to clear. Wasdin, Galarraga and Rockies manager Buddy Bell were immediately ejected.
What was Wasdin thinking? The former Red Sox pitcher must have let some of that Colorado air get to him, because the Big Cat would have easily taken Wasdin out for the year had teammates not tried to stop Galarraga, who sat out all of last season with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer in his back. Wasdin, who joined Colorado with Jeff Frye after being traded from Boston July 31, is a bonehead.
Note only is he a bonehead, he is atrocious as a pitcher. Nicknamed, “Way Back” in Boston for his tendency to surrender home runs often and long, Wasdin has been even worse for Colorado. He has given up runs in six of his seven relief appearances, not including his last incident where the only batter he faced was Galarraga, who he beaned. He has an ERA of 6.94 for the Rockies, an 0-1 record, and he has already surrendered three home runs in just 11 1/3 innings.
Considering that the Red Sox got anything for Wasdin, much less a quality pitcher like Rolando Arrojo, Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette must be admired for the move. Wasdin is not a major-league pitcher; what’s worse, he’s a spineless pitcher and a punk.
BEN BADLER
On Monday, Galarraga was handed a suspension of three games and Wasdin and Bell were suspended two games apiece.
John Wasdin reacts after giving up one of his many home runs with the Red Sox.
Speaking of old friends, former Red Sox prospect Matt Kinney made his debut August 18 for the Minnesota Twins. Kinney, 23, has made two big-league starts and has maintained a quality 3.65 ERA against a couple of good team: the league-leader in home runs, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the red-hot Detroit Tigers. In his last outing, Kinney struck out seven batters in six innings, but didn’t figure in the decision as the Twins lost by one run.
The Twins acquired Kinney from the Red Sox in 1998 for reliever Greg Swindell and first baseman Orlando Merced, both of whom left the Sox after the season. Kinney has shown a hard fastball and a live breaking ball in his two stints in the majors. He should stay in the Twins’ rotation for the remainder of the season, which gives the Twins four good pitchers in Brad Radke, Eric Milton, rookie Chris Redman and Kinney. The oldest of the group is Radke, who is just 27 years-old.
Trading Kinney was uncharacteristic of Duquette, who has been able to trade his overhyped prospects in the past -- Jay Yenaaco, Peter Munro, Cole Liniak, et. al. -- for quality players to help the team down the stretch. At the time he was traded, Kinney had trouble controlling his mid-90s fastball and had trouble keeping down his walk totals. But since he learned to tame his prized pitch and sharpen his breaking pitches and changeup, Kinney has excellent for the Twins’ minor league teams, and now for the major-league club. It appears that the Twins may have one of the better young rotations in baseball.
On the topic of young pitching rotations, the Red Sox may have some competition among their minor league pitchers for a position in their rotation next year. Minor leaguers Sunny Kim, Jin Ho Cho, Chris Reitsma, Paxton Crawford and Juan Pena should all be competing for a spot in Boston in spring training, with recent Boston call-up Tomokazu Ohka seemingly a lock for the 2001 rotation. That means they will have six youngsters to compete for spots along with Pedro Martinez, Ramon Martinez, Pete Schourek, Jeff Fassero, Rolando Arrojo and Tim Wakefield. Schourek, Fassero and Wakefield likely won’t be back next season, leaving the club with nine possible starting pitchers, not including any possible free agent pitchers in one of the greatest free agent classes in history.
Ideally, the Red Sox rotation next year would include Pedro, Arrojo, Ohka, Crawford, and a free agent pitcher like Andy Ashby, Mike Hampton or someone else. But something must be done about Ramon Martinez, who certainly won’t be worth the $8 million the club could pay him next year if they decide to pick up his option. From a baseball standpoint, Ramon is an easy candidate to become a free agent. But the Red Sox must take Pedro into account when dealing with Ramon. Pedro feels very attached to Ramon, who is his mentor, idol, role model and brother. Should the Red Sox release Ramon, a diplomatic Pedro will surely have his say on the matter.
As for the others: Reitsma could start the year in Triple A, since he has spent all of his 2000 season in Double A. Kim could benefit from another year in Pawtucket, as he is still young and needs to work on keeping the ball down in the strike zone. Cho and Pena have been hurt all throughout their careers, but both have shown great promise as prospects. Neither one’s trade value is great, since both are considered to be rehabbing. Starting in Pawtucket seems likely, but if either of them, Kim or Reitsma start dominating in Pawtucket, controversy for the Boston rotation will be inevitable.
It is conceivable that the Red Sox could be the only team in the majors to go into the postseason with an all international starting rotation.
Pedro is a given in the rotation. Arrojo seems so as well, and with Ohka’s recent mastery in the majors, he has shown he deserves a spot in the rotation as well.
The fourth and final spot could go to a handful of players. Fassero, Schourek, Crawford and Ramon Martinez will all try to prove that they are worthy of starting in a playoff game for the Red Sox. However, the Red Sox probably wouldn’t want to risk having to rookies in the rotation, so that rules out Crawford. Schourek is still on in rehab in Pawtucket, and Fassero isn’t exactly on Jimy’s good side after the left-hander ripped him for his managerial decisions. That leaves Ramon, who last year was instrumental in the Red Sox’ ALCS victory when he shut down the Indians with the Red Sox already down two games to none. Ramon is scheduled to make his first start since being placed on the disabled list Saturday against the Seattle Mariners.
Should Martinez fill that fourth slot in the postseason rotation, it would give the Red Sox the only all-foreign rotation in the playoffs this year.
That is, of course, assuming the Red Sox can make the playoffs.