In George We Trust
A(nother) blog about the most storied franchise in sports
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Small hurt, and don't give him a long-term deal...
First Carl Pavano, now Aaron Small:

Aaron Small will likely open the season on the disabled list, as the Yankees right-hander strained his right hamstring while running on Tuesday.

Although he is not battling for a spot in the starting rotation, Small was scheduled to start in the Yankees' split-squad game in Lakeland, Fla., against the Tigers on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Yankees scratched Small from that start, so they will use either right-hander Matt DeSalvo or left-hander Sean Henn in his place.

"I just tweaked it a little," said Small, who is 0-0 with a 4.05 ERA in three relief outings this spring. "It will set me back a little bit, but I've never done it before, so I don't know how long it will be. They said these things need time to heal, since they have a way of lingering."

David Regan of Hardball Times has an interesting article up on Baseball Analysts analyzing long-term contracts, which is something Yankee fans are familiar with. It's worth the read (as you can imagine, several Yankee names make a cameo), but here's the conclusions he draws from his analysis:

- Hitters have historically been a better investment than their counterparts on the mound for teams looking to spend big money in free agency. There's not much risk in signing an under-30 superstar hitter to a long-term deal.

- Home-grown is the way to go. Instead of overspending on guys who stand a great chance at underperforming once they sign, develop young, cheap pitching talent.

- Contracts longer than three years for pitchers aren't a good idea. We've seen the rapid drop-off in years two and three of a deal, and it likely won't get any better in year four unless, of course, year four is another contract year.

- Lengthy and lucrative free agent contracts are not going to go away.

Oh by the way, I'm officially on the Kevin Thompson bandwagon (hat tip to No Maas for the graphic):


Written at 10:03 AM by Mike A.
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