NOT even 48 hours after the story broke about a Frontier League pitcher named Brett Gray striking out 25 batters for the London (Ontario) Werewolves, the Reds signed him and assigned him to Class A Dayton.
The snap decision was made in the Reds’ draft war room, on the advice of Reds superscout Gary Hughes, a general manager in waiting.
“We all read about it in the paper and Gary said, ‘I’ve seen him. He can pitch a little. I think he’s got an outside chance. What do you think?’ I said, ‘Sign him.’ So we signed him,” Reds general manager Jim Bowden said.
Any time a pitcher strikes out 25 batters in a game, it’s an intriguing story, even if all that pitcher earns after getting his big break at the age of 23 is earning $1,050 a month.
“I don’t think it’s a good story unless he makes it,” Bowden said.
Osvaldo Fernandez, now there’s a story, according to Bowden.
“Forty hours before spring training started Gary Hughes told me he thought Osvaldo Fernandez could help us,” Bowden said. “I said, ‘Gary, come on, what makes you say that? The guy hasn’t pitched in two years.’ He said, ‘He’s healthy now and I think he can pitch.’ I said, ‘Sign him.’ Now he’s one of the best pitchers on our staff.
“When you’re a small market team, you have to be willing to take risks and sign guys when you don’t have the money to buy David Cone and Roger Clemens. You can’t worry about failing.”
The Reds took a risk on Steve Blass Disease victim Mark Wohlers and early returns suggest he has licked the dreaded SBD. Wohlers underwent elbow surgery.
“Absolutely,” Bowden said when asked if the elbow problems led to the control problems. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it’s been exciting. He’s throwing 95, 97, he’s got the splitter back, needs to work on his slider still, but if he keeps going like that he could be a big help to us.”
Mets broadcaster Fran Healy had problems throwing the ball back to the pitcher while catching for the Royals, then managed by Jack McKeon.
Wohlers grew up in Holyoke, Mass., as did Healy. Wohlers was promoted last week to the Reds’ Triple A affiliate in Louisville, one phone call away from joining the Reds, managed by McKeon.
“I told Mark that Jack will be the perfect guy for him to play for,” Healy said. “What he’ll do is minimize the problem. With me, Jack said, ‘I don’t care how you throw the ball back to the pitcher, just keep throwing guys out at second base.’ Jack’s great.”
In his first four minor league innings, including three for Class A Dayton, Wohlers walked two batters and struck out eight.
Another quality reliever would help the Reds mask their biggest weakness, a shallow rotation. With Ken Griffey and Sean Casey wallowing in the .220 neighborhood, the Reds’ offense is bound to get better.
“Our starters have been inconsistent and our offense hasn’t kicked in gear and we still have the same record we did a year ago at this time and we went on to win 96 games,” Bowden said. “You have to believe our offense will kick it in gear. We’re supposed to score runs with the lineup we have.”
The Reds will score runs and if, as they did a year ago when they sold players to Japan, they can find creative ways to create room in their budget to deal for a starting pitcher, they will pose a serious threat to the Mets’ wild-card hopes.
Valdes is good fit for Bobby’s Mets
IF the Orioles don’t make Mike Mussina available, Brad Radke (Twins), Andy Ashby (Phillies) and Ismael Valdes (Cubs) likely will be the most attractive hired guns.
Before bringing Ashby to New York, the Mets and Yanks might consider what he said on a night the opponent was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and only 13,237 tickets were sold.
“This is a tough place to play,” Ashby told Philadelphia reporters. “I’m not going to deny that. … It’s frustrating when you put everything on the line and still get booed.”
If pitching for the Phillies in front of small crowds at the Vet is too much the pressure cooker for Ashby, how would the New York heat suit him?
Valdes would be a better fit in a Mets uniform. In three seasons under Mets pitching coach Dave Wallace’s tutelage while with the Dodgers, Valdes went 38-29 with a 3.02 ERA. While not pitching for Wallace, he is 24-26, 4.05.
A good deal – honest!
EVERY baseball trade features both GMs proclaiming the deal, “good for both teams.” Then it turns out so one-sided one of the GMs gets canned.
The seven-player, winter deal between the Cardinals and Rockies actually was good for both improved teams. The Cardinals picked up Darryl Kile, who couldn’t get his curveball to break in the thin Coors Field air. Kile is 9-2, 3.76 away from Coors Field this season, 0-1, 42.35 at his chamber of horrors.
The Rockies picked up closer Jose Jimenez and reliever Manny Aybar, then, in the first week of the season, dealt Aybar to the Reds for Gabe White. Jimenez and White understand the key to pitching at Coors is not trying to avoid surrendering home runs by picking at corners, rather pitching to avoid home run counts by firing strikes. White, the best setup man in franchise history, entered the weekend 6-0 for the Rockies and had a 1.06 ERA at home . …
Wohlers isn’t the only pitcher showing encouraging signs he has licked SBD.
The Cardinals had high hopes for RHP Chad Hutchinson coming into spring training, but the former Stanford quarterback walked 27 batters in 81/3 Triple A innings and had a 25.92 ERA. Demoted to Double A, Hutchinson has walked 23 batters in 34 innings, a ratio only slightly higher than his career standard coming into this season.
A-Rod:show methe $$$
IT seemed to be one of those softball questions too often asked of hardball players.
“What’s more important, winning or the money?” Leslie Maxie-Leonard asked Mariners shortstop Alex Rodriguez on “Goin’ Deep,” a Fox Sports Net baseball show.
Rodriguez: “I think the money at this point is very important to me because I want to take care of my family and the people that I love. Winning is a close second … but I have to look out for my family first.”
There you have it. Baseball is a job. Oh well, at least he was honest.
A-Rod, a magna cum laude graduate of the Cal Ripken school of cautious quotes, let his guard down there. It won’t keep him from coming close to becoming baseball’s first $20 million-a-year player next winter.
Stop. I know what you’re thinking: Rodriguez makes $4,362,500 this season, which means he averages $11,952.05 a day for the entire calendar, how big can this guy’s family be? Wrong. This was a leap year, so he only makes $11,919.40 a day. Gasoline costs nearly $2 a gallon, which means his ride might guzzle as much as $10 a day, so right away, he’s down to just $11,909.40 a day. So save the greedy ballplayer complaints. Come on, the guy said winning is a “close second.” What more can you ask?