MARK Wohlers had a choice. He had a no-trade clause and could have shunned New York. He could have avoided questions about a five-year-old slider to Jim Leyritz that still haunts him. He could have eluded the inevitable comparisons to Chuck Knoblauch and his throwing yips. He could have stayed in non-pressure Cincinnati.
Instead, Wohlers begged for this chance. He remembered being told there is no great reward without great risk. He wondered how he could ever live with himself if he decided to stay out of a pennant race and out of the uniform of Goose Gossage, his idol growing up. He listened to the caution of his advisers and followed the feeling in his gut.
Wohlers chose to dive into the ponds of hell, thinking he will emerge backstroking in heaven. He accepted a trade to the last place he should ever want to go because he is thinking about first place. Wohlers sees the glory, not the gory. He envisions pumping high-octane strikes by hitters and slaying all the demons associated with his star-crossed career. He came to the fork in the road and chose the bumpy option because of what potentially is at the end. A pot of gold, of course.
“Was there any hesitation? None,” Wohlers said. “When you find out the New York Yankees are interested and you can go back to the World Series, it’s a no-brainer.”
So the Yankees’ never-ending facelift continued. A week after obtaining Jay Witasick for D’Angelo Jimenez from the Padres, the Yanks acquired Wohlers from Cincinnati for 19-year-old righty Ricardo Aramboles. The Yanks had questions about the makeup of both prospects despite their obvious upside.
But the Yanks liked that Witasick cannot be a free agent until after the 2004 season and that Wohlers, who can be a free agent after this year, and the team get a half-season trial together that – if successful – could end with Wohlers getting the contract to set up Mariano Rivera that Jeff Nelson did not.
Mostly, however, because these are the Yankees, all trades are about today. GM Brian Cashman wanted to give Joe Torre multiple seventh- and eighth-inning options with Witasick, Wohlers, Ramiro Mendoza and the overworked Mike Stanton, who pitched for the 41st time in 78 games yesterday, earning the win as the Yanks beat Tampa 5-4.
Chuck Knoblauch did not start yesterday and Gerald Williams, another new edition, pinch-hit for Paul O’Neill vs. lefty Doug Creek. Torre admitted he will forgo loyalty to win. He knows the Red Sox, beset by injury and infighting, are vulnerable while the Yanks got David Justice back off the DL yesterday, with Andy Pettitte due today.
Torre recognizes his team, 12 games over .500 for the first time, can gain control of the division, a goal made more plausible if Wohlers is the guy who saved Atlanta’s 1-0, World Series-clinching Game 6 in 1995 – the run coming on a Justice homer – and not the guy who an October later served up the three-run homer to Leyritz that keyed a Yankee championship that began a horror show for Wohlers.
In 1998, Wohlers lost the plate; Rick Ankiel before you knew who he was. In a week in which the Yanks attempted to trade Knoblauch, they must pray they did not obtain a similar headache. Wohlers said his problems were due to a painful divorce and a painful elbow that would need Tommy John surgery. He reports no re-occurrence of the yips the past two years, saying the time off to recuperate his arm cleared his mind.
He has just seven walks in 32 innings and had permitted just one run in his last 15 innings (14 outings), making Yankee scouts drool at his 96-98-mph heat. But that was with Cincinnati, a nurturing atmosphere Wohlers liked so much that last offseason he stayed for less money than offered elsewhere.
Now he has decided to leave that cocoon. True to his good-guy rep, Wohlers acquitted himself well outside the safe haven yesterday, saying on a conference call he will answer all questions about Leyritz or the yips through today, but then asking for a chance to concentrate on a new life outside the cocoon. His heart seems in the right place, and now we are going to find out about his arm and mind in a forum far tougher than a conference call.
Mark Wohlers has willingly opened himself to potential disaster because he sees something completely different. He sees a parade.