December 31, 2003

Another whale retiring at Sea World.: Apparently David Wells might be going home to San Diego to play for the Friars, and not to the Yankees. Will wonders ever cease?
More inside..

posted by lilnemo to baseball at 01:02 PM - 18 comments

The Padres are looking for one more starting pitcher and it looks like their willing to take a flier on Wells. Apparently Maddux's price is a bit too steep. I think the Padres would prefer Maddux, but since he's playing hardball Wells is a good cheap starter. Anyone else got a line on this? Is Wells just leveraging the Padres to put pressure on the Yanks for a deal in the Majors and not the Minors? Or is this a genuine, mutual deal?

posted by lilnemo at 01:06 PM on December 31, 2003

Wells is taking advantage of a deal he's not likely to see anywhere else. San Diego is desperate, and overpaying. I'm no talent scout, but it seems to me that Wells' star has faded. He can still pitch better than I can, but perhaps he belongs on a minor league or lowest-tier major league team. The real question is whether or not this will drive Maddux to sign with the Brewers.

posted by rocketman at 01:17 PM on December 31, 2003

Wells can still win 16-18 if healthy. It means the Yankees have no backup to Lieber if he gets hurt again, and it sucks to see a guy who loves the Yankees so much go. But he lives out there and it makes sense, and yes, they're overpaying him and taking a big risk. Whatever, the Pads could get their money's worth and do well too... I'd be OK with that.

posted by Bernreuther at 01:31 PM on December 31, 2003

Whatever Wells does next year, less pitching depth on the Yankees is good.

posted by djacobs at 01:36 PM on December 31, 2003

first pettitte, now wells. no one the yankees fans were counting on is sticking around.

posted by jerseygirl at 01:42 PM on December 31, 2003

It's Steinbrenner. He's everywhere. He's omnivorous.

posted by lilnemo at 02:01 PM on December 31, 2003

Wells can still win 16-18 if healthy. Put "The Hefty Lefty" down for about 7 then.

posted by yerfatma at 02:12 PM on December 31, 2003

Even if he stays healthy, this will not help the Padres enough to make the playoffs.

posted by billsaysthis at 02:21 PM on December 31, 2003

I we're just shooting for a "let's lose less than 90" season. Wells easily be better than whatever poor schmo we're set to pull up from AA.

posted by LionIndex at 02:34 PM on December 31, 2003

I think we're/

posted by LionIndex at 02:35 PM on December 31, 2003

Wells easily be better than whatever poor schmo we're set to pull up from AA. Just 'cause he quit before the 5th step doesn't mean David doesn't fit that description too.

posted by yerfatma at 03:19 PM on December 31, 2003

For my next trick I'll write a sentence with the word "doesn't" in it 3x.

posted by yerfatma at 03:20 PM on December 31, 2003

Actually, I think that's what I meant. My grammar was just all kinds of messed up on that post.

posted by LionIndex at 04:49 PM on December 31, 2003

Whale? Oh, I get it. He's fat. Ha ha.

posted by mr_crash_davis at 05:06 PM on December 31, 2003

Pettite is a big loss; I don't thnk Wells is, really. Yes, he's got tremendous ability to pitch well when healthy, but he hasn't been healthy in a while, and yes, it is a weight thing. He's badly out of shape, and natural talent can no longer carry him.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 06:40 PM on December 31, 2003

Wells might actually do decent in the NL West. Good luck to him.

posted by jasonspaceman at 08:10 PM on December 31, 2003

this is kind of interesting. Wells has a uh, weblog, sorta. do yourself a favor and skip quickly over the POD flash intro after you Enter the site. It would have been a great FPP if the timing was right. (he reviews restaurants!) Anyway, in a recent, albeit undated, entry he gets wishy washy on wanting to play for the Yankees ("If they want me back, I would be there no question... but maybe my time is up here") but there are other teams out there that he's interested in ("I wouldn't mind playing in my hometown where I grew up in San Diego"). I can't tell if he's making subtle jabs throughout (the cheap champagne, George not talking to him at one point, the communication issues he briefly mentions) or what. I guess it's really not very Boomer-like to be subtle either though.

posted by jerseygirl at 10:36 AM on January 01, 2004

It's official.

posted by forksclovetofu at 02:52 PM on January 01, 2004

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