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November 04, 2006
Mussina Close To Returning
From Newsday -
Arn Tellem, the agent for Mike Mussina, said Saturday that he and the Yankees have made "substantial progress" in their negotiations for a two-year contract.
At this rate, Mussina's contract, which is expected to be worth as much as $25 million, could be finalized and formally announced sometime this week.
Mussina is coming off a six-year, $88.5-million contract and realized he needed to accept a smaller salary to stay a Yankee, which is his preference.
The Yankees realized Mussina deserves more than the $10 million a year they pay to Carl Pavano and entered talks willing to give Mussina about $12 million a year.
I can live with $12 million for 2007. That's fair. But, I hope there's a buyout for 2008. Let's be honest - Mussina's been very good in only two of his last five seasons. And, he'll be 40 right after the 2008 post-season.
I would not want to be on the hook for $12-13 million for a 40-year old pitcher. See: Johnson, Randy and Brown, Kevin for more on that.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at November 4, 2006 11:20 PM
Comments
What does Mike Mussina have to do with Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown? Mussina doesn't depend on his velocity. Those guys did. And both of those guys were stubborn about losing their stuff. They wouldn't admit it and they kept pitching the same way -- though the result was ugly.
Mussina was never a guy who blew anyone away to begin with (though he did throw harder a few years ago). Mussina knows how to pitch. He knows how to fool hitters with his breaking stuff and that's how he gets his strikeouts.
Aside from age, there's no comparing the three.
Posted by: baileywalk ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.waswatching.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 4, 2006 11:42 PM
Well, this is the market that is out there right now--Glavine is getting a 2-year deal from the Mets along the same lines and he's 2-years older. So this is practically a good deal.
I'm glad he's coming back, and in my opinion, he's one of the Yankees top 5 free agent signings of all-time.
Posted by: JeremyM at November 5, 2006 12:22 AM
he's one of the Yankees top 5 free agent signings of all-time
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An interesting observation. I guess mine would look like:
1. Reggie Jackson
2. Mike Mussina
3. Jason Giambi
4. Catfish Hunter
5. Jimmy Key
Disclaimer: I am sure that I'm forgetting others who I might wish to rank in this list. For right now, this is what I'm going with.
Posted by: MJ at November 5, 2006 12:54 AM
Give me Winfield over Giambi any day of the week.
Posted by: brockdc at November 5, 2006 03:02 AM
Mussina wouldn't play as a 40 year old until the 2009 season.
Posted by: RICH at November 5, 2006 05:43 AM
He'll be two months from 40 in the 2008 Post-season - that's close enough to being 40 for me.
Posted by: Steve Lombardi at November 5, 2006 08:58 AM
And to piggyback on bailey's comments, Mussina doesn't have the injury history that Brown or Johnson has.
And FWIW, Maddux, Wells, Glavine, Rogers, Woody Williams, etc have fared well at or older than 40 years old. OTOH, there have been others who haven't fared so well...
Posted by: Raf at November 5, 2006 09:33 AM
Give me Winfield over Giambi any day of the week.
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Like I said, I was bound to forget someone.
Posted by: MJ at November 5, 2006 09:51 AM
Didn't mean to bust your stones, MJ. I've just always felt that Winfield was hugely underappreciated when he played here.
Posted by: brockdc at November 5, 2006 02:57 PM
Brockdc - I know. Like I said, when I made that list, I couldn't help but feel like I was missing some obvious ones and Winnie definitely qualifies. Good call on that.
Posted by: MJ at November 5, 2006 03:01 PM
I've just always felt that Winfield was hugely underappreciated when he played here.
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Same here. Between Mr May, 0-22, and general butting heads with the owner, I'd say Winnie had a few strikes against him.
Posted by: Raf at November 5, 2006 07:56 PM