WiffleWOOD
08-03-04, 12:50 PM
Who needs starting pitchers? They're like the pace car at Indy: They get the thing in motion before the real guys come along to finish up the job. At least, that must be the rationale around Yankee Stadium these days. Only three teams in all of baseball find themselves in the predicament in which the Yankees are in--their best starting pitcher has a lower VORP than their highest-ranked reliever. The Yankees actually go this one better in that their two best relievers are rated higher than their best starter.
The Yankees are blessed with the two highest-ranked relievers in the game at this moment: Mariano Rivera (28.5) and Tom Gordon (28.2). Their highest-ranked starter is Javier Vazquez at 25.3. Is this a problem?
It is in that the Yankees are clearly the least-prepared starting-wise of all the teams with serious playoff possibilities. (One could make that case for the Phillies as well, but the counter to that is that unless the Phillies get more out of their starters they won't have to worry about the postseason.) For New York, the addition of Esteban Loaiza is not going to upgrade the situation much. He is a big step up from the regrettable Jose Contreras--but then, when you're considering a pitcher with the 402nd-best VORP in the game, so are a lot of people.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/vorp_pitcher_by_team2004.html?PHPSESSID=6088b1d059ad7986c6f9fe696a4efda9
The Yankees are blessed with the two highest-ranked relievers in the game at this moment: Mariano Rivera (28.5) and Tom Gordon (28.2). Their highest-ranked starter is Javier Vazquez at 25.3. Is this a problem?
It is in that the Yankees are clearly the least-prepared starting-wise of all the teams with serious playoff possibilities. (One could make that case for the Phillies as well, but the counter to that is that unless the Phillies get more out of their starters they won't have to worry about the postseason.) For New York, the addition of Esteban Loaiza is not going to upgrade the situation much. He is a big step up from the regrettable Jose Contreras--but then, when you're considering a pitcher with the 402nd-best VORP in the game, so are a lot of people.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/vorp_pitcher_by_team2004.html?PHPSESSID=6088b1d059ad7986c6f9fe696a4efda9