INSTEAD of getting a Big Unit, the Yankees got rid of a big headache.
They gave up on a lab experiment named Jose Contreras in exchange for what they believe is a surer thing. The Yankees wanted a No. 1 starter and ended up with more of what they have in dealing with the White Sox for Esteban Loaiza. Another righty, middle-of-the-rotation uncertainty come October.
This was as much about what the Yanks removed as what they received. As one Yankee said, this club has designs too grand to keep playing camp counselor to Contreras. The state of the Yankees in 2004, because of the decade of success and a payroll that has climbed to near $200 million, is that you can’t abide growing pains. A player either succeeds immediately or the Yankees turn to the next quicker than Paris Hilton changes boyfriends.
“The future is now all the time here,” Joe Torre said. “That’s what you get with this trade. We get a guy who is more consistent and more experienced and we traded someone with a high ceiling who has not been consistent.”
Earlier this season, a Yankees official had cautioned about giving up on a guy with Contreras’ electric stuff. He said the Pirates did that after losing patience with Jason Schmidt, who has blossomed into the best starter in the sport.
But the learning curve is even greater for Contreras. He still cannot spot his fastball. He still grows hyper in tense situations. He still has no idea how to cope with the running game. And he still is battling all kinds of cultural and language differences, even with his wife and children now by his side. This road to rotation reliability was simply too filled with potholes for the Yankees to keep navigating.
Every start for Contreras had become a mandate on if he was good or not, if he belonged in the rotation or not.
Last year, the Yanks tried this kind of deal in reverse when they obtained Armando Benitez. They hoped in their infrastructure that the talented but mentally fragile Benitez would blossom in full. But in his brief stay with the Yankees, Benitez nearly crippled the whole team. There is too much at stake with this club for them to be playing nursemaid with the mentally weak. Only the strong survive here, and Contreras lost his will someplace between his great escape from Cuba and seeing the Red Sox for the first time.
Simply put, the Yankees’ decision comes down to this: They were not going to trust Contreras in a big spot this year, particularly in October. Will they trust Loaiza? That is still to be determined. He has a chance over the next several weeks to show he belongs, and we are going to learn a lot about his makeup quickly. These are the Yankees. Mike Mussina is due back in a few weeks. When he returns, a starter is going to be bounced into the bullpen. So, welcome to New York, Esteban; now pitch great or be banished to relief.
This is a place like no other. At 10 a.m. yesterday, Yankees GM Brian Cashman was not even discussing a possibility of this trade. By mid-afternoon, he was furiously putting the pieces together. How insane is the place where Loaiza is coming? Well, he was championed by a former Yankees traveling secretary named Bill Emslie, who is now a scout for the team who has George Steinbrenner’s ear. Apparently, much of the Yankees’ high command was not anxious to make this deal.
Loaiza, a breakout revelation last year when he went 21-9 with a 2.90 ERA, has been terrible in his past seven starts, going 2-2 with a 7.34 ERA. He is a free agent at the end of this season, so he is pitching for more than his rotation spot. The Yanks saved a great deal of Contreras’ contract for 2005 and 2006 as part of this deal, so they will be looking to add in the offseason. Loaiza goes into the hopper with free-agent pitchers Pedro Martinez, Matt Morris, Matt Clement and Carl Pavano.
But that is for tomorrow. The Yankees only play for today. That is why they were so hot to snare Randy Johnson and solve their greatest need, a No. 1 starter. Failing that, they played for today by getting rid of their No. 1 problem.