Jered Weaver is worth every penny

Jered Weaver said something in his post contract signing press conference that I think every sports fan in the world has thought at one point or another.

He basically said that if he can't make $85 million work over his life then he is just stupid.

Good for him.

Anyone who talks about the money he could have picked up in free agency being in a Boston and New York bidding war is not taking some things into account.

But the BIGGEST thing they are missing is that he gets to stay in the same quality organization, being managed by Mike Scioscia, have a shot at the post season every single year, play near his hometown and make more money than most of us will make in 85 life times!

Yeah. Big sacrifice.

When you get to the point where even after taxes and fees you can still blow a million a year for the rest of your life and leave your kids seven figures, then maybe you should take other things into account. Like "enjoying your situation."

If Weaver spends the entire 5 years with the Angels then he will be a 33 year old man who has spent 11 big league seasons with the same stable organization and be a quick drive from the town he grew up in.

Assuming he finishes in the top 5 of the Cy Young vote this year, he will already have 2 such finishes and 2 All Star berths and 3 trips to the post season.

It is safe to say that he will increase all of those totals after 5 seasons.

And oh yeah... have earned $85 MILLION!

After taxes that would come out to MORE MONEY THAN I WOULD ASK A GENIE!

As for missing the bidding war, ask A. J. Burnett how happy he is. Ask John Lackey if he'd rather be in Anaheim. Sometimes being happy and in a place you love with a good organization can trump that SECOND fortune to go with the first.

I wouldn't know. It just seems that way.

But there is another factor to consider.

Go back the length of his contract and look at recent Cy Young winners.

The 2006 winner was Johan Santana. He was 27 years old and won his second Cy Young Award. He was the best pitcher of the American League and putting together a Hall of Fame resume. Injuries have kept him off the big league roster for the entire season so far at age 32.

The other winner in 2006 was Brandon Webb. He was also 27 years old and putting together a brilliant career. He nearly won it again in 2008. He has pitched a single big league game since the beginning of the 2009 season and hasn't pitched this decade yet.

26 year old Jake Peavy won the Cy Young in 2007. Injuries riddled his 2009 and 2010 campaigns and his 2011 season has been spotty at best with a 5.06 ERA in Chicago.

A Cy Young caliber pitcher's career can derail pretty quickly. And who knows what happens in a year.

When you are playing Deal or No Deal and you open a suitcase that is filled with $85 million and the ability to work where you want to live... wouldn't you say "Take the deal"?

I would.

In fact someone offer me that right now.

He pitched 7 shutout innings for his 15 win tonight and lowered his league leading ERA to 2.03.



And oh yeah, helped the Angels get to 2 games back in the loss column of the Rangers.



It's a good deal. As I said in the Cliff Lee signing... it is easy to walk away from $60 million if you get to work where you WANT to work AND collect $85 million.

Cool retro uniforms... cool win

The LA retro uniforms for the Angels are pretty cool. And they have that odd halo at the top of the cap. Eric Stangel, the Executive Producer and head writer of Late Show with David Letterman had the comment "It's fun to look at the Angels throwback halo caps and pretend every player is wearing a yarmulke."

Well MAZELTOV Angels!
A nice 1 run win against the Yankees. Weaver looked good and Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, A-Rod and Cano combined for 1 hit.

The Sox need all the help they can get to climb back into First Place.
Sabathia is going tomorrow... how's about an upset?
And how's about bringing out MORE throw back unis?

Example #849,113 of why win loss records are misleading

Jared Weaver began the season 6-0 with a 0.99 ERA. One month into the season he looked like the Cy Young Award was his to lose.

Then he started losing. He hasn’t since April. He lost his next 4 starts and had a no decision today. So he has been dreadful since then, right?

Well take a look at his no decision today.
9 innings, zero runs, 2 hits, 2 walks.

Not bad.

Include that start and combine it with his other May starts and he is averaging 6 2/3 innings a start and has an ERA of 3.37. He struck out nearly 3 batters for each walk and as of this writing leads the league in innings pitched.

What a loser.

32 pitchers have as many or more wins than the Red Sox

Look, I thought Dan Haren was going to be a Cy Young contender. And his teammate Jered Weaver should have a great year too.

And A. J. Burnett always starts off well.

All three have MORE wins than the Red Sox at this point.

It's mid April and the Red Sox have barely plural wins.

And there are 29 other pitchers who have tied the Red Sox in wins.
Some I can accept.

Roy Oswalt, Clayton Kershaw, Roy Halladay, Josh Johnson and Tim Hudson were supposed to be good.

But Matt Belisle? Justin Masterson? Logan Ondrusek?

For God sake, Kevin Correia has as many wins as the Red Sox! NO PIRATES pitcher should be out winning the Red Sox.

The others? Max Scherzer, Matt Harrison, Carlos Zambrano, Hiroki Kuroda, Derek Hollan, Aaron Harand, Edwin Jackson, Shaun Marcum, Edinson Volquez, Jhoulys Chacin, Rafael Perez, Jose Valverde, Armando Galarraga, Gio Gonzalez, Chris Sale, Josh Tomlin, Alexi Ogando, Zach Britton and Esmil Rogers all have matched the Red Sox.

And oh yeah... Bronson Arroyo.
(Can we still get Wily Mo Pena in the lineup?)

New Cy Young Contenders in the A.L.

After Saturday, it didn't seem like David Price, Jon Lester nor Cliff Lee were really that interested in winning the American League Cy Young Award.

Well if the front runners don't wan to pull away from the pack... then the actual winner could emerge from a much bigger pool.

Trevor Cahill has the lowest batting average against, is neck and neck with Cliff Lee for best WHIP and is third in ERA. His win total of 12 is impressive when you consider he missed April. Since July 28th he is 4-1 with a 0.90 ERA and an 0.85 WHIP averaging 8 innings a start.

Jered Weaver may have had a rough inning tonight but he is still leading the league in strikeouts and his WAR for pitchers is second in the league. (I typed that as if I knew what it meant.)

Justin Verlander won his 14th game today, which means he is a cinch to win 17 or more games for the 4th time in 5 seasons. But he is winning in solid 7 or 8 inning performances and creeping up the strikeout leader board. A dominating September could put him higher up the list.

C.C. Sabathia (sorry, I am still including the punctuation) looks like he will FINALLY be a 20 game winner this season after 19 win seasons in 2007 and 2009. He had won his last 4 starts and done so convincingly. He's gone deep into games and given the bullpen an easy night when he takes the hill... a requirement for a Yankee team with so many question marks in the pitching staff. Sabathia might be keeping them in first on his own.

Clay Buchholz has won his last 5 decisions over 6 starts and done so with ace like numbers. A 1.03 ERA. 2.5 strikeouts for each walk and averaging 6 2/3 innings a start. (He only went 6 today in a rain soaked blowout. Throw in his leading the league in ERA and he may have surpassed Jon Lester as the team's primary Cy Young hopeful.


Now Lester, Price or Lee could have a dominating September and make a mockery of all of this. Or they can come back to the pack and see an AL Cy Young race that is every bit as close as the NL... if not as sexy with dominating candidates but ripe for healthy debate.

Man, I hope Carl Pavano DOES enter this equation.