The Futility Infielder

Another week, another epic: the latest version of the Prospectus Hit List went up yesterday, chock full of trade deadline tidbits that had me updating into the wee hours. A day later I'm so busy and brain-fried that I've got little to add to that particular novella, except to say that once again the Yankee rotation looks to be about two avocados short of a guacamole dip. Kevin Brown has been scratched and Carl Pavano pushed back a day, putting the Yankees in a similar situation to where they were a couple weeks ago.

Brown has been godawful in his two starts since returning from the DL, allowing 13 runs in just 7.2 innings, raising his already lousy ERA up to 6.50. Today's New York Times speculates that the cranky old bird may be cooked:

Nobody could say for sure that Brown, 40, would pitch again this season. Brown has been awful in two starts since missing a month with a lower-back strain, and though he said surgery was not an option for now, there may be no point in trying to pitch.

If the doctors determine that Brown would be so limited that he could no longer pitch effectively, the Yankees could simply release him.

Since Brown's likely never to earn any redemption for last fall's transgressions or justify his $15 million salary, that would be just as well, no matter which "Your Name Here" candidate washes up on the shores of the Harlem River to replace him. Meanwhile Pavano's rehab, which had him slated to return to the pinstripes on Saturday, was simply juggled to push him back at least a day. If, y'know, you believe what the Yankee brass is selling.

Meanwhile the Yanks appear to be mulling putting Jaret Wright, injured since late April, into the bullpen once he returns. According to the New York Post's Joel Sherman:

The Yankees are rehabbing Jaret Wright's injured shoulder with designs on putting a power arm in the bullpen, not the rotation, by mid-August.

This decision is much like the one that motivated the Red Sox to have Curt Schilling close. It is a marriage of need and necessity. The Yanks need help in the pen, and are not sure there is enough time to build Wright back up to throwing 100 pitches every five days.

"That (the bullpen) is what (Wright) is pitching toward," Brian Cashman confirmed yesterday. "He's doing very well (in his rehab). I'm not telling you we can count on it, but he can slot into bullpen for us."

Hmmmm.... for what it's worth, Wright did spend 2003 in the bullpen, with drastically mixed results: an 8.37 ERA in 47.1 innings with the Padres before they released him, and then a late-season salvage job with the Braves, where he put up a 2.00 ERA in nine innings under Leo Mazzone's wing, then made the playoff roster and pitched another four scoreless frames. It could work, but that still leaves the Yanks with a rotation of Randy Johnson (who was vintage last night in blanking the Twins on two hits over eight innings), Mike Mussina, Al Leiter (not so good in his second start), Aaron Small (career 5.46 ERA and all), and ______ for the foreseeable future. The Times article speculates that Hideo Nomo, recently released by the Devil Rays for having an ERA that offended the community standards of Florida's elderly population (7.24 overall, 10.32 on the road), might be next. Nomo's agent is playing hard to get, however:

Don Nomura... said he was talking to the Yankees and to West Coast teams about Nomo. "All the clubs have a lot of interest," Nomura said. "It's us that are going to do the choosing."

Good Lord, the Yanks have been reduced to hoping that another team's detritus deems them worthy of his services. As much as I liked Nomo when he was on, he's awful when he isn't (Granny Gooden plus a herky-jerky motion), and I have to think the team can find better results in the trade market even at the cost of a B-grade prospect like Sean Henn or Alex Graman. I'd love it if the Yanks could land a mid-rotation inning-eater like the Pirates' Mark Redman, but I fear they're more likely to end up with some Mariner whose prospect status may be ancient even if his arm is not (Gil Meche, Joel Piniero).

Enough about the Yankees, who rank sixth on the Hit List, and over to the Dodgers, who are 23rd. Though I forgot to deploy my Monty Python Black Knight joke, they're clearly not dead yet. The Padres have lost eight straight and though they still lead the division, they're only 50-50, and they now have a negative run differential just like every other NL West team. The Dodgers are now eight games under .500, but they got Milton Bradley back this past weekend, and with Odalis Perez having returned, the rotation is finally as close to full strength as it's been all year. There's a rumor floating around that they're working on a deal for Adam Dunn, with Antonio Perez and Edwin Jackson headed to Cincinnati, a deal I'd make in a second given that Jackson was posting an ERA of 8.62 in Las Vegas before he was sent down to Double-A Jacksonville, where he hasn't impressed anyone. Répétez avec moi: there's no such thing as a pitching prospect. The Dodgers have a real need for some bullpen help, with rookie closer Yhency Brazoban having allowed 14 runs in his last 13 innings, taking the loss four times and ballooning his ERA to 5.58; turn those games around and the team is right at .500, dead even with the Padres. A little help?

It's a busy week here; I'm hard at work on a top-secret project that's pretty exciting if it pans out, and headed to see the Yanks tonight and again on Saturday. Toodle-oo...