What am I missing about Wandy Rodriguez?

[yoshii8]

He's 32 years old, and has been very good the last 4 seasons, while staying healthy. It seems like his value would be extremely high, but I've heard quotes saying there is no way anybody would take on the remaining 3 years and 36 million of his contract. I don't get it, that doesn't seem like to high of a contract for a guy that is going to give you a 200 innings w/ a3.50 era, and a good k/bb ratio. What am I missing about him?

[TheCrew]

Minute Maid has helped him - his road ERA is 1.5 runs higher.

 

That said, I was surprised he wasn't dealt as I don't think his contract is that bad either - then again, $12 million at 35 years old for him could be some serious dead weight at the end of the deal.

[Hate those Rodents]

Without analyzing his numbers in detail, I have always thought of Wandy as like a Randy Wolf. It's not out of the question to pay a guy like that 12 million per year, but most teams don't want to that.

[Warning Track Power]

From our end, Greinke and Marcum are subtantially better and the focus is on them to be re-signed. From the Yankees and/or Red Sox end, I think it's about a certain mentality to pitch in those markets. Greinke didn't strike the Yankees as being able to handle the NYC market. I see Wandy as fitting that same mentality. Good small market pitcher, mediocre big market pitcher and for $12MM per you don't make that investment.

 

Not sure if that's their thinking but it makes sense to me.

[RockCoCougars]

The contract is far too rich for my blood for a guy who is arguably a #5 here.

[endaround]

From our end, Greinke and Marcum are subtantially better and the focus is on them to be re-signed. From the Yankees and/or Red Sox end, I think it's about a certain mentality to pitch in those markets. Greinke didn't strike the Yankees as being able to handle the NYC market. I see Wandy as fitting that same mentality. Good small market pitcher, mediocre big market pitcher and for $12MM per you don't make that investment.

 

Not sure if that's their thinking but it makes sense to me.

I love how a small market is a team that doesn't win. Houston is a huge market, #6 in the US at 5.9m.

[Warning Track Power]

From our end, Greinke and Marcum are subtantially better and the focus is on them to be re-signed. From the Yankees and/or Red Sox end, I think it's about a certain mentality to pitch in those markets. Greinke didn't strike the Yankees as being able to handle the NYC market. I see Wandy as fitting that same mentality. Good small market pitcher, mediocre big market pitcher and for $12MM per you don't make that investment.

 

Not sure if that's their thinking but it makes sense to me.

I love how a small market is a team that doesn't win. Houston is a huge market, #6 in the US at 5.9m.

I never said that a small market is a team that doesn't win. My point should have been that playing in huge markets such as Philadelphia, Boston and New York is totally different than playing in huge markets such as Houston, Los Angeles or Phoenix. Think that was relatively clear from the post but thanks for giving me the chance to clear up what was said.

[gregmag]

From our end, Greinke and Marcum are subtantially better and the focus is on them to be re-signed. From the Yankees and/or Red Sox end, I think it's about a certain mentality to pitch in those markets. Greinke didn't strike the Yankees as being able to handle the NYC market. I see Wandy as fitting that same mentality. Good small market pitcher, mediocre big market pitcher and for $12MM per you don't make that investment.

 

Not sure if that's their thinking but it makes sense to me.

I love how a small market is a team that doesn't win. Houston is a huge market, #6 in the US at 5.9m.

I never said that a small market is a team that doesn't win. My point should have been that playing in huge markets such as Philadelphia, Boston and New York is totally different than playing in huge markets such as Houston, Los Angeles or Phoenix. Think that was relatively clear from the post but thanks for giving me the chance to clear up what was said.

I think you're generalizing a lot and not explaining very much. How/why is playing in Philly tougher than playing in Houston or L.A., assuming both teams are performing at the same level? I'm not suggesting you're wrong across the board -- I lived in Philly, and some of the fans there get incredibly mean and bitter when the team is losing. But it's not at all clear to me that Philly is a tougher town to play in, other things being equal, than Houston or L.A. Heck, L.A. has a lot more media than Philly, and I'd say (based on my limited experience, and I say this affectionately) that L.A. is certainly a weirder place overall.

 

I think NYC and Boston get overhyped in every conceivable way, and this is one of them. Does it really take a special type of player to play in NYC? If so, what kind of player are we talking about, and in what circumstances have the NYC teams actually and wisely avoided acquiring such players? I'm willing to believe that a certain special kind of player *can't* play in NYC -- a player who is unusually attentive to the media, unusually afraid of failure, and unusually sensitive. But I've never gotten the sense that major pro sports are full of that personality type. Greinke isn't that type at all. I sometimes get the sense that he's only vaguely conscious of where he is and what's going on around him -- he just goes out and does his thing.

[craigharmann]

He's 32 years old, and has been very good the last 4 seasons, while staying healthy. It seems like his value would be extremely high, but I've heard quotes saying there is no way anybody would take on the remaining 3 years and 36 million of his contract. I don't get it, that doesn't seem like to high of a contract for a guy that is going to give you a 200 innings w/ a3.50 era, and a good k/bb ratio. What am I missing about him?

 

 

What are you missing?? You're looking too deep! His name is Wandy! Like Andy, but with a W! It's why Stosh is so cool. His name is Stosh! Wandy's name is Wandy, which I think is a bit wimpy, but others don't!

[Warning Track Power]

I think you're generalizing a lot and not explaining very much. How/why is playing in Philly tougher than playing in Houston or L.A., assuming both teams are performing at the same level? I'm not suggesting you're wrong across the board -- I lived in Philly, and some of the fans there get incredibly mean and bitter when the team is losing. But it's not at all clear to me that Philly is a tougher town to play in, other things being equal, than Houston or L.A. Heck, L.A. has a lot more media than Philly, and I'd say (based on my limited experience, and I say this affectionately) that L.A. is certainly a weirder place overall.

 

I think NYC and Boston get overhyped in every conceivable way, and this is one of them. Does it really take a special type of player to play in NYC? If so, what kind of player are we talking about, and in what circumstances have the NYC teams actually and wisely avoided acquiring such players? I'm willing to believe that a certain special kind of player *can't* play in NYC -- a player who is unusually attentive to the media, unusually afraid of failure, and unusually sensitive. But I've never gotten the sense that major pro sports are full of that personality type. Greinke isn't that type at all. I sometimes get the sense that he's only vaguely conscious of where he is and what's going on around him -- he just goes out and does his thing.

Greg:

 

My perspective and why I come to the conclusions about L.A/Phoenix/Houston v. N.Y./Boston/Philadelphia...I do live in L.A. and have lived here for 30 years. The fans here generally do not pour their heart and soul into any team, the Lakers and USC football included. It is more about being seen and being popular when you root for those teams rather than being a diehard. The fanbase here is frontrunner defined. When they're good, everyone is a fan. When they're bad, they can turn to another team or another form of entertainment and completely ignore the team altogether until they are good again. Case in point USC now or the Lakers between Shaq's last game and Pau Gasol's first. Believe me when I say that most of my friends don't quite understand the depth at which I root for the Brewers, Packers and Badgers. To a man, I cannot find one friend in Southern California who understood why I had tears in my eyes when Braun hit the HR to beat the Cubs in Septmber 2008. Fans in Phoenix are very similar. I don't know if it is the transplant nature of residents of Southern California and Arizona in general that makes them relatively ambivalent to sports teams when they aren't succeeding, but isn't the passion for the teams here that is prevalent in other places like Chicago, New York and even Wisconsin, when the team is awful.

 

Have I lived in Philly, New York or Boston? No I have not, however I do know people from there who tell me about the difference in sports culture in these cities versus L.A. I can also tell you that there weren't any stories about lifelong Angel fans crying at gravestones of dead family members when they won the World Series like there were when the Red Sox won the World Series. Nor are the local sports shows jammed packed with USC football or UCLA basketball phone calls when they are expected to be bad. The Clippers get no love here because no one wants to root for the loser when the glamorous Lakers are in town.

 

Think of Wisconsin. Even when the Packers are expected to be average, think pre-2006 season, there is still a buzz and excitement and they will be talked about to no end. The other day, the Dodgers game summary, which is usually front and center on the first page of the L.A. Times sports section was 4 paragraphs long on Page 6. When the Brewers are awful, do they get moved to Page 6 in the JS?

 

Does it really take a special type of player to play in NYC or Boston? I would say yes. The passionate fanbase in these places almost demands around the clock coverage of these players. There is no back page of the New York Post in L.A. or Arizona. Greg you said it yourself: "I'm willing to believe that a certain special kind of player *can't* play in NYC -- a player who is unusually attentive to the media, unusually afraid of failure, and unusually sensitive." If you don't mind being on display at all times then Boston and New York are probably you're thing. If you don't mind blending in with all the celebrities and not having it be a big deal when you are at dinner, I think L.A. is more your speed. I know New York has its celebs as well, but being a Yankee, Knick, Giant or Jet appears to be more glamorous and more appealing to the public in New York than being a Laker, Dodger or Angel is to the general public in L.A.

 

Just sharing my experience.

[pitchleague]

I concur 100% with what warning track power has posted. When I go to Diamondbacks games, it is like first pitch at Miller Park, not a ton of people inside the park. But in Milwaukee, there's a reason the fans aren't in the stands at first pitch--they're still tailgating. In Phoenix, there is no reason--no tailgating, the bar scene is valid but the 4-5 bars within walking distance of the park are far from packed. People just don't care to arrive on time because then they can't make an "entrance" and be seen by other people.

 

When the Dbacks sucked, it was difficult seeing anybody at the games, period, except for the visiting fans (which dominated the crowd) and few die-hard Dback fans who've been there since the beginning.

 

I'm not really going to say anything else because warning track pretty much said everything that I would say anyways.