WHY MILLWOOD’S THE FLAVOR OF THE DAY

So, free agent pitchers riddled with injuries got you down? Apparently it’s got the Yankees down too. They’ve been sifting through medical records and strikeout records and injury records and even record albums to try and find anything, ANYTHING, to give them guidance on who to try and plug in their starting rotation that hasn’t had too many issues. There are elbow problems and hip injuries and who knows what else. Good News Yankee Fans, today’s flavor is Kevin Millwood. Yesterday, it was Freddy Garcia. Tomorrow we’ll get a report that Bartolo Colon pitched well in his winter league and he’ll be back on the radar. It’s just plain nuts.

So, back to Kevin Millwood. I mentioned in WHY I LIKE LEFTOVERS and WHY ANDY IS COMFORT that Millwood is the possible best option for the Yanks, merely because of his health record being better than the other free agent pitchers out there and he being an innings eater. Plus, while Kevin Millwood’s career may be behind him at this point, he’s much better than the 4-16 record he put up with the Orioles in 2010. Part of that record’s blame needs to go to the Orioles, who didn’t play well last year. The other blame needs to go to Millwood because, let’s face it, he’s not the pitcher he used to be. That being said, none of these guys are. I would expect if the Yankees signed Millwood, we would get more wins than when he was with the Orioles, plus, the Yankees are a much better team offensively. If we got 10 wins from Millwood in 2011, I’d be thrilled.

Look, the pitchers we’ve looked at time and time again this off season. Yes, all have had decent careers and brief flashes of greatness. Some used to be lights out. Some struck everyone at one time. Others were just plain dominant. The problem? To put it simply…it's 2011, not 2004. All of them and I mean all of the pitchers that the Yankees are looking at have been hurt, some more serious than others, and have had operations to correct the problems. Kevin Millwood, seems to be the exception. If you line up all these pitchers against a brick wall, Kevin Millwood may stand out as the pitcher that fits the Yankees mold perfectly.

He's an innings eater. The Yankees are looking for an innings eater. Someone like Freddy Garcia has pitched UNDER 300 innings the past 4 years. Millwood has not. Millwood can pitch innings all day long, in fact he usually pitches up to 30 games a season.

His health record is MUCH better than the others. The Yankees ideally would not want someone who may not be able to pitch through the season.

He’s a former ace that can balance out the Yankees rotation? Millwood would be a great 4th or 5th starter in the rotation, no doubt.

He’s a better option than Sergio Mitre. Let’s face it, even Colon and Garcia are a better option than Mitre. Actually, that’s an unfair attack against Mitre. I apologize.

There is 1 thing that will be a factor with Kevin Millwood though. It’s Money. How much would he request to pitch in the Bronx. No doubt it will be more than these injury riddled pitchers who are on their way back. Those guys can’t ask for a lot because, well, they’re damaged goods… they would have to have balls to do that. Millwood, could ask for quite a bit more, because while his record was horrible last year, he may be the best pitcher of the lot. If that’s the case, look for the Yankees not to spend on a Kevin Millwood then. Then again… that’s what I said about Rafael Soriano.

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