Big Apple Sports: All New York Sports. All The Time.

I read today that the Royals finalized a deal with lefty reliever Ron Mahay. The deal is worth $8 million over 2 years. This is news related to New York because there was a lot of speculation this off-season that Mahay would sign with the Yankees. In fact, some people, myself included, felt that it was a foregone conclusion. Like almost every other team in baseball, the Yankees are in need of bullpen help, especially from the left side (Lord knows I’ve seen Sean Henn give up enough runs over the years). Mahay, coming off a very strong year for the Rangers and Braves (he was shipped to Atlanta in the Mark Teixeira deal), seemed like a logical target for the Yankees, given their deep pockets and obvious need for a quality lefty out of the pen. However, he has seemingly slipped away, but not to another big market powerhouse, but to the lowly Royals. (I actually believe the Royals are on the way up thanks to solid General Manager Dayton Moore, but that’s not for here or now.)

One would wonder, how could the Yanks let this guy get away? I was certainly impressed by Mahay last year, and his career numbers have been solid, especially in the last 5 years (only one season with an ERA above 4.00). As bad as it may appear, I don’t think it’s that bad of a loss for the Yankees. While I have no concrete, tangible reason to believe this, I think Mahay would have been the classic New York pitching bust. He has spent most of the last five years pitching in the relative obscurity of Texas, where games down the stretch mean less than the NHL. They haven’t sniffed the playoffs since Juan Gonzalez and Pudge Rodriguez were taking turns injecting steroids into each other’s butts. It takes a special person to pitch in New York, and I just don’t think Mahay has it. Do I have proof of that? Absolutely not, but I know I’m right (I usually am). Over the last few years, many relief pitchers have put on pinstripes with the hopes that they would stabilize the bridge to Mo. Unfortunately, most of them have failed. Included in this pantheon of heroes are legends like Jay Witasick, Steve Karsay, Chris Hammond, Antonio Osuna, Juan Acevedo, Armando Benitez, Gabe White, Felix Heredia, Paul Quantrill, and my favorite, Kyle Farnsworth. I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting, put these are just a few. I think Mahay probably would have been included on this list.

So I’ll give DAP to the Yankees for realizing that it’s silly to spend $8 million on a guy who will likely flop. Aside from Mo, the most important relief pitcher we’ve had in years has been Joba, a cheap, home-grown guy. Why not just throw a bunch of guys like that up against a wall during the spring and see who sticks. It’s a lot more cost-effective than spending $8 million on a guy who probably would have been a bust. And if Mahay does in fact pitch well this year, I do not want to hear “I told you so.” I think there’s a good chance Mahay will be very effective for K.C., it was a good move for them. I just don’t think he would have been good in pinstripes. I’m out.