Well, Well, Wells…Donut Boy David on DL!
Here’s the problem with signing a well-known mercenary like David Wells to an incentive laden contract; the guy’s gonna do whatever he can to make sure he squeezes every last dime out of the coffers, no matter what effect it has on the team. Wells, who came into Sox camp this spring fresh off of knee surgery, did little more than play long-toss for a week before determining that he was ready to make his first start of the season. Of course, seeing as how he’d not shown any signs of said readiness, the Sox opted to go with a four man rotation to start the season, and sent Wells down to Pawtucket to gear up for his debut against Toronto at Fenway.
Now, for those of you not familiar with David Wells contract structure, missing his turn in the rotation can cost him upwards of $200,000 dollars per start (a high-end fee predicated on him making so many starts over the season). Wells’ reacted to missing his first scheduled start by calling his manager an “idiot”, and suggested that he was more than ready to pitch. Of course, as we know now, he wasn’t. He was shelled down in Pawtucket, and subsequently shelled by Toronto, and now finds himself on the 15 day disabled list; something that could, conceivably, cost him $600,000 dollars.
David Wells was one of many reasons I wasn’t totally thrilled with the Bronson Arroyo for Willy Mo Pena trade (not the least of which being that I really would like to see Trot Nixon finish his career as a Red Sox), as what once appeared to be a surplus of starting pitching is now starting to…well…not. Matt Clement and Tim Wakefield have been the Jekyll and Hyde twins thus far, and, while both are off to fabulous 3-0 starts, one can’t count on Schilling and Beckett to carry this team through the season, especially with an offense that is putting up run totals more in tune with hockey scores rather than the slugging squads of ’04 and ’05. Without a swingman like Arroyo, the Sox are faced with either calling up another AAA starter, going back to a four man rotation (not the best idea when two of those four are closer to age 40 than 20), or sticking with long-man, Lenny DiNardo as a stop-gap until Wells returns.
Much like last year, when he rushed himself into the season and lost the opener against the Yankees, David Wells has put his paycheck before the team, and cost us at least one game this season. So what’s the big deal about one game, right?
One game was the difference between second place wild card winner and A.L. East Champions last season, folks.
Here’s the problem with signing a well-known mercenary like David Wells to an incentive laden contract; the guy’s gonna do whatever he can to make sure he squeezes every last dime out of the coffers, no matter what effect it has on the team. Wells, who came into Sox camp this spring fresh off of knee surgery, did little more than play long-toss for a week before determining that he was ready to make his first start of the season. Of course, seeing as how he’d not shown any signs of said readiness, the Sox opted to go with a four man rotation to start the season, and sent Wells down to Pawtucket to gear up for his debut against Toronto at Fenway.
