At first, I was thrilled. After all, not too long ago he was the Yanks best pitcher. In 2006 & 2007, Wang posted consecutive 19 win seasons. In 2006, he was 2nd in the Cy Young voting, losing out to Johan Santana. In 2007, he was tied for 2nd in wins behind Josh Beckett's 20. He was also a fan favorite and a likable low key player. After pitching 19 scoreless innings in the WBC for Chinese Taipei it's a no brainer right? Another low risk, high yield sign. Not so fast Bomber fans, it's really not that simple. Why? I’ll show you…
I decided to weigh the pros and cons on Mr. Wang:
Pros:
Cons:
First off we already have Ivan Nova and David Phelps competing for the 5th spot in the rotation. I know, I know, you can never have enough pitching. What does that do to their morale or mindset that after working so hard and being on the verge get sent down to the farm in favor of Wang? What about the other minor league pitchers who are up and coming? Now they get pushed back a notch as well. Will signing Wang hamper their development and growth? Will they become discouraged and stop working hard? Will the allure of playing for the Yankees wear off? Wang has also been injury prone and has not been too successful in the postseason. In the 2007 ALDS against the Cleveland Indians Wang started 2 games and took the loss in both appearances. He pitched a combined 5 and 2/3 innings, giving up 12 earned runs, for a postseason ERA of 19.06. The Yankees lost the ALDS in four games. In 2012 he admitted to having an extramarital affair while recovering from a shoulder injury in 2009. His biological maternal grandfather, whom he visited often committed suicide in a park in Taiwan by hanging himself with an electrical cord in 2011. Since his foot injury in 2008, while running the bases his career has taken a nose dive. Does he have enough left in the tank to make it through the season and be consistent along the way?
Whatever the Yankees decide, I am sure they'll ask themselves some of these same questions, but we'll have to wait and see...
--Carlos Gee, BYB Writer
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