Carlos Rodon was a bust in 2023. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but he was. Maybe he can bounce back in 2024, or perhaps his attitude will be his own undoing. Speaking of attitude, there's Blake Snell who many think is not Northeast material. Rodon and Snell are two peas in a pod and here's my rationale.
"Rodón had a miserable first year of a $162 million, six-year contract he signed with the Yankees. It began with a stay on the injured list for a strained forearm and included a setback while he dealt with a back injury. Rodón lost four of his first five starts after finally making his season debut July 7," reported the Associated Press at the end of the season. Rodon surfaced fiery but with a bad attitude, some have said disrespectful, which has no place in the clubhouse. "He’s been in the league for a while. We want him to go out and have a lot of success and behave in the right ways,” Matt Blake, Yankees pitching coach said.
So there's that attitude issue—west coast guy trying to make it in the east coast. Now enter Blake Snell who is demanding close to $200 million on the free agent market. Besides the money, there are his behaviors and concerns about injuries, starts and never getting past the 6th inning.
According to the New York Post, who spoke with four baseball club executives who have starting pitching needs, there were mixed feelings about Snell. You can read their perspectives here, but one really stood out to me and is worrisome, akin to the Rodon effect, or lack thereof, “He has not logged big innings. Does that mean he has a fresh arm or that he can’t log big innings. It is a little like [Tyler] Glasnow. He might not pitch a lot for you, but when he does, he is going to be an ace. The people we talked to like him, but say he is to himself. You would be getting a pitcher, not a leader. But the pitching is really good.” Too many buts, and not enough great for me to want him here in New York.
Leadership is such an important skill to develop, practice and execute in any clubhouse or organization for that matter. Rodon is already frustrated, which is likely the root of his attitude and if Snell can't perform at the level he did in San Diego last season could he be all in his head and exude that same kind of bad attitude?
"Right now, Snell is outpitching the bases on balls. He walked 13.3 percent of batters in 2023. That was the most by a qualified starter since Matt Clement also walked 13.3 in 2000. Snell thrived by — among other items — dominating hitters with runners in scoring position (.152 batting average, .470 OPS). But what happens if he loses a bit of his stuff in his 30s? Will he navigate traffic as well? Will he adapt emotionally, intellectually and physically as he ages?," suggested The Post.
Bottom line: Snell is too expensive, too risky and too much of a headcase for the New York market. And adding him to the pod of Rodon who has already exhibited behaviors of frustration, the Yankees will be managing time outs vs. opportunities to put their stake in the ground and take over the AL East.
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--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
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