A lot of times, players use the press to gain leverage when they want to leave the time. Mike Mussina loves the Yankees so much, he’s made a public statement saying how much he wants to stay with the team.
Mussina’s probably a future Hall of Famer. He’s got a 224-127 career record, but his last two seasons have been pretty mediocre. His strikeout rate continues to decline and for the time in his career outside of the strike shortened 1994 season, he’s gone two straight seasons without logging 200 innings.
However, we have a monster lineup, so average pitching will get the job done. And if Mussina can pull a flashback to his better days, so much the better. I say we re-sign him now while his value is diminished, although I have a feeling this will all wait until the end of the year. Regardless, you love it when you have a guy playing for his job.
In other Yankee news, Kevin Brown looks like he’s going to retire. Brown had a rock solid career, but his time with the Yankees has been pretty pedestrian. No major loss here seeing as how he’ll be 41 this year without a great chance of getting back into his peak form.
