Thursday, July 21, 2005

The Yanks' best pitching move?

Bob Klapisch says the Boss is looking for a pitching coach for the 2006 Yankees. But the Boss' target is worthy of the GNP of Luxembourg: Leo Mazzone.

Put it simply: Mazzone is the best pitching coach in baseball. He helped Denny Neagle become a 20-game winner, made a star out of the middling Kevin Millwood, turned Chris Hammond and Jaret Wright into top-end pitchers, helped Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine become Hall-of-Famers, turned a top-of-the-rotation starter into a top reliever and back (Smoltz) and coached sorry-a*s Steve Avery to an 18-win year. Moreover, Mazzone's throw-throw-throw approach has helped his pitchers maintain arm strength, even the fragile Smoltz (who might have been another Jose Rijo anywhere else).

Mazzone reportedly said he'd go to the Bronx if the price is right and the opportunity is there. Steinbrenner is not a fan of Stottlemyre, and neither am I -- there have been too many failures in Yankeeland of otherwise successful pitchers since 2000 (Neagle, Weaver, Vazquez, Pavano) and a complete lack of young starter development under Stottlemyre (remember, Andy Pettitte pre-dates Stottlemyre, Chien-Ming Wang learned at AAA under current Yankee bullpen coach, Neil Allen). If the Yanks could get Mazzone, that alone could be worth a .50 drop in ERA next year and stronger pitchers over the course of the season. Sounds like it would be money well spent, if Big Stein is able to make it work.

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