1. We live in an age of specialization in sports, professional football in particular. Every down we see players shuffling in and out as teams try to use their personnel to their strengths and/or avoid weaknesses. Aside from laziness of thought or slowness to evolve, I do not understand why quarterbacks are sacrosanct.
I hear a lot about continuity or leadership. But I bet a lot of leaders in a lot of other positions on the field get moved in and out. And would there really be any less continuity if a different quarterback played 10-15 downs a game? Or, on occasion, relieved a starter having a bad day to try to change the pace and/or momentum of a game?
It is one thing if you have one of the 5-10 best quarterbacks in the NFL and you want the ball in his hands as many offensive downs as possible because of the decision making and skills. But what if you have someone like Mark Sanchez, whose decision making is shaky and who has games in which you wonder if he even belongs in the league. Do you really stick with him in those situations because of continuity or leadership when a whole regular season is just 16 games and, thus, each week is precious? That sounds like tired, old thinking.
Put it this way if Tim Tebow, not Mark Brunell, were the Jets’ backup last year, do you think the Jets make the playoffs? I do, and not just because Denver would not have beaten the Jets during the season via Tebow’s efforts. There were games that the Jets were crying out for a relief pitcher for an overwhelmed Sanchez and Brunell offered neither the arm nor the legs to make a difference. I recently heard Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey do a podcast with ESPN’s Bill Simmons in which he stressed the importance of filling the bench with young players with upside because, among other items, it brought energy and potential. Brunelll hasn’t had energy or potential in a decade. Tebow practically defines potential and energy. If he ever improves his throwing, Tebow could become a force at quarterback. If not, he proved last year he has the ability to influence games like a third-down specialist running back.
Look, I get it, that the Jets seem to be a franchise as determined to be famous as they are to be successful, and they did a bit of a buffoon show yesterday not fully knowing the content of Tebow’s contract. But the arguments against bringing in Tebow essentially fall into three categories: 1) Bad fit in New York. 2) Too much additional pressure on Sanchez. 3) Not worth giving up a fourth-round draft pick (the teams also swapped a sixth for a seventh so that is basically inconsequential).
Is Tebow really a bad fit in New York? Whether he has earned it on the field or not, he is a star and this is a star town. Is it because he is religious and New York is not viewed as friendly to the religious? For the record, Mariano Rivera is probably the most overtly devout person on the Yankees. He seems fine playing here, so does Andy Pettitte, who came over from a religious retreat in Orlando to throw an audition bullpen before being signed this time around.
And let’s keep Pettitte in mind for the second point about pressure: Do you think the Yankees care much about what Pettitte’s presence will do to the psyches of, say, Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes? The Yankees know if their young starters cannot handle the friendly fire of Pettitte in March and April, how will they survive the hostility of Fenway or the heat of October? Will Tebow make Sanchez uneasy? Maybe. So what? If he can’t handle the competition of an inaccurate passer is Sanchez really the long-term answer to unseat the Patriots? Again, are quarterbacks this bulletproof? For every other position on the field, we would probably argue that competition is good. But competition for the 20th-best quarterback in the league is not good?
Which brings me to the fourth-round pick. This is just too little in return for the Jets not to take a risk that Tebow really can revive Tony Sparano’s wildcat or that he does have some mojo about him that could help lift an organization. You are in the midst of multiple weeks of one of the great annual propaganda campaigns, which is known as the NFL draft. By the time you are completely hypnotized by Mel Kiper’s hair, you will again have amnesia about just what an unscientific crapshoot this actually is, especially as each round goes by.
A fourth-round draft pick has roughly the same value as a nice Gatorade bucket. I looked at the eight drafts from 2000-07, figuring if I stopped there, it would have given a fair amount of time for anyone in that last draft to have established their abilities in the league. In that period, there were 291 players taken in the fourth round and 19 (6 1/2 percent) played in a single Pro Bowl, at a time when injuries and pull outs lead to plenty of folks playing in Pro Bowls. Those 19 includes specialists like Zak DeOssie and Jerome Mathis.
Now 116 of those fourth-rounders or 39.9 percent never became a primary starter in even one season. Only Assante Samuel and Jared Allen became truly meaningful players. So give me a haystack and a needle over a fourth-round pick, especially if you tell me I can convert the fourth-round pick into someone who has already established some level of value in the NFL.
Let’s try this: The Jets have taken 46 players in the fourth round in their history and just one, Leon Washington, has made a Pro Bowl – and that was as a specialist. Thirty of the Jets’ 46 fourth-rounders (65.2 percent) have never been a primary starter in a single season.
Also you know who was a fourth-round pick by the Jets? Brad Smith. Yes, Smith returned kicks. But he also served in mainly the wildcat-ish capacity that Tebow will fill. Did Smith’s presence hurt Sanchez’s confidence or did it enhance the Jets’ offensive options? Did it force opponents to game plan defensively for more Jets possibilities, which probably spilled over to help Sanchez, as well? The Jets went to two AFC title games with Sanchez and Smith co-existing. Would anyone have any problems if the Jets had just traded a fourth-round pick and spent a little extra cash to re-acquire Smith? I doubt it.
So is this really a question about Tebow being polarizing or too famous? Maybe. But a creative team with solid leadership would figure out all kinds of ways to use his skill set. The Jets are dubious in both of those areas – offensive creativity and leadership. Still, the team has been flushing fourth-round picks for years and going through polarizing figures like crazy in recent seasons. It seems this is a worthwhile gamble.
2. Michael Pineda’s next start will be his fifth of spring for the Yankees and when his radar-gun readings were low early in camp manager Joe Girardi said he would not worry before his fifth start. Of course, if Pineda is still moving lower than his anticipated speed limit, Girardi will change his tune, find a positive out of the negative. This is what managers do, especially the public Pollyanna who has the Yankees job.
In actuality the Yankees already are offering their spin on Pineda, GM Brian Cashman raved about Pineda’s slider, which was a strength last year, and his developing changeup, which was pretty much absent in 2011. Cashman reasoned that Pineda could be a successful pitcher working in the 90-94 mph range, which he has been in the last few starts, if he also has that slider and changeup; and if Pineda were to regain his 95-97 mph in conjunction with the secondary pitchers, Cashman reasoned he would become an ace.
Pineda was throwing in the upper 90s last spring training. But he also was trying to make a team as a rookie. In all likelihood, he reacted to his strong rookie season by relaxing and enjoying praise – and meals – back home in the Dominican. After all, he assumed he was going to be the Mariners’ No. 2 starter. The Yankees believe Pineda did not lift a weight or a baseball much this offseason and by the time they finalized a trade for him in late January there really wasn’t much time to play catch up.
Pineda showed up with 20 extra pounds and several mph less on his fastball. However, when I asked Cashman if he would like to see Pineda join Pettitte’s pre-workout workouts, he said the righty had shed 12 pounds this spring and “has worked his tail off here. He’s been an extreme worker here. The work ethic has not been an issue since we have seen him.”
However, there certainly have been whispers out of Seattle concerning if Pineda had a strong enough work ethic. Also you will never get a Mariners official to admit this publicly, but there has been some confidence expressed within their ranks that Hector Noesi will outperform Pineda this season. Noesi was viewed as the secondary piece that the Mariners received after Jesus Montero in exchange for Pineda. A scout from a team not involved in the trade said, “I really think Noesi is at now where Ivan Nova was a year ago. He is a big kid with an assortment of pitches who could start and succeed in the majors. Is he as good as Nova? Maybe not. But, to me, there is not much difference there.”
3. The Yankees’ secondary piece in the Pineda-Montero trade was Jose Campos. The 19-year-old is in Yankees minor league camp and, of course, Yankees officials are raving about the righty. Yankees minor league head Mark Newman told me recently: “He’s pretty darn good. He’s explosive with a great delivery. He has consistency in his release point and the ball flies out of his hand.”
Campos is expected to begin with the Yankees’ Low-A team in Charleston along with several other of the Yankees’ top prospects, including Dante Bichette Jr., Cito Culver, Angelo Gumbs and Ravel Santana. One player the Yankees have curiosity about that will play on that squad is Tyler Austin. He is a third baseman, but Bichette was the organization’s top pick last year and plays third base. So Austin is being moved to the outfield because they believe he can handle the switch athletically. He did steal 18 bases last year without being caught. But mainly the Yankees think he will hit enough to be able to play a corner outfield slot.