but I think he could be a great clubhouse guy for the youngins, IF he is ready to accept moving into that part of his career. doing so would seem to strengthen his chances at getting an after-playing gig in some organization.

If he comes cheap, he may not be a bad option:

Let him battle for a rotation spot in ST. If not, he could be a good insurance plan in case Speier doesn’t bonce back.

Only problem would be the price, is he worth taking the risk if we have Escobar coming back?

ever see him pitch? He has had the most dramatic peak (albeit a shortish peak) of most any Post-WWII starter. He was just stunning when he was with the Expos and Sox. I mean, really, really special. I can understand not “rooting” for the guy, but baseball fans – in my mind – are fans of the game, and Pedro was damn fun to watch when he was in his prime. He had no-hit stuff every time he picked up the ball from 1997 to 2004.

The dude has pitched almost 2800 innings in MLB. He has given up less than 2200 hits. His career WHIP is 1.05.

In 2000 he allowed 128 hits in 217 innings. He K’d 284 people in those 217 innings. He had an ERA+ of 291 that year. (BTW – ERA+ is a park adjusted/league adjusted figure where 100 is the league average pitcher. Anything higher is above average, lower is below average. A great season by Lackey in 2007 measured in at 151 ERA+.)

That is crazy people – he wasn’t just fun to watch – he was ecstasy on the mound for about 8 seasons. Say what you will about the extra-curricular stuff with him, but no one was more dominating than him in his prime seasons during his era. No one.

That all said, I don’t want the Halos touching post-surgery Pedro in 2009. He had an ERA+ of 75 last year. Moseley is likely to beat that in 2009.

Here are his career stats. They are stunning.

If the same thing happens that happened with Abreu (get him for way below expected value), then I think this could help the team out.

has been bad since his last season or so with the sux.

towards raising the bonus expectations of the best players in this year’s draft. If we can inject enough “signability concerns” into the amateurs that we like best, teams like Pittsburgh and Kansas City might shy away from them and allow them to fall to us.

Ultimately, all of our money comes out of the same pot (Arte’s wallet), and we WANT this draft to be expensive.

I’d rather believe that we have yet another diamond in the rough for that 5th spot, and the the Downward Speier will have an upward trend.

At this point you can’t count on Pedro, but if he’s cheap he could turn into a nice bonus.

Most teams need six to eight (sometimes more) starters to make it through a season. Bill James project Pedro for 20 starts and a 3.32 ERA – perhaps a little optimistic, but still…

The Red Sox took fliers on both Brad Penny and John Smoltz at about $5M each plus incentives. If Pedro can be had – at a cheaper cost – why not? It couldn’t hurt, and could possibly help a lot. I’d consider it.