Show respect to one
who is still a cutter above
The New York Daily News
TAMPA - This doesn't seem like a tough one. Until there is some solid evidence that age is stealing the late life from Mariano Rivera's famous cutter, he gets whatever he wants, right?
If he wants to grow tomatoes in the bullpen, the Yankees plant him a garden. If he wants a contract extension, they write the check.
It's hard to believe this could even be an issue, and maybe it won't be, but the fact that the usually humble Rivera was intimating yesterday that he hasn't been shown the proper respect regarding a contract extension makes you wonder if the Yankees aren't taking him for granted after all these years.
The old adage in baseball has always been that it is better to trade a player a year too early rather than a year too late, and it has come to apply to handing out multiyear contracts in the free agent era.
But if ever there was an exception, it's the guy the Yankees endearingly call "Mo."
For one thing, he has been the Yankees' most indispensable player throughout the Joe Torre era, more vital to their four championships than Derek Jeter or anybody else. He has been worth more than anything the Yankees would pay him for the kind of two-year extension that would give him peace of mind.
For another, as of last season Rivera was still at the top of his game, or close enough that he remained one of the best closers in baseball, with 34 saves and a 1.80 ERA.
You can make the argument that, at age 37, Rivera is at a point where he could slip significantly at any time, especially after the Yankees held him out last September as a precaution for his right elbow. Then again, he was never supposed to last anywhere near this long with that lean, smallish body of his, so who is to say he will slow down now?
He has freakish gifts, not just the ability to throw 95-plus mph in his prime even at 165 pounds, but also a natural release that's just made for a cutter, allowing him to throw what amounts to a breaking pitch at fastball speed.
As his former pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre once said, "Most guys have to work to make the ball move like that. With Mariano it's the most natural thing in the world."
So maybe Mo has a few more years before he starts to slip significantly. As he enters the final year of his contract, looking to stay, why would the Yankees take the chance on him having another superb season and deciding to shop his services to the highest bidder?
You think the Red Sox, a team in search of a closer as spring training begins this week, wouldn't give him anything he wanted to change uniforms?
By raising the "R" word yesterday, Rivera was sending a message to the Yankees.
Surely GM Brian Cashman will take notice. Cashman is changing the way the Yankees do business since becoming the true power broker in the front office a year or so ago. He is committed to making the Yankees younger, investing in the future while not overpaying for the present, and there is little room for sentimentality, even if right now it means cutting ties with a player as popular as Bernie Williams.
But Rivera hasn't reached the Bernie stage and so you have to wonder why the Yankees didn't quietly take care of this over the winter.
They have enough issues as spring training begins, with Torre under scrutiny as a lame duck manager, Alex Rodriguez ever the lightning rod for controversy, and Carl Pavano trying to win over his teammates while giving depth to a thin starting rotation.
They don't need their classiest player of all, the great Rivera, asking for respect before camp even opens.
They need to write him a check, whatever the amount, and be happy he didn't ask for more.
Originally published on February 13, 2007
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