Stillness is the Move
I'm not quite ready to be chipper just yet. I'll get over it in a tic, but I need to vent. It still pisses me off that we were unable to build a team around the best pitcher in baseball. "He was leaving, he said he was done, they had no choice!!", you say.
No, I don't mean now. I mean 5 years ago. Or 6 or 7 years ago. This is a guy that waived his right to test free agency. Twice. Pitched at a discount. Clearly, he was commited to winning here. Joe Torre, while visiting with the Yankees a few seasons back, was asked which team he would not want to face in a short series. He pointed across the diamond. A staff that consisted of Halladay, Burnett and Lilly. Let's shoot a few years later when we had Halladay, Burnett, Marcum and McGowan pitching. Plus all those guys in the pen. Why we never went after a bat or two to support the work those guys put in is an annoyance to me.
We let go of Alomar. We let go of Stieb. We let go of Fernandez. Key. David Cone. George Bell. Heinke. And we got over it and moved on. But we also gave them Division titles and some World Series. Things were accomplished.
This organization gave Roy Halladay warm memories, but nothing to satisfy his competitive soul. And that is failure.
No, I don't mean now. I mean 5 years ago. Or 6 or 7 years ago. This is a guy that waived his right to test free agency. Twice. Pitched at a discount. Clearly, he was commited to winning here. Joe Torre, while visiting with the Yankees a few seasons back, was asked which team he would not want to face in a short series. He pointed across the diamond. A staff that consisted of Halladay, Burnett and Lilly. Let's shoot a few years later when we had Halladay, Burnett, Marcum and McGowan pitching. Plus all those guys in the pen. Why we never went after a bat or two to support the work those guys put in is an annoyance to me.
We let go of Alomar. We let go of Stieb. We let go of Fernandez. Key. David Cone. George Bell. Heinke. And we got over it and moved on. But we also gave them Division titles and some World Series. Things were accomplished.
This organization gave Roy Halladay warm memories, but nothing to satisfy his competitive soul. And that is failure.