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Exit Sandman?

Much of the talk this spring among Yankees fans has revolved around Derek Jeter’s contract status: Is it worth it to overpay for future performance of an aging superstar because of what he means to the franchise? Will Jeter hit the wall a la Roberto Alomar with the Mets?

But what about Mariano Rivera? The 40-year old closer is truely the Yanks’ indispensible man–every other closer in the playoffs last year blew a save or otherwise muffed an opportunity. Its hardly coincidence that the team that won it all was the team with the perfect closer. For the Yanks on the field the question of when Rivera will hit the wall and what to pay him is of primary importance.

Via the iYankees blog – Rivera’s tips on staying young and his plans to stay around the Yankees post-retirement, like Yogi.

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Posted in Yankees. Tagged with , , , .

By Jason Chervokas
February 27, 2010

View Comments

  • JasonChervokas
    Yeah that HR Rivera gave up last year to Ichiro was a stunner, and that loss of 1-2 mph prolly makes much more of a difference for Rivera than any similar declined would have meant to Wilhelm! Hard to contemplate life w/o Rivera for me.
  • Tom K
    I expect Mo will retire once he's no longer among the top 5 closers in the game, and possibly while he still is.

    It may take a while for the reality of his decline as permanent to set in, if and when it happens, but I doubt he'll be pitching beyond 2011. Seems like a guy who's got other things to do. Tough guy to replace, but that's the game.
  • tomwatson
    He's apparently quite a nice guy, from what I've heard about his outside-of-baseball involvement.

    He's an Iona Prep parent, btw, and his steak place in New Rochelle has earned top reviews.
  • Eric_Goldberg
    Hoyt Wilhelm pitched very, very well in medium- to high-leverage innings until he was 46, and then was merely better than league-average in his age 47 season. He occurred to me as a favorite player from my youth; and my assumption is that there're several other candidates in addition to Ryan and Old, Improved Clemens... Wilhelm, like Rivera, depended on one pitch that the batters knew was coming, so it would appear possible... Rivera reportedly has lost betw 1-2 mph off his pitches, and the only key indicator that spiked upwards last year was HR allowed, so perhaps 2-3 more years of decline to a league-average closer would seem a plausible scenario.
  • tomwatson
    Yeah Jesse Orosco, who had an admirable but not Mo-like career, pitched till he was 46 and did pretty well. More of a lefty specialist in his 40s than a closer.

    Of course, Trevor Hoffman is the all-time saves leader and he's still pitching....1.83 last year for the Brewers with 37 saves! He's 42.
  • JasonChervokas
    No doubt, Rivera is just about the most amazing baseball player I've ever seen in that he's had a hall of famer career with one pitch, and his mechanics are immaculate--one of the key secrets to his longevity and consistency I think--but time waits for no man, and Mo is, in every way, irreplacable--Bill James' contention that that anyone can pitch one inning notwithstanding.
  • tomwatson
    Bill James can be an ass - Rivera is irreplaceable - and this from a frustrated Mets fan. Just slot in any reliever from the past two decades - and it's not as good. Very good, but not as good. Does anyone remember John Wetteland?
  • tomwatson
    It'll be interesting to see Mo pitch in his 40s - and he's clearly indicated a plan to got forward for several years. Outside of some late Nolan Ryan flashes - and the juiced, half-insane Roger Clemens catastrophe - it hasn't been done. The guy's in great shape and he has that unique out pitch. Will he hit the wall, though? Not sure any amount of inning rationing will make a real difference....
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