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So much for Ron Villone?

Peter Abraham
March
28

Ron Villone could be done.

He entered the game in the fifth inning. Here is what went down:

Eric Munson: walked on four pitches
Humberto Quintero: singled on an 1-0 pitch
Tommy Manzella: tripled on a 3-1 pitch

Not even Joe Torre can like a veteran that much. Chalk up another victim for Joe. Villone joins Tanyon Sturtze and Steve Karsay in the Torre Junkyard.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 at 8:42 pm by Peter Abraham.
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36 Responses to “So much for Ron Villone?”

  1. Jeff

    Actually, Karsay was damaged goods before Torre. But you forgot Quantrill, who thought he was a workhorse before he met Torre.

  2. steve

    good riddance. too bad we lost a draft pick out of villone though. that could have helped

  3. Cleveland Mike

    nothing against Ron Villone, but this is a good thing for the Yankees.

  4. bizast

    Villone replaces Rasner. Villone with a 9 ERA and .455 batting average against this spring

    2 outs, runner on 2nd

    Munson batting. Villone walks Munson on 4 pitches.

    Single off Villone into center another run scores AStros 7–1

    Manzella batting. Drive to deep center over Damon’s head. Triple 2 runs score Astros lead 9–1

    Villone stinks.. Good Bye Villone. Adios you Bum….

  5. ryan

    Thank you for the first half of 2006.

  6. Ben K.

    Villone would have had to be an effective reliever before joining the Yanks to be a member of the Joe Torre Graveyard. But he wasn’t. He joins the crappy pitchers who never should have had a shot at the Yankees graveyard instead.

  7. bizast

    Hey, Peter, Do you agree now that Villone’s piece of garbage?

  8. Nick

    Sean Henn…. Welcome back to NY!

  9. Peter Abraham

    A piece of garbage. Nice to have such great perspective.

  10. philip

    don’t forget paul quantrill, he killed him as well

  11. Eric

    Hey Pete, have you asked Gator if he could suit up? How about Proctor as a starter?

  12. Angel

    What a great mindset. “Piece of garbage” “adios you bum” like he did nothing for this team last year, but pitch till his arm nearly fell off.

    Cringeworthy.

  13. Angel

    I can definitely see why there are people out there who dont like Yankee fans. Sadly, they think we are all like that.

  14. asburyboss

    they shoulda let him go sooner in camp so he could find anohther job with someone else. This is late in the game for him to be finding employment.

    Thanks for eveything Ron…give my regards to Quantrill and keep a seat warm for Scott proctor.

    Good guy…too bad he can’t help anymore but this is best for Yanks. Henn is the goods.

  15. hmmm

    “I can definitely see why there are people out there who dont like Yankee fans. Sadly, they think we are all like that.”

    we don’t even like our GOOD players…

  16. Ross

    so much for your decision about taking him instead of Henn huh?

  17. Ben K.

    _Thanks for eveything Ron_

    What exactly is that everything? He had three decent months … about 25 IP worth of good pitching. That’s a fluke, not a contribution.

  18. david

    watch torre choose villone over henn.
    i wouldn’t even be mad, i would laugh so hard until my arm fell off.

  19. Gloomy

    so somebody please explain to me why Cashman didn’t want the draft pick? Is this what a GOOD GM does? Let a draft pick go when he knew full well Villone’s era in the 2nd half was above 8.

  20. Joe from Long Island

    I’m confused, Peter, and I’m hoping you can help me out.

    Last year, Wright, Chacon, Lidle, and sometimes Mussina couldn’t get past the 6th, and in some cases the 5th, inning. Since somebody had to pitch, when Torre went to the ‘pen, with a finite number of people available, this constituted bullpen abuse. Yet, the few times I watched the Mets, Willie was there utilizing a very similar appearing bullpen strategy, geared to winning that particular game. Yet, Torre gets castigated on this, seemingly because his relievers weren’t as good as the Mets. (Was Mota sharing some of his steroids with his pitching mates?)

    For that matter,did Francona abuse Papelbon, and cause his shoulder problem?

    Injuries and ups-and-downs happen. Seems like a double standard, with Torre getting the short end of it.

  21. Gloomy

    villone’s era with florida BEFORE joining the yanks was terrible also.. I don’t understand why people blame Torre.. Villone has just gone back to his mediocre self, that’s not Torre’s fault, that’s Cashman’s.

  22. Taylor

    It’s nice to see reporters recognize how Torre abuses members of his bullpen, but couldn’t you guys ever ask Torre after a game last year why he used, say, Scott Proctor with a 7 run lead? Would Torre take offense to such a question?

  23. Ryan

    I think the notion that another team was going to magically sign Villone to land us a draft pick is pretty far-fetched. He was a free agent for four months, and no one outside of Cleveland expressed any real interest at all.

    There’s not a huge market for 37 year old burnt out relievers who weren’t really that good to begin with.

  24. cjc

    here’s what I don’t get people keep saying how awesome he was and how Torre ruined him outside of 3 months when in his entire career was Villone ever an above avg pitcher and honestly the exact same can be said about Sturtze

    not defending Torre’s BP use because it is putrid at times Proctor coming inot blow outs etcjust stating a fact about Villone

  25. nyyfaninlaaland

    All this draft pick talk. You don’t lose what you didn’t have. Nobody’d signed him.

    And Henn hasn’t proven anything yet – I hope he does, but if he has some tough times his fans better stand by him. Can’t play both sides of the fence.

    And you can’t just blame Quantrill on Torre. He had 80+ appearances 3 straight seasons before the Yanks got him in ‘04. That goose was precooked. Not that I don’t have questions about Joe’s pen use – he doesn’t let enough guys earn his confidence by using them where possible. Beam and Britton likely hurt themselves in his eyes this spring. We’ll see. Some tough injury luck is starting to impact AAA pen depth with Veras and Cox, so hopefully Joe can get over it, cause Beam and Britton (maybe even Bean!) might have to see time in NY. Injuries happen. I hope Villone takes a AAA demo and gets his act together, because he may be needed too at some point. We shouldn’t be pulling against our own guys. We’re not likely to get through the season with the Opening Day pen or rotation.

  26. bizast

    Cox who are out with injury and He will not pitch this season.

  27. R.B.

    “Chalk up another victim for Joe. Villone joins Tanyon Sturtze and Steve Karsay in the Torre Junkyard.”

    Sturtze was an awful pitcher (with an ability to tease with occasional hot streaks) long before Torre had anything to do with him. Karsay had a history of arm trouble and pitched a whopping ONE THIRD OF AN INNING more for Torre in 2002 than he had for Charlie Manuel/Bobby Cox in 2001.

    If you want to make a case for Torre ruining a reliever, Quantrill is a much better example.

  28. Joe from Long Island

    nyyfaninlaa…
    I agree with you. Also, Quantrill hurt his leg very early in the season, and wasn’t quite the same after that. Injuries happen, they’re part of sports, and I’m just looking for someone to excel for us. With any luck, it will be someone who I can feel good rooting for – like Andy Phillips, though it’s not looking good for him, at least not here.

  29. R.B.

    “And you can’t just blame Quantrill on Torre. He had 80+ appearances 3 straight seasons before the Yanks got him in ‘04. That goose was precooked.”

    Batters faced by season:
    2001: 341
    2002: 330
    2003: 291
    2004 (with Yanks): 424

  30. Ben K.

    Your point, R.B., is better served through pitches thrown.

    Quantrill, pitches thrown, by season

    2001: 1243
    2002: 1289
    2003: 1084
    2004: 1489

    He hadn’t thrown that many pitches since 1996.

  31. Mike S.

    Asbury:

    No offense, but Villone had all winter to find a job with someone else. No one else signed him. That has to tell you something.

    Good post, Ryan.

  32. randyhater

    Quantril was nothing special in the first half of ‘04 (look at his numbers against inherited runners) and blaming Joe for his flameout is unfair.

    What about all the other underperformers: Wohlers, Witasik, Karsay, Hammod, Osuna, Felix Rodriguez and (to a lesser degree) Farnsworth?

    Middle relievers are the most inconsistent players in the sport, which is why when you get one going good you should ride him to the devil.

    Not sure what Villone has left (he had great first halves in both ‘05 and ‘06) but I guarantee Sean Henn craps his pants any time he gets into a tight spot.

  33. David

    Yeah. Henn craps his pants because he’s young. Veterness is so much more important that talent. Too bad Tony Fernandez had to get hurt and we were forced to play that Jeter kid.

  34. randyhater

    Now Henn’s a left-handed pitching Derek Jeter?

    He’s had chances and he’s looked scared sh*tless each time. He also went back to the minors and sulked in ‘05 when we were basically holding open tryouts at the major league level. He’s not that young, either.

    If he had Karstens’ stomach he’d be a big winner.

  35. Ben K.

    _If he had Karstens’ stomach he’d be a big winner._

    Is that a stat? How many KS does Mussina have? Or Pavano? Gimme a break.

  36. Mike

    Yanks were never going to get a draft pick for Ron Villone because no one ever intended on signing him. I’m guessing that it is no secret that Villone’s arm is virtually done, and I am sure other general managers were well aware of what had happened. Thanks for a solid season last year Ron!

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About the authors
Chad JenningsChad Jennings joined the The Journal News in October 2009, having spent the better part of seven years covering baseball in Scranton, PA. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri and an award-winning beat reporter and features writer. E-mail me at cjennings@lohud.com
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Sam BordenSam Borden is an award-winning journalist who joined The Journal News and LoHud.com in January 2008. He covered the Yankees for the New York Daily News from 2004-06, and has also worked as a columnist for the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. E-mail me at sborden@lohud.com
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