The eight-man beginning rotation is a great idea. Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, and now Blake Snell—just think about it.
No one has to pitch more than 20 games between May and September, and that’s a battery of arms. Walker takes the ball when it counts most, the bullpen is rested, and the top five are fresh for October at six innings a game, which equates to no more than 120 innings during the regular season.
Seattle’s Peter Maradudin
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With the exception of Yankees import Bill Skowron, every member in the starting lineup during the Dodgers’ 1963 World Series sweep of the Yankees was a native. Only two players, Will Smith and Gavin Lux, still meet that criterion 61 years later. Ohtani’s deep-pocketed ownership has turned the sport into a terrible annual showcase of the haves and have-nots, not because he is a change agent as Dylan Hernndez implies.
Waxman, BillThe Simi Valley
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I am aware that I am dating myself, but I recall that Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale were the two best pitchers in 1966. Both of those elite pitchers resisted offers of $100,000 salaries. In the end, both pitchers prevailed in their conflict with the Dodgers.
Let’s fast-forward to the news of today. Blake Snell’s $182 million, five-year contract equates to about $36 million annually. Snell’s earnings would equal $200,000 per inning if he were to hit his peak years of 180 innings pitched. At best, Snell will earn as much in a single inning as Koufax and Drysdale combined over the course of a season. By the way, Koufax and Drysdale both pitched over 300 innings in 1965.
Playa Vista’s Fred Gober
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