[stevenash]

Originally posted on 12/22/2013:

Who was the last big free agent position player signing that actually worked out?

Vlad Guerrero?

I honestly can't think of any

He wasn't a postion player Drinker, but Moose was a great, great contract.

Mile Mussina - NYY Yankees
6 years - 88 million
2001-2006

2001: Made each and every start. 34 games started. That's what you are paying for, right? Guey to go out there each and every time he's supposed to get the rock.

Won 17 games in 2001. Stellar 3.15 ERA pitching in AL East, second best ERA that season. Second most strikeouts in the league, 214.
Second in the league in K/BB ratio, second in the league in shutouts and complete games.
Guey not only started every time he was scheduled to throw the rock, guey often finished what he started.

Saved the Yankees asses in the AL division series against the Red Sox in 2001
Yanks down 0-2 in the series, Moose gets the rock in game 3.
Moose shuts down the mighty Red Sox line up tossing 7 shutout innings, Yanks win game 1-0, Yanks become first team ever to come back from 0-2 in divison series to win series.
No Moose, no World Series for Yanks that year.
I am not worthy.

2002: Makes a 33 starts. Two years in a row now Moose has made every start.
I'll say it again, big part of a big time contract is playing every day, in pitchers cases, make every start.

18 game winner in 2002. second best control pitcher that season (1.65 BB/9 9IP ratio)
Third most strikeouts.

Moose was uber-clutch in 2002.
Held hitters to .190 when game tied situations.

2003: Lights out again.
17 game winner
So far, the first three years of the six year contract, Moose has won 17, 18, and 17 games.
Missed one start 2003. He made 98 out of 99 schedules starts in the first three years of contract.

Stellar WH/IP 1.08, stellar ERA, acroess the board rock freaking solid numbers again!

From 2001-2003 the second best pitcher in AL

2004: Made every start until injury forced him to miss three starts at All Star break.
12 game winner.
After missing 3 starts, came back from injury, got roughed up a little bit, but closed out the season like a freight train, Yanks won all five starts Moose made at the end of the season, Moose going 3-0, two ND-Winsi
He still finished with the 4th most K's that season, and among the leaders in control stats again.

2005: Won 13 games, missed one start.
Had to overhaul his game, due to injury in 2004, had to pretty much scrap the 94-95 mph heater, that's down to 90-91 mph.
Had to rely on that devasting overhand curve of his.
All the other numbers were down by Moose standards, but still a little over league average.

2006: After completely changing his game, had a rock solid season.
Won 15. Was second and third in pretty much every category that season.
And on, and on.

Won 20 games in 2008, his last season, but that was a different contract.
Moose was my favorite pitcher of all time.
I cried, I cried real Nashy tears when he won his 20th game in 2008
Never in my life did I see a man more determined to win a game. NEVER!
Oh, Nashy knew Moose was going to win that game in Fenway, and Nashy had a dime on Moose at +130 that game.
Nashy rarely bets a dime, no less a nickle.

Guey was not going to be denied, last game of his remarkable career, last chance to win 20 games, Moose was lights out winning 6 to 2. He won 10 or more games every season in his career after his rookie year, FIRST MAN IN AL HISTORY TO WIN 10 OR MORE GAMES FOR 15 CONSECUTIVE SEASONS.

Real Nashy tears he cried.

Listen up!
Most 100 million dollar contracts are failures!

Moose got 88 million, won 100 games as a Yankee
You got 100 wins for that contrtact ! Only eight other pitchers have won 100 games for two different teams.
With the exception of 2004, he pretty much made every start.
Beyond Mr. Reluable
He missed 7 starts in 6 seasonss.

Beyond Mr. Dependable too.

Was beyond clutch too.
Don't let anybody tell you different, Moose was very clutch.
I told you about the ALDS game.

Moose performed one of the greatest, if not THE greastest CLUTCH pitching performances of all time.

2004: AL Championship Series.
Game 7 ALCS
Game 7 people! The ultimate game, the payoff game, the win or go home game, the game that seperates the gueys from the nanci's.
The game that says, "are you man enough, if not, go the phuck home maggot"

Game 7 - Yanks / Red Sox, as big as it gets.
Yanks getting beat up and beat down.
Red Sox 4 Yankees 0

Moose enters the fourth inning as a reliever
Never before in his life has he come out of the 'pen.
Sox got first and third, NO OUT, they are ready to blow this thing sky high.
Moose comes in, strikes out Varitek with one of the most devastating overhand curvevballs anybody ever threw.
One out, first and third, up comes Johnny Damon, gets Damon to hit a weak ass grounder to Jeter.
6-4-3 DP !
Moose gets out of it. MOOOOOOSE !

With the excetpion of a Nomar single, and a Manny single, Moose shut the Red Sox down and out out of the pen, matching Pedro that game pitch for pitch and then some.

That game was as good as it gets.

Boone gets the credit for winning that game with the walkoff bomb.

Moose saved that game, saved the Yankees season and asses in the fourth inning, without that fourth inning, there never would have been the Boone walkout.

You want to tell me Moose is not Hall worthy, go for it, have at it, you ain't convincing me.

What he did in a PED era, what he did pitching clean to hitters juiced up to the sky was remarkable, I don't have to tell you the numbers, they are out there, they speak for themselves.

Moose earned every penny of that Yankee contract, oh sure, some of you put off by his "I could explain it to you, but it'll just go over your head" attitude. But he was never a jack off, ptiched the game the way it was supposed to, and the very few that really know him will tell you he's a real good guey.

Moose was always my guey, even when he was shutting down my favorite team as an Oriole, and is, in my eyes a sure fire Hall of Famer, and you can not tell me different