MLB

Scores   Schedules   Standings   Statistics   Transactions   Injuries: AL | NL   Players   Offseason moves   Free Agents   Message Board   Minor Leagues   MLB Stat Search   MLB en espaņol Clubhouses

Teams Anaheim Arizona Atlanta Baltimore Boston Chicago Sox Chicago Cubs Cincinnati Cleveland Colorado Detroit Florida Houston Kansas City Los Angeles Milwaukee Minnesota Montreal NY Yankees NY Mets Oakland Philadelphia Pittsburgh San Diego San Francisco Seattle St. Louis Tampa Bay Texas Toronto

Sport Sections

	Thursday, November 30
	Mussina makes Yankees even more formidable By Dave Campbell Special to ESPN.com
	With Mike Mussina signed, sealed and delivered to the Yankees you can now safely assume -- barring any major injuries -- that they will again be playing when October rolls around next year and are on the odds-on-favorites to win their fourth straight World Series. With the addition of Mussina, the Yankees now have four guys -- Orlando Hernandez, Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens are the others -- who can be No. 1 starters on most major-league staffs. Mike Mussina has a career 3.53 ERA in 10 seasons in the majors. One of Mussina's biggest strengths is his durability, as he has pitched at least 200 innings each of the last six years and over the last four seasons has compiled a 3.50 ERA. And even last year, where on the periphery it looks like he struggled with an 11-15 record, the awful run support he received from the Orioles was the main reason for his below-.500 record. Mussina, in fact, was last in the AL in run support with 3.71 per game (numbers are based on the 40 AL starters that had enough innings pitched to qualify for the ERA title). By the way, Mussina finished with the third-best ERA among AL starters at 3.79 What this signing by the Yankees does is distance them the other teams in baseball. Pitching is what ultimately wins and it's safe to say the Yankees have more of it than any other team -- by a long shot. D-Backs push for Grace Why are the Diamondbacks pursuing Mark Grace? I've asked myself that question many times this offseason and can only figure that they must be unsure if Erubiel Durazo will be healthy for the 2001 season. Durazo played just 67 games last season due to a wrist injury. Durazo will be 27 at the beginning of the 2001 season and in his short stint in the majors (a total of just 119 games) hit 19 home runs and drove in 63 runs. Compare that to Grace, who is a career .308 hitter, but primarily just a singles hitter. He hit just 11 home runs last season, certainly a low total for a first baseman these days. Grace, while being a fine defensive first baseman, is 36 and hit .280 a season ago, his lowest average since he batted .273 in 1991. That said, the Diamondbacks must feel that adding Grace to their club alongside their two top-notch guys at the top of their rotation -- Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling -- and a healthy and productive Matt Williams they will be able to compete for the NL West title. They likely will be able to do so if all these factors come true as there isn't a runaway favorite in the division. Will the M's fall short? If Alex Rodriguez decides to sign elsewhere this offseason he will leave a huge void at shortstop for the Mariners. How exactly will they fill that hole if, in fact, A-Rod departs? Well, they likely have three options -- give to job to Carlos Guillen, who mostly played third base for the Mariners last year, and sign a third baseman (Ken Caminiti is the best one in a very light market) or sign either Alex Gonzalez or Mike Bordick. Signing Gonzalez is probably the best option as he is just 27 and is an established defensive shortstop. By doing that however, it would leave a heck of an offensive void on the left side of Mariners' infield with Guillen or David Bell manning third base. Winfield's a no-brainer Baseball released its list of 17 first-time candidates on this year's Hall of Fame ballot and there are some intriguing names on it. Dave Winfield, Kirby Puckett and Don Mattingly head the list. Of the three, only Winfield, who is one of only 23 players to reach the 3,000-hit plateau, is a sure lock to get inducted in their first year. Puckett and Mattingly will in all likelihood eventually get in, but their career stats should keep them from getting in right away. Puckett, whose career was cut short by glaucoma, is a career .318 hitter, but finished with just 2,304 hits in 12 seasons, though he did win two World Championships. Mattingly is considered an all-time Yankee great, finished with 2,153 hits in 14 seasons. Back problems forced him to end his career after the '95 season. Dave Stewart is also on the ballot and though his numbers fall short (he had just 168 wins) he sure was dominant during a four-year stretch from 1987-90, where he won 20 or more games in each of those seasons. He will probably never get enough support to gain induction. That leads me to three guys who I feel deserve to get inducted -- Jim Kaat, Tommy John and Bert Blyleven. While all three fall short of the 300-win plateau (all 20 pitchers who have won 300 are Hall of Famers) they all do fall just short -- Kaat has 283 wins, John 288 and Blyleven 287. I played against all three of these guys and saw first-hand how durable they were. I think what needs to be taken into account is all the no-decisions that they had during their careers. Kaat finished with 378 no-decisions while John had 241 and Blyleven 155. Some of the old-time pitchers -- Cy Young for one, the all-time leader in wins with 511 -- played in an era where scoring rules were different and wins were more easily attainable. For example, back then pitchers could get awarded victories even after they left a tie game. This isn't to say pitchers such as Cy Young weren't Hall of Famers. Rather it's just that since the rules were changed so should the qualifications. Former major leaguer Dave Campbell works as an analyst for ESPN and ESPN Radio. His column will appear occasionally during the offseason.		ALSO SEE Mussina, Yankees agree on six-year, $88.5 million contract