Incentives.
In 2005, the last time he was pitching for a contract, Kevin Millwood posted a 2.86 ERA that led the American League. Vicente Padilla, one year away from his first shot at free agency, went 9-12, 4.71, after which Philadelphia decided to trade him to Texas for Ricardo Rodriguez. In 2006, Millwood and Padilla's first season with the Rangers, their results were nearly identical: Millwood went 16-12, 4.52 in 34 starts, chewing up 215 innings, while Padilla went 15-10, 4.50 in 33 starts, logging 200 frames. Things change quickly in this game, sometimes overnight and without warning. Millwood and Padilla can look around the clubhouse in Surprise to hammer that point home. Dial back to those 2005 and 2006 seasons. In 2005, Andruw Jones had a .922 OPS, 51 home runs, and 128 RBI, and was runner-up for NL MVP. Eddie Guardado saved 36 games and had a 2.72 ERA. Brendan Donnelly won nine games in relief and posted a 3.72 ERA for a 95-win Angels team. Kris Benson went 10-8, 4.13 in 28 Mets starts. In 2006, Omar Vizquel hit .295/.361/.389 and locked down his 11th Gold Glove (second most in history for a shortstop). Derrick Turnbow saved 39 games, won seven more, and posted a 1.74 ERA under Mike Maddux's tutelage in his first full big league season (other than his scattered Rule 5 season six years earlier). Jason Jennings went 9-13, 3.78, logging 212 Rockies innings, completing three of his 32 starts, two of which were shutouts. All seven of them are in camp with the Rangers on minor league deals. If you think that's not incentive enough for Millwood and Padilla, consider the following free agent deals signed this winter: C.C. Sabathia: seven years, $161 million. A.J. Burnett: five years, $82.5 million. Derek Lowe: four years, $60 million. Ryan Dempster: four years, $52 million. Oliver Perez: three years, $36 million. Then there's a dropoff. A huge one. Randy Johnson: one year, $8 million. Jon Garland: one year, $7.25 million. Andy Pettitte and John Smoltz: each one year, $5.5 million. Brad Penny and Randy Wolf: each one year, $5 million. The chasm between the top tier and the second tier is bigger than ever. I'm expecting Millwood and Padilla to be as motivated as they've ever been, and to deliver Texas as much as they did in 2006. =========================================================== To join the free Newberg Report mailing list so you can get e-mail deliveries of every edition of the newsletter, daily minor league game recaps, and frequent Newberg Report News Flashes, go to www.newbergreport.com and click the "Mailing List" link on the top menu bar. (c) Jamey Newberg http://www.newbergreport.com If you want to be removed from this list, please e-mail me at newbergreport@sbcglobal.net