The Yankees brought Kyle Farnsworth in for a junk appearance yesterday against Baltimore. They were up 10-6 and probably wanted to get him out there for scouts one last time (A Tigers scout was indeed watching). He was working around 93-94 but touched 96. He threw only a handful of sliders. Farnsworth allowed a two-run home run to Brian Roberts in the inning.
But an incident took place that may further decrease his trade value, according to George King. King describes it:
Brought into yesterday’s game against the Orioles at Camden Yards with a six-run bulge in the eighth inning, Farnsworth not only walked the first batter and gave up a two-run homer, he crossed up Jorge Posada and then had the audacity to walk off the mound when the catcher went to talk to him about why he threw a fastball that hit Posada in the arm when Posada called for a slider. Things became so heated Alex Rodriguez played peacemaker on the mound.
I just watched the incident in question twice. The New York cameramen either did a lousy job capturing the incident or purposely decided not to show it. Posada definitely glared at Farnsworth after the cross-up; he took a 95 mph heater off the wrist because the pitcher missed the sign. Then the catcher was shown calling time-out but the broadcast cut to replay until Posada returned to his position. So the entire confrontation on the mound was missed. Farnsworth was shown swearing to himself and muttering before he threw the next pitch.
When asked afterward if he and Posada were OK, Farnsworth simply said, "We’ll see." He also complained about not pitching enough.
As I’ve said before, the Yankees would seemingly have to eat half of Farnsworth’s $5.5MM for 2008 in order to move him. His velocity is down, his attitude is up – his value is pretty low right now even with relievers a hot commodity. Jim Leyland may elect to keep this type of player out of his clubhouse. Plus, those glasses Farnsworth wears are kind of weird.
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