California is a place in which a boom[er] mentality and a sense of Chekhovian loss meet in uneasy suspension; in which the mind is troubled by some buried but ineradicable suspicion that things had better work here, because here, beneath that immense bleached sky, is where we run out of continent.

—Joan "Bo" Didion

It seems that David Wells' on-again/off-again relationship with the Yankees is off…again. The estimable Post reports that Wells is headed to San Diego for between $1.5 to $1.75 M, eschewing the Yankees offer of a minor-league deal with weight clauses. Word has it that Wells will be paid in donuts by the Padres. The Yankees had refused to do so.

The deal makes no sense for the floundering Padres, who cannot hope to finish any higher than third in 2004, except for the fact that they are moving into a new stadium and perhaps think they can draw a few extra fans with Wells' name.

Wells pitched well in 2003—his adjusted ERA was 6% better than the league average—until bowing out of game five of the World Series in the second inning with a back injury. Wells was made the goat in the Series, but he did pitch well in the postseason (2-1 with a 2.31 ERA in 5 appearances). Wells' season started oddly when he claimed that he was drunk when he pitched his perfect game with the Yankees in 1998 in his apparently intentionally scurrilous autobiography. I guess the bow-out was the perfect way to bookend his season especially after bragging about his lack of a workout regimen the day before. It does seem odd that Wells, who's supposed to be historian of the game and tough competitor, would allow his swan song in the Big Apple be that abbreviated appearance, especially at an age when most players are trying to cozy up to the locals for the post-career career. I guess Wells felt that those bridges had been burnt already or that he didn't want to suffer the indignity of weight clauses, no matter how much he needs them.

Lefty Andy Pettitte also recently signed with Houston. This leaves the Yankees with no left-handed starters for the first time since 1947. Given the short right-field porch, it's always been assumed that a lefty or two is needed in the Yankee rotation.

Witness the following totals for Yankee left-handed pitchers. The totals are represented as a percentage of Yankee pitchers' stats and an ERA % under 100% is good (the opposite of ERA+). Also, I have the averages at the bottom for every season and then split up by the pre-Yankee Stadium era (1903-1922):

Yankee lefties have fared better than righties in the Yankee Stadium era (3% better ERA). However, the latest Yankee dynasty didn't seem to benefit much from southpaws (5.23 ERA in 2000?).

Given the turnover in the Yankee rotation—just Mike Mussina remains from the 2003 rotation—they have other things to worry about than the lack of left-handers. Such as Kevin Browns' age and history of injury, Jon Leiber's rehabilitation, whether Jose Contreras is a viable major-league starter, etc. It will be odd if Felix Heredia leads all Yankee left-handers in wins next year though.