Watching CJ Wilson be interviewed last night by Jack Curry, I felt sorrier for a guy who just got a $77.5 million deal than I ever thought possible.Wilson was so obviously disappointed that the New York Yankees weren’t interested in him (and reportedly declined his request for a visit to Yankee Stadium). He clearly wanted to play for the Yankees after living in the Lower East Side and would have welcomed the media spotlight, which would have found him due to what can nicely be described as his quirky (Jon Heyman called it flaky) personality. Wilson looked miserable during the interview, didn’t smile even once (unlike Jose Reyes, who was all smiles despite the fact that the Mets didn’t put up a fight to keep him).
“They just weren’t feeling it for whatever reason,” Wilson told Curry in this YES Network video. “They were a place I would have gone for sure because who wouldn’t want to be a Yankee.”
The Yankees weren’t interested because Wilson’s asking price was way too high. Yes, he landed a fantastic deal, but that was mostly because he was the best starting pitcher in a generally weak free-agent class. The Yankees viewed Wilson as no better than a third starter and weren’t willing to pay him as a #1 or #2 and I agree 100%. If Wilson really wanted New York, he had to lower his price a lot. Not that I blame him because it’s hard to walk away from that kind of money.
From a contractual perspective, Wilson rebounded from the Yankees’ disinterest quietly nicely. He landed a terrific five-year deal to play for his hometown Angels, turning down an even richer deal from the suddenly free-spending Miami Marlins. He’s going to be playing for an Angels team that has clearly decided to be aggressive in the fight for the hearts of Los Angelenos, unexpectedly winding up with the big prize of this year’s free-agent class, Albert Pujols.
But Wilson clearly didn’t end up where he wanted to be and I feel kind of bad for him about that.
Thanks to Red3biggs for the CJ Wilson photo.
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