David Newhan was non-tendered. And now I do the dance of joy. Newhan is a horseshit player who, at times, flashed a horseshit attitude. He seemed to believe that he was a real veteran of the big leagues, here to lead these wack ass youngsters like Melvin Mora to the promised land. I never particularly understood Newhan, and I never particularly cared for him except for that period where he hit .400. He went in the turlet soon after, and that should have been it for him. Instead we decided we needed to see two more years of the second half of his first stint before we could go, "Oh wait, this guy isn't very good." Or do you think someone caught on to the fact that he's not 25? It would not shock me if I found out that Flanagan thought Newhan was seven or eight years younger than he actually is.
To be nice about Newhan, though, there were also times when it seemed like he would do anything to help out. And I cannot fault a player for wanting to get into the game.
Aaron Rakers was non-tendered. I had a Free Aaron Rakers thing going on for a while, but I'm not at all upset about this. Rakers had great numbers in the minors and very well might still catch on somewhere and I could see him being good or getting killed, because a guy with a marginal fastball and a great splitter is always one little thing away from being a shitty pitcher, and that little thing is the splitter going from great to good, or perhaps worse.
I will root for Rakers because he was passed over countless times for guys with The Live Arm that had control issues, no change of pace stuff, or were just plain not any good at all, but the Orioles are now in the business of paying for their bullpen, so it's hard to see where Rakers was going to fit in. We didn't much need to continue rehabbing a 30-year old guy that has never had major league success, even if it is in fact not his fault that it happened that way. Did we need a righty BEFORE Bradford and Baez?
So good luck, Aaron, and best wishes.
The Todd is gone
The Todd is gone away
The Todd is gone, baby
The Todd is gone away
You know you done The Todd wrong, baby
And you'll be sorry someday
The Todd is gone
It's gone away from me
The Todd is gone, baby
It's gone away from me
Although The Todd'll still live on
But so lonely he'll be
The Todd is gone
He's gone away for good
Oh, The Todd is gone, baby
Baby, he's gone away for good
Someday he knows The Todd'll be over it all, baby
Just like The Todd knows a man should
You know The Todd's free, free now, baby
The Todd's free from your spell
The Todd's free, free now
The Todd's free from your spell
And now that it's over
All The Todd can do is wish you well