At the trade deadline in 2001, Matt Lawton was traded by the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Rick Reed. At the time, this trade made very little sense because the strength of the 2001 Twins was the starting pitching while the offense was a weakness. Why would they further strengthen their rotation at the expense of their best hitter at the time? However, from the second I heard about the trade - I was watching Baseball Tonight when it was announced - I was defending it while my brothers and friends all complained. Of course, the team collapsed down the stretch and failed to make the postseason.
In 2002, Reed was the most consistent and effective starter for the team. When I say effective, however, I mean frighteningly close to falling off a cliff while still getting good results. Everytime Reed started last year - and everytime he starts this year - I do not expect the Twins to win. He is a good pitcher, but is old, slow, deliberate and prone to homeruns. There is a good chance that he will give up three or four homeruns in each of his starts.
Reed and The Gambler provide the veteran leadership in the starting rotation. While they do turn in quality starts in almost half of their appearances, they rarely have made an "exceptional start". A quality start requires at least six innings pitched and three or fewer earned runs allowed. An "exceptional start" was created by me - yes, I'm the best - and requires seven + innings pitched, and two or fewer earned runs allowed. Why have a changed the requirements? Well, I think that quality is too kind of a word. A starting pitcher's job should be pitching six innings, and keeping the team in the game by allowing few runs. Thus, he should not be rewarded by being described as "quality" when they turn in a truly mediocre start. After all, it is not consider a "quality game" if a batter goes 1-for-4, which to me seems like the equal of a quality start. After all, Joe Mays has been turning in quality starts fairly frequently despite his horrific year. Because of that, I think the qualifications need to become a little more stringent.
Down the stretch, I hope that Rick Reed can merely provide a quality start in all of his starts. Even if he does not get any run support and loses his last ten starts on the season, he needs to provide innings in order to spare what is quickly becoming an overworked bullpen. That should not be too much to ask, but I am sure he will find a way to screw it up. I am not overly pessimistic about the team ala Aaron Gleeman, but Reed does not know have - and never will have - my confidence.
Finally, Rick Reed was a scab who crossed the picket line during the 1994 strike. He was a journeyman AAAA pitcher (AAAA means not quite good enough for the majors, too good for the minors), and needed money to pay for his mother's healthcare. His mother, who is diabetic, was unable to afford her medicine, and Reed crossed the picketline for $500/month, I believe. To me, he had a perfectly good reason to cross the picketline, but the MLBPA obviously disagrees. Thus, Reed is left out on endorsements that the average player receives. I really can go either way on the scabs. I understand why the other players are angry/disappointed that he crossed the picketline, but I also understand the very reasons that force some people to cross. It's a sad situation, and I hope that it can be reconciled at some point.
Updated July 18, 2003
In his first start following the All-Star break, Reed turned in an excellent performance. While he scattered a lot of baserunners, he only allowed 2 runs in 7 innings. He kept the A's off balance, and possessed the best curveball I have seen him throw in his nearly two years on the team. It was an "exceptional" start rather than merely quality, and I hope that he can continue that performance throughout the second half.
Updated September 12, 2003
Rick Reed sucks. It's been two and a half years and I have finally given in and succombed to my emotions. He's terrible. He's disinterested, ineffective, overpaid, injury-prone, grumpy and completely useless to the Twins. Happily, he will not be back next season.
