Afternoon Baseball

So sad. Oh yeah. His greatest contribution as a Yankee was eating up lots of spring training innings, to be honest. And now that he's been designated for assignment, Mike Mussina doesn't have to get needled by Erickson about who has the most 20-win seasons (for the record: Moose has zero, Erickson won 20 for the 1991 miracle Twins).
Here's a statistical analysis of how Erickson hurt the team.
It's nice to have Shawn Chacon back, and maybe he can try staying healthy this time, since Mussina's hot start is either history or still somewhat intact, depending on who you read. And of course, Randy Johnson keeps acting his age, the jerk. What are you going to do?

I'm sorry Erickson wasn't productive this year (or any this century). He was a better pitcher than his .500 record and 4.50+ ERA rate. He did, however, peak at age 23 with his 20-8, 3.18 season of 1991. His four-year run with the O's before blowing out his arm was also impressive, despite bookend high ERAs: 60-44, 25 CG, 924 IP, including being the last American League pitcher to throw double-digit complete games with 11 in 1998.
But his departure is good for the Yanks, even if using a minor leaguer in his place doesn't work out, either.