If a team needs a front-line starter this off-season–and who can’t use more pitching–it should target free agent Mark Buehrle. And that includes his incumbent franchise, the Chicago White Sox. Heck no, don’t go, Mark, should be the refrain in Chicago.
The southpaw has been a mainstay in the rotation since 2001 and has won 161 games for the Sox with a lifetime 3.83 earned run average. He has also authored a perfect game, something not many have ever done, and thrown a second no-hitter. The size of the club of pitchers who have thrown two or more no-hitters in a career is not so big it would spill out of a single luxury suite at U.S. Cellular Field.
And although he has been in the majors since 2000, the year he collected his first win, Buehrle is still only 32. Buehrle is not as flashy as some No. 1 starters like CC Sabathia or Justin Verlander, nor does he throw as hard. But he is a four-time All-Star with those two no-nos on his resume and he is an innings eater, a characteristic that is at a premium in this day of the relief pitcher.
Year after year Buehrle is durable enough to throw for more than 200 innings. He doesn’t have arm problems. He rarely misses starts. In 2004 and 2005 he led the American League in innings pitched. Buehrle may not win you 20 games, but he will win 12 or more every year and with a good-hitting pennant contender maybe 16.
He has never been suspected of using drugs and he never gets into off-field trouble. Buehrle is as reliable as sunrise. Certainly he is curious about how much money he can make in the open market, but Buehrle has made it clear over the years that quality of life is important to him and as soon as the season ends, the pitcher usually dips under the radar by heading home to his property a few hours west in Missouri where he hunts and fishes with friends and family.
Buehrle grew up in Missouri as a St. Louis Cardinals fan and once made the mistake of saying out loud that if things worked out in a specific way he wouldn’t mind playing for the hometown team before he quit. That was several years ago and his musings ignited a firestorm at the time. This would seem to be the chance for Buehrle to follow his childhood dream if he wanted, though he could probably make more money sticking with the White Sox and he definitely could make more money by lending his services to one of the richest teams in baseball, whether it be the Yankees, the Angels, Red Sox or Phillies.
White Sox fans carry almost as serious a grudge against the Yankees as Red Sox fans do, dating back to the 1950s when the Yankees seemed to win every pennant and the White Sox came close but lost out in second or third except for 1959, so they would hate a Yankee signing. As always, the deepest-pockets Yankees can nuke any other team’s offer and they don’t ever seem to be bothered by adding one more year to a contract than any sane outfit would.
If you are Mark Buehrle and the White Sox offer you $10 million a year for four years and the Yankees offer you $15 million a year for five, what do you do? How valuable is sentiment? It’s not as if the White Sox figure to be in the hunt for a pennant in 2012. That could influence Buehrle, too.
The White Sox would be crazy not to want Buehrle back. The Yankees would be crazy not to make a serious pitch for him. But Buehrle might feel that if he is going to pitch surrounded by skyscrapers they might as well be familiar skyscrapers in Chicago.
If Buehrle likes his life the way it is and he feels loyal to the White Sox organization, he will stay put. If his youthful allegiance kicks in and the idea of pitching where he is from attracts him, he will go with the Cardinals. If money is the most important thing he will choose the YankeesH. Likewise if he is convinced the Yankees are the closet he will come to the World Series. Buehrle has one World Series ring from 2005 with Chicago. Getting one more piece of jewelry before he retires might motivate him the most.