Jamie Moyer Still Looking For One More Shot

And so now he’s got time to play golf! That’s what retired people do, often. But Moyer says he’s not retired! Tom Mahon:

Moyer went on to say that he doesn’t see himself coming back as a relief specialist, only as a starter or long reliever. He’s got his agent out looking for a spot, but “so far there aren’t any takers.”

Is it over?

Moyer’s now got more releases (3) than major-league wins (2) this year.

So, before he pitches for the Jays in Canada, he’ll head to the bright lights of Vegas. This sounds like a movie script, or at least the basis for a Jack Kerouac-style novel.

The Blue Jays could use the pitching help, as they had several starting pitchers go down with injuries within a very short period of time. If Moyer shows up well in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, the Blue Jays could very well give him another major-league chance.

Despite the fine numbers, Moyer simply wasn’t needed at the big-league level. The team asked the 49-year-old veteran to make at least one more start for Norfolk, Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette confirmed on Friday, but he apparently declined. Once again a free agent, it’s likely that Moyer will continue to seek another big-league job.

For more on the Orioles, please visit Camden Chat.

Roch Kubatko:

Jamie Moyer’s had a remarkable career; now, his latest comeback might put him in the midst of a pennant race.

It will also be Moyer’s second stint with Baltimore, if he makes it back; he pitched for the Orioles from 1993 through ‘95.

In 1993, one of his teammates with the O’s was Fernando Valenzuela.

In fact, according to the page, it happened Sunday, quietly, on a weekend when no one was watching. This wasn’t unexpected after Moyer was designated for assignment last Wednesday; he’s obviously cleared waivers and the Rockies had no interest from other teams in trading for him.

Moyer still wants to pitch, and given the dearth of starting-pitching options for many teams that have injury issues, it seems quite likely that Moyer will get some offers, or at least inquiries. He pitched pretty well at Coors Field this season; if a pitcher can do that, it would seem that a team with a big ballpark (since Moyer has allowed 11 home runs this season) might find him helpful.

There’s where you’d be wrong, because Moyer actually pitched pretty well in Coors Field. He made five starts there and five on the road; here are his splits:

Home: 29 IP, 3.72 ERA, three HR allowed

Road: 24⅔ IP, 8.03 ERA, eight HR allowed

“The way it was put to me was that this isn’t going to be a spot-start,” Outman said. “It’s going to be the first step in stretching me out to be a starter for the long haul.“Outman hasn’t pitched more than an inning in relief this season, so his start on Friday will likely be a short one. But the Rockies seem committed to the experiment, and he should get more than one start.

So is this the end for Moyer? Not if he can help it:

Asked if he is interested in trying to continue to pitch, Moyer said “I am.”

For now, though, Moyer has a few days to kick back.

“I’m going to go home (Wednesday night) and go to a high school graduation on Saturday,” he said in reference to the coming event for Hunter, his second-oldest son. “His team (Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego) is in the playoffs so after the graduation we will to go a baseball game.”

But on Wednesday, he became the oldest player to be designated for assignment:

But it’s worth a moment to stop with the silly jokes (which we’ve all made) and think about how incredible it was that Moyer could get even a single out in the major leagues. He was born in the same year as Oddibe McDowell, Danny Tartabull, and Wally Joyner. Kevin Seitzer, Darren Daulton, Darryl Strawberry.

* Actually, a fair number of fantasy owners are probably releasing Minor and Wolf. But we’re keeping it real.

Well, I suspect that Carlos Torres is pretty happy just to be employed and on the 40-man roster -- he actually got into a few games with the Rockies earlier this month, as a reliever -- especially considering that he’s nobody’s idea of a hot prospect and hardly pitched professionally last year at all (six games in Japan).

Well, it’s not exactly like Jack Quinn’s a household name; the spitballer once went 9-22 in a Federal League season, finished his career with 247 wins, and topped out with nine Hall of Fame votes.*

* If you want know more about Jack Quinn, here’s an excellent profile via the SABR BioProject.

It’s living history, friends.*

Of course, if you really think about it, every single thing that happens, every moment, is living history. But you don’t come here for that sort of nonsense. It’s baseball!

Oh, come on, Al. You’re not really going to start this feature with the same crutch that every single mainstream sportswriter seems to be using, are you?

Vizquel turns 45 years old later this month. Moyer turns 50 in November. Vizquel has made the Blue Jays’ 25-man roster, and not only will Moyer be in the Rockies’ rotation, he’s going to be their No. 2 starter.

Both of these men have been in the major leagues a long time. Both men played at Chicago’s old Comiskey Park ... which was demolished 21 years ago.

Aside from Paige, the oldest major-league starter was Phil Niekro, 48 when he made 26 starts in 1987.

Obviously, there’s no telling how long Moyer will last. Past the All-Star break will be an upset, though, as injuries or ineffectiveness are likely to take their toll as Moyer does something that nobody’s ever done before.

Nevertheless, as of now, he’s still on target to open the season with Colorado. Troy Renck:

“Pillow-tossing”. You know, that would actually be interesting to watch. The way Moyer throws, hitters would probably have less of a chance to hit a pillow he threw, than a baseball, even though the pillow is much larger.

Moyer’s memory is fine, 21 years later. He did give up two home runs, both to Bonds, in the second and third innings. And the pitch that Bonds hit for the second homer was the last pitch Moyer threw for the St. Louis Cardinals.

You can’t blame for Moyer for being bitter, at the time. Getting fired from your job’s no fun. But you can’t really blame Torre for firing Moyer, either. At the time, his ERA stood at 5.74 and he’d walked 16 batters in 31 innings. Yes, he’d pitched a few decent games -- Game Scores of 65, 56, 53, 46 -- and could easily have won a couple of them. The problem was that he was either decent or terrible in his seven starts, but never excellent.

Even if you don’t think Jamie Moyer belongs in the Hall of Fame, or even the Hall of Very Good, you have to be rooting for the 49-year-old lefthander to complete his comeback to the major leagues off Tommy John surgery.

Jamie Moyer’s feel-good story felt its first pain Thursday as the Rockies pushed back his next start with stiffness in his left leg.

Moyer, 49, was scheduled to start Friday in a minor-league game. There’s no timetable when he will pitch again. Manager Jim Tracy called it a precautionary measure because it’s Moyer’s drive leg when he pitches.So although this isn’t good news, it isn’t exactly bad news, either, as this does not appear related to any sort of arm problem. Moyer’s still in the mix for the Rockies’ fifth starter role. Renck added to his article with this tweet: