Yankees Glad to Have Irabu, Warts and All

Maybe it took George Steinbrenner describing him in April as a “fat toad,” but Hideki Irabu has definitely turned from frog to prince in the New York Yankee rotation.

Irabu pitched the Yankees to an 8-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday to improve to 9-3 with a 3.89 earned-run average--the most consistent pitcher in a rotation of Roger Clemens, David Cone, Andy Pettitte and Orlando Hernandez. In his last 12 starts, Irabu is 8-0 with a 3.11 ERA.

“He has a sense that he belongs now,” Cone said. “He’s been our best pitcher.”

Irabu rejected the idea that he is seeking vindication after Steinbrenner’s criticism of his fortitude, focus and conditioning.

“Baseball is a six-month season,” he said through an interpreter after beating the Blue Jays. “It’s not something that shows what you can do in one or two weeks. It takes time. So there is no way to answer criticism over such a short period of time.”

Perhaps, but the Yankees think Irabu is pitching better because he is prepared to pitch better. He was recently spotted running early morning laps around Fenway Park, borrowing from Clemens’ conditioning book.

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Many American League scouts believe Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi overplayed his hand in seeking infielder Enrique Wilson and three top pitching prospects from the Cleveland Indians for Chuck Finley. The scouts contend that Wilson, who would have filled a gaping void at second base after the departure of Randy Velarde, and one of the prospects would have represented a reasonable price for a 36-year-old pitcher with a 5-10 record at the time. The Indians were unwilling to demolish their system of top mound prospects and wary of Finley on two counts: his inconsistency and the likelihood that he would opt to return to the Angels as a free agent at the end of the season.

The Angels, having rejected the opportunity to get a measure of quality in return for a pitcher who may be in the twilight of his career, now seem forced to re-sign him for multi years at multi millions. A contract clause prevents them from offering Finley arbitration, which means they would receive no draft choices as compensation if Finley leaves as a free agent and signs with another team.

They are backed into a corner, seemingly committed again in 2000 to a suspect rotation built around Finley, Ken Hill and Tim Belcher while hopeful that Ramon Ortiz is ready--and that Bavasi is able to trade for a catcher, second baseman and No. 1-caliber pitcher of the type that Finley once was but hasn’t been since midseason of last year.

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Cleveland General Manager John Hart said he was definitely “intrigued by Finley’s pedigree” but “you just can’t assume he’s going to step off a plane and turn his season around.” The Angels, he said, were simply asking for too much, and his gut feeling is that they never really wanted to trade him.

“He’s like Mr. Angel,” Hart said.

Finley is 16-9 against the Yankees, which is what attracted the Indians most. They remain devoid of a left-handed starter to throw against the Yankees in October.

Hart is hopeful that Travis Fryman, Sandy Alomar and Wil Cordero will be off the disabled list and playing again in September, but Alomar--pivotal behind the plate--is a concern. He failed two rehab attempts in his comeback from knee surgery and was scheduled to begin a third this weekend.

“We’ve encouraged Sandy to go slower rather than quicker,” Hart said. “I think maybe he felt we were trying to rush him. We’re still optimistic he’ll be back.”