Shields gives Padres shot in the arm
Ace proves days as workhorse far from over
Can you imagine Goldman Sachs being told to take its services elsewhere, that its investment ideas were passé?
How about Hollywood stars shunning Giorgio Armani, convinced his best days of designing stunning dresses for the Oscars were over?
You have to wonder now what Major League Baseball clubs, particularly those with aspirations of contending, were thinking when they turned their backs on free agent pitcher James Shields in the offseason.
Sure, we heard the rationale. He has thrown too many pitches over the years. Too many innings. Too many complete games. Surely, his time has come and gone.
Well, here is Shields again, undefeated (5-0) with a major league-best 64 strikeouts, helping keep the San Diego Padres afloat in the National League West.
“He comes just as advertised,” Padres manager Bud Black told USA TODAY Sports. “When you really think you have a chance to win and get to the postseason, you need guys like that. He’s just what we needed.”
He’s what every team needed. You don’t think he couldn’t have helped the woeful Boston Red Sox rotation or stabilized the New York Yankees staff ? Provided the St. Louis Cardinals with a veteran presence and innings eater? Given the Chicago Cubs a 1-2 punch along with Jon Lester? Eliminate the Los Angeles Dodgers’ and San Francisco Giants’ back-end rotation struggles?
There can’t possibly be a single contender that doesn’t wish now it had come up with $75 million to sign a guy who almost singlehandedly changed the Kansas City Royals clubhouse culture and happens to be the best workhorse in baseball since 2007.
Let’s see, no one has pitched more innings than Shields in the last eight years — exceeding 200 every season.
He leads baseball with 17 complete games since 2011.
Oh, he’ll give up his share of hits and home runs — yielding a major league-high 12 homers — but every time you think he’s in trouble, he finds a way to win. He has made at least 31 starts every year since 2007.
Yet his workload proved to be a detriment on his free agent résumé. It was as if he was punished for pitching so many innings, refusing to come out of games.
“Absolutely, I didn’t understand that either,” Shields said. “I honestly don’t get the fact that you do your job year in and year out and it’s held against you.
“To each his own, man, but I wasn’t going to come out of the game because I thought I was going to get more money in free agency. I pride myself on going deep in games. I don’t want the coach to take the rock from me.
“I’m not an old school player, but I feel like I’m an old school soul. I grew up watching Orel Hershiser and guys like that take the ball and want to finish the game. That’s the mentality I have. That will never change.”
It’s the reason the Royals traded one of the finest prospects in baseball, Wil Myers, to acquire Shields after the 2012 season. Two years later, they reached the playoffs for the first time in 29 years, winning the American League pennant.
“All I can tell you is that he brought a toughness, a swagger, a fearlessness and helped change our culture,” Royals general man- ager Dayton Moore said. “Shieldsy has such a great passion for what he does. And what he did for us will always be a part of Kansas City Royals history.”
Moore’s club did not have the resources to retain Shields, who won 27 games and pitched 455 2⁄3 innings over two seasons. Yet Moore was so appreciative that he left his team in Dallas on Monday, flew to Seattle and delivered Shields his AL title ring.
He presented it an hour before the clubhouse doors opened Tuesday, with only Black, who won a World Series in 1985 with the Royals, in attendance.
“That meant a lot to me, just in the fact that Dayton would come all of the way here to do that,” Shields said.
The ring will be prominently displayed next to his other AL pennant ring won with the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, but neither will be worn, he said, until he wins a World Series. It’s the reason he signed with the Padres. Sure, it’s great to be home — he moved to nearby Rancho Santa Fe three years ago — but he wasn’t about to sign anywhere unless he thought the team could contend.
“I’m 33 years old. I don’t know how many more years I’m going to play, but I want to win that championship,” Shields said. “During the offseason, I didn’t know what direction the Padres were going in, but once they started making their moves, they proved they wanted to win.”
The Padres got Shields at onethird the price of Max Scherzer’s $210 million deal with the Washington Nationals and at about half the $155 million Lester received from the Cubs. The Giants offered Shields a four-year, $80 million contract. Shields and his agent turned it down since it was early December, and the Giants pulled the offer.
Now, everyone can only watch while Shields again stabilizes another staff, invigorating a franchise that hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2006.
“He’s everything you’d possibly want in a teammate,” Padres starting pitcher Ian Kennedy says. “He even has his own little language. He has nicknames for pretty much everything. We call them juego-isms. You’ve got to stay on top of your game to understand him.”
The Padres (18-17 entering Thursday) are a work in progress. If they don’t get on a run, Shields might have something up his sleeve. It might be time to break out a strobe light, crank up the sound system and dim the clubhouse lights after wins, as Shields did in Tampa and Kansas City.
“We haven’t busted it out yet,” Shields said. “I think we’re fine, but you never know. I might bring it in. Hey, whatever helps you win, right?”
It’s what the man is all about.
FOLLOW MLB COLUMNIST BOB NIGHTENGALE @BNightengale for breaking news, analysis and insight.