Knights Draft Roundup '09 Part 1: A Call to Arms and the Return of the Moose

(New York Daily Mirror - March 4, 2009)

PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA -

"That’s what’s so great about spring training: anything is possible; every team starts from the same point, zero wins and zero losses. Players from all over the world descend upon sunny climes, just as hopeful as their fans." - Doug Glanville, New York Times, March 2008

"He that lives upon hope will die fasting. " - Benjamin Franklin

The sun is shining brightly in a pure azure sky today in this sleepy Central Florida burg. Soft, warm breezes caress one's skin and rustle the palm trees that stand beyond the center field fence at Knights Field. A sure sign of spring is in the air - the crack of horsehide spheres striking wooden bats and the thwack of the spheres into leather gloves. Laughing and playful banter abound, both in the dugouts and in the stands. Spring training has arrived.

For Knights fans, bruised and battered after a nightmarish 2008 season, spring could not have come soon enough. A brutal New York winter that saw New York's professional sports teams either fail spectacularly or never compete at all has left Big Apple sports fans hoping against hope that turning the page to 2009 will bring good tidings to the Knights and bring some cheer to a recession-wracked city.

Knights GM Mitch Pak didn't offer a team post-mortem after the '08 campaign came to a merciful conclusion. He didn't have to. 118 losses, a starting rotation that featured three 20-game losers and the transformation of Empire Field into a veritable ghost town speak volumes for themselves. The lone bright spot of the post-season was the ease with which the cutdown list was put together.

Pak rolled up his sleeves and got to work with a shopping list of needs, most of which involved pitching. Starting pitching. Lots of it. After cut down day, which saw Barry Zit-0 and 23, Doug Davis, Dontrelle Willis and Orlando Hernandez excised from the roster, the Knights were left with just one 200-inning starting pitcher in Matt Cain. Thus, with the first four picks in the draft, including the overall #1 pick, Pak brought in new, young pitching talent - and one old warhorse who, like the Prodigal Son, was once exiled and is now welcomed back with open arms.

While many in the media gathered around young Jon Lester, a hard-throwing lefty that Pak nabbed with the first pick, many in the New York sports media crowded around a veteran right-hander, a 40 year old hurler, graying at the temples, who was taken with the 14th pick of the 4th round, number 62 overall. A pitcher named Mike Mussina.

Just the mention of that name causes strong emotional responses from many Knights fans. Mussina was an original Knight, a holdover from the dreadful North Celtic Druid days who came to New York in the late winter of 2000-1 in the hopes of bringing an NASBL title to New York. Moose did his part, functioning as the ace of the rotation and winning 48 games over three-plus seasons. He won 16 games for bad Knights teams in both 2002 and 2003. His LF Cy Young Award was the organization's only post-season honor until Takashi Saito won the 2007 LF Rookie of the Year Award. He remains the franchise career leader in most pitching categories and has a winning lifetime record as a Knights - no easy feat when you consider that he played on teams that finished well below .500.

Moose's Knights tenure came to an abrupt end after Block 1 in the 2004 season. He struggled early, posting a 3-5 record and a 6.13 ERA for the team in 8 starts. The club finished Block 1 at 12-25 and management elected to shake up the team by trading its best players for draft picks. Mussina, then-captain Jim Thome and slugging outfielder Preston Wilson were dealt in short order. He ended up with Vermont, for whom he would post a 12-6 record and 4.27 ERA in 21 starts in 2004. He pitched again for Vermont in 2005 and then moved on to Lake Champlain for the next two seasons, again reaching the 16 win plateau in 2007, going 16-10 with a 4.37 ERA for the Cannibals. In the meantime, the Knights retooled their rotation, bringing in then-stars Barry Zito and Dontrelle Willis.

New York never forgot Moose's 2002 performance and never forgot Moose. So when the Knights announced that Mussina had been selected with the team's fourth round pick, there was a feeling of deep satisfaction and perhaps redemption. Mussina, who has already stated that 2009 will be his final season, was not taken solely for sentimental reasons, as was David Cone in 2003. He is expected to be a productive member of a completely revamped 2009 rotation and, the club hopes, a positive role model and mentor for the three new young hurlers the club took with its first three draft picks.

Mussina, a reserved guy who's never been a media hound, was modest at the prospect of finishing his career in New York, where he had his greatest success. "It feels great to be back here," he told WFAN radio's Steve "The Schmoozer" Somers. "I was fortunate to be part of some really good teams after I was traded but I never really forgot about New York. Winning here is unlike winning anywhere else. The love you get from these fans when you win is really something special. As a team, we didn't win much my first few years here, so I'm hoping we can make this a special season for the fans."

The Knights hope that Moose will take the three new Knights pitchers under his wing. The club has very high hopes for the league's overall #1 pick, lefty Jon Lester. Lester, who turned 25 on January 7, may very well be the team's Opening Day starter. A control pitcher, Lester will not blow anyone away but has a formidable arsenal. The Knights were wary of selecting him first, given that lefthanders do not always fare well in the NASBL, but after meeting with the young man and watching him work out, Pak decided to take the leap.

Joe Saunders, a 27 year old lefty, was taken with the club's second pick. A pitcher in the same mold as Lester, Saunders has moderate arm power and won't strike out 15 in a game. He relies on a good curve ball and sinker. He figures to be more of a back of the rotation kind of pitcher.

The third youngster drafted by the Knights is Gavin Floyd, 26. Floyd, a righthander, is an innings-eater, and should take some pressure off the bullpen. He owns a 90 mph fastball and hard slider.

The club has yet to determine where Matt Cain, Mussina and Adam Wainwright (5-14 in 2008) will be positioned in the '09 rotation. Its possible the Knights will go to a six-man rotation for Block 1.

The Knights bullpen is essentially carryover from 2008, since the 'pen actually performed pretty well. Returning are Manny Decarmen, Scott Linebrink and Chad Qualls (who may become the closer). Rafael Perez, who did not throw an inning for the Knights in 2008 because of overusage issues, will also be returning. The newer faces in the Knights pen are actually seasoned veterans: 38 year old lefty Darren Oliver (obtained from Vermont in exchange for Miami's 8th round pick, which the Knights received in the Jeff Kent deal), 35 year old veteran Octavio Dotel (out of the league since 2005, prior to which he spent six seasons in Springfield) and Jeremy Affeldt, 29, who is best known for his years with Grundy County.

Part 2 of the Mirror's review of the Knights 2009 draft will be published soon.