Only 54 days until opening day.Now hear me out on this one. I know what Jaret Wright's numbers have been these past couple of seasons. But I think there's some reason to be optimistic about his chances in '07. His 11-7 record in 2006 wasn't bad. He just wasn't the 15-8 3.28ERA starting pitcher he was in Atlanta in 2004 before the Yankees picked him up.
Here's why I'm intrigued with Wright this season:
- The move to the Baltimore Orioles reunites him with pitching coach Loe Mazzone - the same guy he worked with when he was pitching for the Braves.
- He's still pitching in the AL East. So he'll get plenty of chances to pitch against his former team and (hopefully) give those Yanks a lot of grief.
- I need to get excited about somebody pitching for my new home town team.
- Even if he lives up to the Bill James, CHONE, Marcel or ZiPS projections (Bill James has him projected with a losing record) he'll help those Orioles fly a bit higher than they did last year.
- He has a history of bouncing back from rough seasons and putting together quality outings.
In terms of fantasy baseball, he's not draft-worthy. Put him on your watch list.
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