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Want a rich kid? Teach them to pitch – Metro US

Want a rich kid? Teach them to pitch

Baseball’s bidding wars this off-season will produce outlandish, outrageous, out-of-this-world contracts for mediocre, inconsistent starting pitchers.

“Our market,” a general manager said, “has never been more insane. Parents should no longer want their kids to become doctors or attorneys. They should want them to be pitchers.”

Because virtually every team needs pitching, chaps such as Carlos Silva, Josh Fogg, Odalis Perez, Russ Ortiz, Bartolo Colon and Livan Hernandez are attracting offers worth mega-millions.

Silva, for instance, has no real “out” pitch, has never won even 15 games in a season and is a mere 24-29 with the Minnesota Twins the past two years and, yet, he’ll wind up with at least $12 million US a season.

Salaries will be driven up further by Japanese pitchers who’ll follow their now-wealthy countrymen to the major leagues. Hiroki Kuroda, 32, was 103-89 in 11 seasons in Japan and MLB clubs are lining up for him, willing to pay large.

• For Sunday’s CFL division finals, the Toronto Argonauts are favoured by 6.5 points over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers while the B.C. Lions are eight-point favourites over the Saskatchewan Roughriders … Many CFLers think the Riders might upset the Lions and visit the Argos for the Grey Cup game Nov. 25, when Saskatchewan head coach Kent Austin could seek sweet revenge. The Argos, remember, fired Austin as their offensive co-ordinator last season … Austin’s a shoo-in, by the way, for coach-of-the-year honours, regardless of what the Riders do from here on in … Montreal Alouettes bosses are trying to determine what to do with Jim Popp and his guaranteed $400,000 salary for next year. They no longer want Popp as head coach but want him to remain GM. He’s adamant about coaching … The Als, mysteriously, wouldn’t mind Edmonton head coach Danny Maciocia, who’s failed to lead the Eskimos to the playoffs the past two seasons. A Montreal native and ex-Als assistant coach, Maciocia is bilingual.

• Two young NHL stars, defenceman Dion Phaneuf and forward Alexander Ovechkin, have rejected contract-extension proposals from the Calgary Flames and Washington Capitals, respectively.

The Caps offered Ovechkin a five-year pact similar to the deal the Pittsburgh Penguins gave Sidney Crosby ($8.7 million a season), but the sniper is demanding more — between $9- and $10-million a year.

• The Cleveland Cavaliers actually practiced at somebody’s Los Angeles home the other day.

Sports-gear mogul Steven Jackson has a mansion that includes a replica of the Staples Center court in L.A.

LeBron James and the Cavs worked out there, then went out and beat the Clippers on the real Staples Center court.

In three-plus decades as a columnist and broadcaster, Marty York has built a network of solid contacts and a renowned reputation for his hard-hitting, groundbreaking style. The tradition continues in Metro Sports.

marty.york@metronews.ca