Same Old Same Old

The enigma that is ex-White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease started against his old team last night. That would be the second-worst team in all of baseball. Did I mention that Cease and the Padres lost, 4-3? I caught Cease talking to San Diego reporters after the game, and he came off as he always did on the South Side, laid back to the point of total detachment; he didn’t seem too upset with his performance of four earned runs over six innings. Those two Sox batters he hit in the fourth, both of whom scored? Stuff happens, he all but said. At the risk of sounding like Jerry Reinsdorf, the Padres aren’t getting their money’s worth from Cease, not with him going 8-12 with a 4.64 ERA. Cease is earning $13.75 million this year, and God knows how much next season when he signs with somebody—my guess the Yankees or Dodgers—as a free agent. The 29-year old, whose beard and hair make him look like he plays for the House of David, lost to Davis Martin, who now has a record of 7-10 with a 4.03 ERA. Martin is pulling down a shade over $765,000. I can’t wait to see how super-agent Scott Boras spins his client’s stats into a windfall contract. Unless he can’t.