David Wells

Like many others - I mostly wish David Wells would just shut up and pitch but occasionlly Wells says things that interests me. Wells is now on record as saying his goal for the season is 20-wins. Things that make you say hmmmm.

Wells is 42-years old and has only one 20-win season in his 19-year career. What makes him think he can win 20 this year? My guess is the goal has more to do with history than success this year.

Wells needs 18 wins to move into the top 50 all-time (actually into a 4-way tie for 48th place with 245 wins). 19-wins ties him with Hall of Famer Joe McGinty for 47th place and 20 wins ties him with Jack Quinn for 46th place. Wells needs more than 18 wins because Mike Mussina is only 3 wins behind him on the all-time list and will probably finish ahead of Wells when all is said and done just because Mussina is younger and probably has another 2-3 years in the tank.

Wells needs another 95 strikeouts to reach 2,176 and move into the all-time top 50 passing Vida Blue. I think Wells' real goal is to be in the top 50 career in both wins and strikeouts. David Wells may think he has an outside shot at the Hall of Fame. Seriously.

Really - I'm not joking.

Only 7 players who are in both the top 50 in wins and top 50 in strikeouts are not in the Hall of Fame. Three of them are mortal locks to get in - Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, and Randy Johnson. And the other four are some of the most borderline cases of all time - Bert Blyleven, Jack Morris, Jim Kaat and Tommy John. I don't think that Wells has a better story to tell than any of these four but that doesn't mean that in his own mind Wells hasn't justified his own case.

I don't fault Wells for setting goals for what is probably his final season but I just don't think they are realistic. Mike Mussina will also probably make both lists and I'm not sure if he has a better case to make than Mussina (even though Wells has a 20-win season and Mussina does not - heh heh - Red Sox fans are obligated to bring that up whenever Mussina is mentioned).