Rangers have some decisions to make on Lewis and Gallardo. If not it could be another down April. They basically have three LH starters.
This is more appropriate over here... Take your pick of Free agents in the off season, if you want someone else then you will have to make a trade... I'm not sure about this list cause it doesn't have Colby on it...
Starting Pitchers and their ages...
Brett Anderson (28)
Scott Baker (34)
Brandon Beachy (29)
Chad Billingsley (31)
Joe Blanton (35)
Clay Buchholz (31) – $13MM club option with a $245K buyout
Mark Buehrle (37)
A.J. Burnett (39)
Trevor Cahill (28)
Chris Capuano (37)
Wei-Yin Chen (30)
Bartolo Colon (43)
Johnny Cueto (30)
R.A. Dickey (41) – $12MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Marco Estrada (32)
Doug Fister (32)
Gavin Floyd (33)
Yovani Gallardo (30)
Jaime Garcia (29) – $11.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Dillon Gee (30)
Zack Greinke (32) – can opt out of remaining three years/$71MM
Jeremy Guthrie (37) – $10MM mutual option with a $3.2MM buyout
J.A. Happ (33)
Aaron Harang (38)
Dan Haren (35)
Rich Hill (36)
Tim Hudson (40)
Hisashi Iwakuma (35)
Scott Kazmir (32)
Kyle Kendrick (31)
Ian Kennedy (31)
John Lackey (37)
Mat Latos (28)
Mike Leake (28)
Cliff Lee (37) – $27.5MM club option with a $12.5MM buyout
If Gallardo does not sign (he likes being home) and Lewis gone, our rotation is then rounded out by Gonzalez and Martinez.
If Gallardo or Lewis signs (think Colby bolts or retires) then we have 4 with either Gonzalez or Martinez.
So a 5 man rotation.
To get to your 6 man rotation I believe we need another veteran arm. Either a Cueto or Masterson. When Yu comes back we keep the best of the RH pitchers for the remainder of the season.
Another question that needs to be answered is what to do about Napoli, he's a FA, and some would like to keep him but what do you do with him??
I think it was Sherrington who suggested Morelands stock is high. Time to trade him for a power RH bat. If that goes through they make a deal with Nap to switch with Fielder at 1B and DH.
Then what do you do with Hammy? Is he at the point of being a platoon OFer?
I think DD has the full time CF job. So many games were won when he got on base early in the game.
So two starting pitchers needed and we have a hole of no power RH OF bat. What's Cruz up to?:)
I think it was Sherrington who suggested Morelands stock is high. Time to trade him for a power RH bat. If that goes through they make a deal with Nap to switch with Fielder at 1B and DH.
Can't get DMN website to load this morning for some reason so can't check.
I know I brought up that possibility about 2 or 3 mos ago trading him for a good defensively RHed OF that can drive in some runs... And depending on what position he plays what do you do with DD (who needs late inning Defensive replacement) and Hammy??? If it were me I would go after a CFer move DD to LF and bring Hammy in to play 1st and platoon with Napoli (that's if they decide to keep him)...
Then the next issue is who do they keep as backup OFers Stubbs or Martin, as of this moment Martin is cheaper or some of the younguns and none of them can really hit... BTA that was a big theme this year not many people could hit the ball and the reason Mags is gone. Depending on who they get as a hitting coach and can do over the winter may determine who stays and who goes...
You aren't going to find a CFer that fits that description unless you give up half your body appendages, 1st born child and 1/2 the farm system. So that basically leaves it up to being a LFer...
Now if you are looking towards FA to fill that slot then Cespedes and Upton are the big boys on the block, and suppose both could play CF in a pinch but seem to be better suited to the corners...
If you decide to go the trade route then you have to find someone that wants a LHed 1B/DH or a LHed LF/DH that has health problems and 25M salary...
At the present time there doesn't seem to be anybody in the minors that is ready for primetime that fits the bill...
