Gammons On Pitching: Wolf, Garland, Looper

Dodgers will sign all of them for 5 mill per each.

Man, i wish the Jays would have went out on a limb and got Garland. It seems like giving him a Jason Marquis like contract 3/21 would prob get it done and he pitches really well at the RCenter.

Plus, i think he's undefeated there as well. (During night games i mean. We all know Garland can't pitch in natural light(day games), weird)

Common Riccardi!

3/25 for Garland?!!?

WoW, he'd probably take 2/10 or less...talkin about overpayin'

they (reds),would have one of the best rotations of the non playoff contending teams.

your kidding right?garland,volquez,and who else?lol,your killing me.the reds will stink for 3-5 more years at least.

You are a typical Cub fan. Im from Chicago. So i've watched every Cubs/Sox/and Reds game.

Harang, Volquez, Arroyo, Garland, Cueto..would easily be a great staff.

Volquez and Arroyo won 15 games on a bum team. One is a young pitcher, and the other is a Major League pitcher with a good track record. When he loses, he loses bad. but Arroyo has been right at the top of the list in Quality starts in hte last three years.

Volquez wasnt a fluke, he throws his fastball for strikes, and with his new changeup, he is a new pitcher.

Harang won 16 games back-to-back years with a cruddy closer, on a bad team. Last year was a terrible year for Harang, but if you look at the numbers, it was due to his injury. He was 5-2 with a 3 ERA, and then he pitched 4 innings in an extra-inning game, and then came back 2 days later. After that, his numbers spiraled.

There's NO REASON to assume that Arroyo and Harang wont pitch like their track records. Volquez should have a quality year.

I wont even talk about an addition pitcher, but Cueto was good last year. Yes, he was overhyped after his first 3 starts, but at the age of 21, yes 21 he had a relatively good year. He has good raw stuff. Look at numbers of HOF pitchers such as Schilling, Clemens, Johnson, Maddux, Pedro, Ryan and others all started in the majors at young ages, and got roughed up a bit, and turned into studs. Cueto was a highly rated prospect for a reason, and he has done nothing but continue to improve how valuable he is.

Obviously hes young and unpredictable, be he can easily throw 180 innings, and most likely a .500 record and under 4.5 ERA.

With those 4 pitchers (Harang, Arroyo, Volquez, and Cueto) the Reds already have a good staff. This staff can throw 180 innings through 240 innings for these pitchers. They have high K rates, and Volquez and Cueto have high K and high BB rate, which in time should go down.

Owings is on the inside track, but Ramierez, Bailey, Thompson and a few others are available for the 5th spot. With the addition of Garland, the Reds would add another pitcher who could throw 200 innings, which would be incredible for them. Wolf is ideal because he's a lefty, but Looper would be last resort, but i dont think hes that good either. Thats why i think Garland is the perfect fit.

Ive watched the Reds and Cubs play eachother for year. Barring a Peavy trade, theres no doubt in my mind the Reds rotation can match the Cubs.

Zambrano and Harang always have a duel. Each pitcher can win the game, because I believe they're equal.

Lilly and Arroyo are almost the same pitcher Switching from the AL to the NL in the same year. Arroyo has had a slightly higher ERA, and less wins, but on a worse team Arroyo has had very long stretches of dominating starts, along with disastrous starts. When Arroyo is on, he can strike out a bunch, with almost no walks.

Dempster and Volquez are similar as well. Dempster was an allstar, but also had a Career year after the age of 32. Volquez had a great year at the age of 25...who's better? Dempster was dominant at home but theres no doubt those numbers wont repeat

Cueto is not as good as Harden at the moment. harden will go 6 innings, and usually throw well. Cueto is inconsistent. Most of Hardens games are decided by the bullpen, and the cubs pen did take a hit this year whether they want to believe it or not. Gregg is good, but with Marmol as the closer, it hurts the pen since Wood could still get the job done.

This makes the 5th spot up for grabs for both teams. cubs could sign someone, reds probably wont, but if they did sign Garland, i truly believe their staff would be one of the top ones in the league.

The Lineup and defense is much better than last year, and we even have impact prospects close to the majors, including pitching. Reds are not only deep in near major-league ready but have talent in the lower levels as well.

Pitchers like Owings, Bailey, Ramierez, Thompson, Roenicke, Miner and Malony are all close to being an asset in the pen or the rotation.

Inflieders Valkia, and Fraizer are real close, and Alonso is on a fast-track to the majors.

Outfielder Stubbs has potential, and is a very good defender and runner, Sort of like Pie, but I think he could be a help to the Reds.

This makes the Reds have a very very expendable major league team, as well as valuable trade chips in the minors. Reds have plenty of young players, and may be aiming for '10, but their 09 staff is good, and the team will compete.

gmblingptcher

WOW.... the cubs are so much better than the reds.. its not even a discussion, but ill try to make it one

1b- Lee encarmacion
ss- theriot > gonzales? who plays there?
LF- Soriano > dickerson
CF- johnson/fuku > taveras
RF- Bradley > bruce

Cubs 5 reds 2
i will be interested to see how you will counter my position rankings

Rotation! that was a complete joke! Reds and cubs pitching staffs equal! wow..

Harang and his proud 4.78 era! way less than Zambrano

Volquez = Dempster

Arroyo and his 4.77 era > Harden and his 1.77 era on the cubs even if harden cant go 7+ innings

Lilly> Garland lilly 4.0 era is a given each year and garland had a 4.9 but with the al-nl switch ill give him 4.5 at min.

Marshall>Cueto
Marshall had an era over less than 1.0 under cuetos. he also had to consistently switch roles and has a magnificent curveball

i cant see how you could even attempt to say the reds rotation is even in the same area code as the cubs

and i meant arroyo < harden

1b lee= votto. really? u have something wrong. look, i dont see either team alot, im on the west(dodgers). but any idiot who ever watched baseball that lee was better than votto in lee's prime, but com'mon. thats what i hate about so many people on any site. they way overrate their players. the cubs are better, yes. but they are also older. if they were worse than the reds, with their payroll, then the team would have been sold for what it was bought for. the reds have a lot to look forward to, just let the kids grow.

My reasoning for Cueto being younger is that he had a pretty good year last year and should develop nicely. I think he would be very good #5, and is an average #4. Which is my reasoning for signing Garland.

Maybe hitters wouldnt rather face the Cubs pitching, but the Reds staff is not weak, and to be honest is very much under-rated.

Look around the division, and even the league.

Harang and Arroyo are both proven starters who can throw 200 innings. I think Harang is definitely an Ace sing he gives 200 plus innings with a very good K/BB ratio

Volquez is good, and should continue to get better. he should easily be able to get to 200 innings this year.

I think Cueto will get to 180, and they will all pitch receptively. Best rotation Reds have had in YEARS. Improvements can be made, but i think with the staff and Votto/Bruce/Phillips can help The Reds compete

u can compete all you want but the cubs/cardinals will most likely go 1-2

don't you have to score runs to even consider your bullpen a factor?

"don't you have to score runs to even consider your bullpen a factor?"

The bullpen is probably the most underrated section of any given team. I think there is no coincidence that the Dodgers and Phillies had the two best pens in the NL last year. No matter how many runs you score, or have the potential to score the lack of a competent bullpen will spell disaster (the 08 Tigers serve as a terrific example).

"ok, every aspect of your team... lineup, pitching staff, and bullpen matter. my point is, if youre going to compare bullpens then the other 2 aspects have to at least compare."

I would have to disagree at least to some extent. Look at the 2007 Rockies as an example, they did not have a solid starting rotation but it was good enough because their offense was so good. Also, they still had a great closer and set-up guy at that time. One of the three aspects can compensate for one of the others (offense for starting pitching for example), but, as you stated a WS team would have to have all three aspects at least solid (i.e. the 2008 Phillies). So I agree in some aspects but disagree with others.