On this date in 2003, the White Sox signed Esteban Loaiza as a free agent. He went on to lead the league in strikeouts, post a 2.90 ERA and win 21 games, finishing second in the AL Cy Young Award balloting to youngster Roy Halladay. Here are today's links…
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan says it's hard to call the Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum deals "anything other than a resounding victory" for Brewers GM Doug Melvin.
- Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explains how the selective shopping of Cardinals GM John Mozeliak might pay off this season. Players like Nick Punto, Brian Tallet and Miguel Batista could contribute in 2011.
- ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick examines a Tigers pitching staff that's loaded with dynamic young arms.
- At ESPN.com, Kevin Goldstein gives us a sense of what the Rays could do with their many 2011 draft picks. I previewed Tampa Bay's draft last week.
I wonder if Cardinals fans want Punto to replace Schumaker
only against lefties and as a defensive sub after the 7th inning :)
the tigers rotation looks like it will be really really good or really really bad. So much high risk/high reward guys there with Scherzer, Porcello, and Penny.
Scherzer is a high risk guy? After he went to AAA for 2 starts in May, when he came back up he was great for the rest of the season:
23 GS, 153 2/3 IP, 9.25 K/9, 3.16 BB/9, 2.46 ERA, .220/.293/.328 against.
Scherzer was brilliant, don’t get me wrong. And he has amazing stuff. Monster upside.
But I’m guessing the “risk” side of the equation with him is that he doesn’t have an established track record. Is he going to be horrible? Probably not. But could he start the season out struggling again? Possibly.
Verlander has a pretty good track record so you have a pretty good idea of what you’re going to get. Scherzer had a few ugly months and then several stunning ones. Maybe “moderate risk high reward” would be a better expression, but I think the sentiment is just that he’s not a sure-thing stud… yet.
One of the biggest high risk/high reward guys you didn’t even mention and that’s Phil Coke. They basically took their best lefty reliever and are putting him in the rotation. He hasn’t pitched there since 2008 in AA I think.
Maybe high risk/high reward isn’t the choice of words though?
He started one game in AAA in ’08. Should be interesting. I think his history as a starter in the minors might help him.
Tigers were looking at him as a possible #5 candidate in ’10 spring training before ultimately making the decision to put him in the bullpen. I think if Bobby Seay had been healthy Coke would have gotten a shot to compete for the #5 spot.
I feel pretty confident in Scherzer.
I love that people just seem to look at the fact he struggled in the first half and went to Toledo, and forget that he came back and had some of the best numbers in all of baseball after his return.
So trading for an injury prone pitcher with a 4.38 FIP in his last 3 years [discounting his first 2 since he was mainly a reliever] for a top 50 prospect, ranked as high as 19th, is a win? Laugh.
The Greinke one was a solid deal for the Brewers though.
“selective shopping”? also known as we cant afford much if we are gonna overpay fat albert to stay here. and they will have to overpay him big time.
i fail to see how the cardinals are going to improve with any of the guys listed.
“Kevin Goldstein gives us a sense of what the Rays could do with their many 2011 draft pick”
A happy dance?
Friedman can literally grab a handful of pointed darts, line up pictures of the top 70 projected picks (minus the consensus top 10) on his office wall, put on a blindfold, and toss said darts at his wall and he will be deemed a genius in 2012.
No kidding. This draft is a great one, but I wonder if he will actually spend what he is going to have to draft some of the top talent…
Young pitchers, especially, are costing more and more considering so many are ruined before they even get a shot at the pros
The tigers pitching is loaded for YEARS to come. Verlander is the oldest out if the front three and he is just coming into his prime. They will be scary this year and given what’s is expected from turner, Oliver, and furbush they could have a five man wrecking crew of starting pitching. Verly, max, and Ricky are as good as any three starters in the league(with the exception of the phillies) and if any 2 of those three prospects can live up to half of their expectations, you will see that pitchin staff dominate the AL central for years to come.