Replaceable?

by Rev Halofan on May 21, 2007 11:42 PM PDT in Angels News

Angel Pitchers ranked in the order of their ease in being replaced

Darren Oliver - Garbage Lefty
Hector Carrasco - Garbage Righty, useful mop, $3 million to a late-30s Kevin Gregg.
Chris Bootcheck - Wouldn't want him in a pressure situation, but with a 4-run lead, who wouldn't would take him over Carrasco?
Dustin Moseley - Can handle the 7th inning somewhat, can keep us in the game a little. A nice surprise.
Ervin Santana - hot... cold ... magic... voodooo. You're a fool if you bet against him but you're a fool if you have him on your Fantasy Team. The best trade bait relative to what he brings with his youth and perceived ceiling versus what his potential bust might be...
Bartolo Colon - Might be shipped on July 31 to a National League contender, so enjoy the big guy while you can.
Scot Shields - Regressing, hopefully just a mechanical flaw or two is serving up those grapefruits.
Joe Saunders - a young lefty like this either brings a prize in a trade or is your reliable mid-rotation starter for the next 3 seasons.
Justin Speier - Has yet to let an inherited runner score, his absence has indirectly lead to overworking Shields and the reported virus has cost us in all probability two games.
Kelvim Escobar - If it were not for the bone chips, he'd be higher.
Jered Weaver - If it were not for the biceps tendinitis, he'd be ahead of Frankie.
Francisco Rodriguez - The best closer in baseball. The only real threat to Frankie having a stellar career is Hugo Chavez.
John Lackey - The ace of the staff is also the leader in the clubhouse.

0 recs | 30 comments

Comments

#12 and #13 - as worthless as tits on a boar.

Darren Oliver makes one pine for the glory days with the relatively consistent JC Romero. Carrasco found his game, at age 36, for one season (with the Nationals) and parlayed that into big $$$. Well, Hector has lost that groove, but the Devil will still retain his soul for that one good year.

As for Speier, WTF has he contracted?????

PieceOfAase - May 22, 2007 reply

a little too hard on the starting 5

it's the starting 5 that are carrying the club and in general they'd all be higher on my list. the only releiver that should be amongst them is Frankie.

And i'd cringe if we traded away Bart - i'd much rather have him on the mound in Septmeber October than any one but Lackey. And at this rate, i'd advocate resigning him because i see a lot of 40 plus pitchers still dealing and bringing it.

as for Oliver and Carrasco, they haven't had a great start, but i'm willing to give them some more time this year.

overall, top to bottom, this may be the best pitching we've EVER had in 46 years.

rbrianc - May 22, 2007 reply

Can you imagine...

paying 16-20 million dollars for Colon?

Because that's what he's going to ask for.

shiftyeyedgoat - May 22, 2007 reply

Bart's worth

i think he's worth about what we pay him now, maybe a bit more for a higher overall market,

but i'd sign him in a heart beat at the same rate/same contract length, etc.

rbrianc - May 22, 2007 reply

Good luck...

signing a 21 game winning Cy Young award recipient who is demonstrating his resurgence as a dominating major league pitcher for anything less than 18 mil/year.

See: Barry Zito to SF @ 18mil/year for 7 years.

shiftyeyedgoat - May 22, 2007 reply

oh yeah

Bart is gonna be one rich Dodger.

Rev Halofan - May 22, 2007 reply

at least the Dodger Blue...

will tone down his obesity.

shiftyeyedgoat - May 22, 2007 reply

that's my point

you just said why nhe should be in the top 4 of this list.

But you are right - at $18 million, i'd likely let him walk, but let's cross that bridge when it comes.

For 2007, he pitching for the Angels in October.

rbrianc - May 22, 2007 reply

Sure... he's a retarded good pitcher...

now.

But can he stay healthy? He's shown that his constitution fares poorly under duress (see 2005 ALCS, World Baseball Classic, the entire 2006 season) and he can't make much use of himself as he gets older -- and presumably fatter.

Let's get something for him while we can. Way I see it, them yanks have a surplus of offense and a lacking pitching rotation, whereas we Angels have ourselves the exact opposite problem.

Since his contract is going to expire and he'll likely be too expensive to sign again, we should ship'im off for a nice big bat to fill the pitching void with home run hits.

shiftyeyedgoat - May 22, 2007 reply

Re-Sign Grimace?

who are you the Hamburgler?

cupie - May 22, 2007 reply

better to be a hamburglar than...

a turdburglar.

Downing Rules - May 23, 2007 reply

Spot on...

but what about the delivery of Frankie, Weaver? How long can they keep that up without injury? 3 seasons? 5? 10? 0.5?

Saunders is nice and high on this list and rightfully should be. He's our 6th starter who's unfortunately confined to the minors as we have space occupied by big stinkies like Oliver. Then again, it's good to see Saunders stay on schedule, keep posting major league ready stats, and be able to spot start for a potential injured 1-5.

Big John is a beast and should be treated as such. Potential Cy Young'er in the next few years.

shiftyeyedgoat - May 22, 2007 reply

I am talking abut THIS season

it could all fall apart now or later, so let's keep our eeyes on what we need to win NOW !!!!

I am not saying chuck the future, just judge a guy based on what would happen if we missed him now - what is the true impact of his absence, how replacable is he?

Rev Halofan - May 22, 2007 reply

Also...

number 9 makes me sad.

Santana has been a matchup killer on my fantasy team..

shiftyeyedgoat - May 22, 2007 reply

except..

..the only hole i see in our lineup is 3rd base, and i still don't like the chances of us landing the yanks 3rd basemen..

b0rd3rline - May 22, 2007 reply

Colon is not Zito

Colon is 5 years older. Zito has a mound presence of 6 feet 4 and Colon is 5 - 11. Zito is in a new league after signing a huge deal and can take a breather while Colon is in a walk year and is a macho no show it hurts type of guy who the Angels will try and dump by the trading deadline if they have half a brain (probably not).

The Angels always see themselves in the pennant race and having a "rotation". However, the "rotation", goes on the road with Santana who apparently visits every massage parlor or calls every incall, and the Angels would be better off leaving him in Anaheim and starting Mosely or Carasco and forgetting about the rotation.

It's unlikely that Colon's arm would make it through all the way till October and the Angels should line up a decent bat - say an offensive catcher (good luck there), a dh like Giambi, an outfielder like Crawford,a real third baseman - anyone that can knock in some runs consistently.

There is no way that the Angels are going to pay Colon the kind of money he'd want and he's not worth more than a one year deal at best - so he's gone. Might as well get it over with now while the rotation which goes on the road with Santana gets "blown" away.

roidrage - May 22, 2007 reply

Where to begin with the nonsense in this post....

Zito has more of "a mound presence" than Colon? Who cares how tall they are? Many people consider another 5'11" pitcher (Pedro Martinez) to be the nastiest and best of this generation. Colon's fastball is much more intimidating, it would seem, than Zito's offspeed pitches. In any case, Colon is the better pitcher.
The Angels "would be better off" starting Moseley or Carrasco on the road than Santana? If we are going to do that, why not give the spot to Saunders? I don't think we are better off having Carrasco start any more games for us this season -- under any circumstances.
"It's unlikely that Colon's arm would make it through all the way till October." On what medical research and evidence is your opinion based? He looks fine to me and has had only one seasons (last year) cut short by injury. Every other year he started at least 30 games, and he returned ahead of schedule and in surprisingly dominant form from this injury.
We should trade away an ace for, among others, "a dh like giambi, an outfielder like crawford"? Really? We should trade the Yankees a dominant pitcher who they covet for a DH whose contract they are trying to void? That would be brilliant. As has been discussed at length in other diaries, the only way we should trade for Crawford is if he can play 3B. Willits, Matthews, and Vlad have the OF slots locked up. Anderson will DH most of the time until Rivera returns.
After this season, Colon is "gone ... might as well get it over with now." Given Santana's struggles, it would be foolish to toss aside a pitcher who consistently wins games for us. Colon can help us recapture the AL West title and win in the postseason this year. I doubt anyone we can get for him can do the same. If he leaves next year, I will be grateful for his time in Angel red, including at least two (but likely three) division titles and our first Cy Young award.

DChalofan - May 22, 2007 reply

Pretty right on DC.

Even though Lackey is the staff ace right now I'd have to say that Colon looks like the more dominant picture. His stuff is pure filth. I'd say by July we'll have two bonafide aces. I don't know what he'll be asking but he's worth the $14 or so million we're paying him if he stays healthy.

melvintoast - May 22, 2007 reply

The only reason to trade Colon would be

if we could get an all star 3 baseman like A-Rod or Aramis Ramires for him--giving us the one missing piece we need to go all the way this year. For one of these two you could also through in Figgens. Otherwise, keep him and sign him for another 5 years. If GMJ is worth $10 million a year, Colon is worth $16-18 mil.

I am a fair weather fan so the halos better win - May 22, 2007 reply

At least we can agree on one thing...

I'm glad you think it's worth trading Figgins and his .108(!) avg for Rodriguez or Ramirez!!!

We're talking about a sub-par defensive player with a career OPS of .725, who can't bunt, and strikes out 100 times a season. Yes, I think we could afford to lose him in a trade for Rodriguez or Ramirez...

iLoveLamp - May 22, 2007 reply