"Getting back to Estrada. I don't know what to do with him but someone has to be traded after this season. I don't care if it's Estrada, Lohse or Gallardo. But we need to make room for the young, cheap pitcher, be it Thornburg, Nelson, or Smith, and we also need to improve our system. Two birds with one stone." I agree so much with this summation. Yet, let me play devil's advocate.... we will/can lose Frankie and Gonzales (and of course Wang) from the pen. Is that all? (Duke makes four?) So, you can indeed FIND three places to fill from AAA into the bullpen. I really don't mind the first year of a starter in MLB being in the bullpen. Can I ask, would that actually make him a bit cheaper come arby (just a throw in thought there). So if Thonburg is the closer and Nelson and Fier and others make the pen... is it a given we MUST trade a starter. I guess the MUST trade a starter would depend on what we are offered in return.