And Dustin May is a strong 4th. Plus possibly a game 7 tandem with Harrison. If the Crew can dodge injury & innings bugs in the next 7 weeks, I think they will feel very good about the state of their starting pitching against anyone else's in the playoffs.
I am of the thought also that the Strosnider draft capital was another factor in both OFs being expendable. Adamczewski. Payne. Lara. Strosnider. Perhaps Pena.
All would be ahead of Ragsdale for certain, and probably Frias for another year or two. This is why you deal out of that prospect depth.
Would love Soriano and he seems to make a lot of sense as a mid-rotation controllable guy. If Quero or Dinges plus Crow plus a lower level lottery ticket or two could be a real thing, that is dealing straight out of the system's depth in the way it should be utilized.
KLaw tends to give player upside & potential heavy weight, with age as a factor. Thinking that way, having Frias being mentioned this early says to me that Keith thinks his ceiling is really high.
That early season juiced ball they were testing whacks out overall numbers. It is a great stat to look at. I would wonder across other systems how they look this year for that start.
You mentioning the names triggered a question for me ... did anyone think it was strange that Payne hit the list but Fischer still hasn't? I guess to me that is saying that we generally are overrating him and his big power start this season. Thoughts?
Agreed. And they sorta seem they are thinking that way as well with Bauers getting some OF starts in Houston. If Vaughn for Frelick is a regular lineup change, that will definitely help lengthen the batting order.
I had thought in the spring he was solidly in the running for the 3B job, but obviously wasn't the case.
Love that line about the numbers in the minors being all liars this year!
He really doesn't seem to, even in interviews. Serious guy, pitching seriously well. Love the tandem type role that he and Patrick are being used in. Great use of having so many starters!
I would've had Pena in LF ... except now it seems Adamczewski is bookmarked for there.
So who is playing 2B? With potential power guys to play 3B, why wouldn't Pratt/Made be the middle infield?