Just wanted to gauge the climate from the wonderful and well-informed readers of BBTIA.

Out of the remaining free agent starting pitchers, which ones do you prefer and why? Use your best argument and throw in a meaningful stat or two while you're at it.

I'll go with Jeff Francis as the most valuable lefty (about a 2-2.5 WAR) and Chris Young as the most valuable righty (same WAR also.) Also, Francis is 30 and Young is 31 so you could justify giving them a two-year deal if the market demanded it. From what I've read, Young is seeking 2 million and I think Francis wants around the same. Those are definitely contracts the Rangers can afford.

What do you all say?

I say sign Francis since that is my wife's name and make him a catcher. Your thoughts lfloyd?

I concur on Francis and Young but also consider Penny, Colon, Garcia and if those three then check in on Pedro. However the best choice for low budget SP is Nefteli Feliz... Sign Soriano before TB or Angels do.

Aren't the Mets in negotiations with Young. I think I'd rather have Francis. Young's arm might fall off, though he's ERA for last year was decent in the limited time he saw.

Hey Skeletor--he's ERA? ???

I like Francis and Young alot. Hell no to Penny... maybe take a flier on Colon or Garcia. Anyone know what Justin Duchscherer's status is...is he still unjured or did he sign somewhere and I missed it? He would be a great pickup if he's still available

I agree wif lg. Signing Soriano would get us a high level starting pitcher...his name would be N. Feliz.

Man it's sad how one guy can totally ruin the entire forum.

WWJDD,
No one thinks you've ruined this site. Stop your whining.

Feliz lacks the third pitch needed to be a successful starter in the bigs. Pending Feliz development of a third pitch, he is best suited to stay where he is. I am sure Nolan Ryan and Mike Maddox are well aware of a starters need of a third pitch, which enables them to make it through the order more than once or twice. The Rangers best hope for a starter out of the pen is Alexi Ogando who has already shown his ability to throw strikes with three pitches. Ogando's stuff is similar to another Dominican, Ubaldo Jimeniz of the Rockies. i'm not saying Ogando is there now, but he does show a lot of promise and his stats from last year suggest he is hard to hit.
Ogando 41.2 innings 39so 31 hits 1.13 whip
Jimeniz 221.2 innings 214so 164 hits 1.15 whip

Ric,

Feliz was groomed as a starter for most of his career until he got to the big leagues. He actually has a wider array of pitches than we have seen. Closers generally only throw one or two pitches. Neftali needs to develop all of his pitches further, but he can't do that as a closer. Ogando wasn't even a pitcher until 5 years ago. I think his mechanics scream bullpen guy.

Not a FA, but Tom Gorzelanny, if he's available from the Cubs now that they have Garza, might be a nice, relatively cheap depth option. My first choice is Jeff Francis on an incentive-laden contract. Francis can put up at least league average numbers, but I think Gorzelanny might be almost as good in 2011. Depends on the price, as always.

Ric - When you're just considering their current stuff, I would agree that Ogando would appear to be the more effective rotation candidate. However, looking any deeper than that should stop any notion of Ogando as a starter. Ogando's motion is the classic "max effort" one inning relief pitcher. Stretching Ogando out as a starter significantly increases his injury risk (Feliz's motion appears to be smooth enough for him to throw 500 IP in a season). The other thing is that Ogando's mechanics seem to break down when he's used for more than one inning. Essentially Ogando should never really be moved out of the late-innings reliever role.

BORING ! !