Whatever happened to the notion that Martin Perez was a future Johan Santana? Have we given up on him becoming such? Doesn't he deserve a chance. Just 2 years ago, he was the #6 overall prospect in baseball. I get the vibe that we're not sold on him.

He's only 21, and I've heard some people say they think now his ceiling is probably around a #3. If that's the case, he's still a great asset.

A few yrs ago he was known as a "future ace". Since he's been promoted to AAA his Ks have gone really down. And he was really inconsistent in AAA last yr. People see him as a #3 or #4 now. He's still really young so we can still hope that he starts missing more bats and becomes more of a #2.

He throws a plus fastball and plus changeup, It gives him a very high ceiling, but he hasn't been able to throw strikes and command his great stuff. I still think he can reach his potential b/c of his age, but I think it would also help if he pitched all year at AAA to build his confidence.

Perez really needs to start the year in AAA and season a bit. Frankly I think Profar does too. Maybe the maddux's can work some magic with him though.

Ross is better. Ross arguably had a better performance last year than Darvish. Ross was better in the minors than Perez also. Perez major league splits spell trouble. Perez looks like a LOOGY.

Let Ross start.

He's still young. Whatever we do with him, stick to the plan. If you're going to start him as the #5 this year, keep him there unless he absolutely bombs. Martin Perez needs to be Mike Maddux's newest Matt Harrison project. His #2 ceiling isn't dead yet; he's only going to be in his age-22 season.

More realistically, I think he starts the year at AAA.

Ross is better. Ross arguably had a better performance last year than Darvish. Ross was better in the minors than Perez also. Perez major league splits spell trouble. Perez looks like a LOOGY.

Let Ross start.

Let's do some blind pitcher resumes:

Pitcher 1 -- 191 IP/221 K//3.9 ERA/5.1 fWAR
Pitcher 2 -- 65.0 IP/47 K/2.22 ERA/1.0 fWAR

Which would you rather have?

Also, just because Martin Perez is left-handed doesn't make him a LOOGY. He's shown nothing in the Major Leagues that suggests he's a LOOGY.

Consider that Perez was in AA by the time he was 19. He was pitching in AAA when he was 21. Robbie Ross never pitched above high-A and he was older than Perez at that point.

You fail to see the larger picture of bWAR and Ross vs Perez and Perez many weaknesses.

Perez major league splits indicate looginess so far.

Ross was a 2 bWAR pitcher in his first 50 innings and his major league stats have tended to match his minor league stats.

Perez has also tended to match his minor league stats, but they arent so good. Warning signs, I see.

Are you trolling? Have you ever heard of small sample size?

At age 21 Johan Santana had a 6.49 ERA in 30 games, 5 of them being starts. 5.7 BB per 9 innings, 6.7 SO per 9 innings. So, just because Perez hasn't lit it up at age 21 doesn't really mean much, the guy he's most mentioned as an optimistic comparison was not good at the same age.

Don't give up on Perez, give him time.

You fail to see the larger picture of bWAR and Ross vs Perez and Perez many weaknesses.

bWAR quantifies what has already happened; fWAR quantifies what you can expect looking forward. Robbie Ross, for much of the time, was dealing with 1 and 3 and 5 batters at a time. Martin Perez was starting games.

Perez has on faced 57 lefties as compared to 120 righties up to this point. For a 21 year-old pitcher, that's not nearly enough data to draw conclusions from.

@NorthTex

Exactly. Glad so many people on this forum aren't running the rangers.

Ross looks far better by any indication, than Perez, other than hype. Minor league career, major leagues stats, splits, strikeouts, bWAR, fWAR and hairdo.

When Perez was pitching in RR last year, he was the youngest pitcher @ AAA-level. When he was called up by the Rangers, he was the youngest pitcher @ the big-league level. Him being called up had more to do with us being desperate for someone to show something out of the 5th-spot than with him being ready. He was called up before he was developmentally ready. He has basically a total of 1 season @ AAA under his belt and needs more time there.

You know it's a Rangers developmental strategy to promote pitching prospects quickly through he system which leads to them often being placed at a level higher than they are ready for. This often leads to guys doing poorly during their first stint at the level and repeating it the next year, but what the FO looks for is not how the prospects do during their first stint at a level, it's whether and how much they improve during their 2nd stint.

I agree, Kristen. Ross' second stint should be good too, and by any indication other than hype, better than Perez second stint.

This guy has got to be trolling.

Patience is a virtue, especially with respect to 21 year old pitchers who are almost MLB ready. I like what I saw last year. Perez seemed to keep his composure and I like his motion. I also had the sense he may have been squeezed a little, especially on the outside pitches to RHBs.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Rangers don't make decisions based on hype. Regardless of Perez's struggles (in a whopping 37 innings of work), he still profiles as a middle-to-upper rotation starter if he can cure his command issues. He can clock his fastball into the mid-90's, but I'm pretty sure the organization is having him tone it down closer to 90-92 so he can locate. He also has a plus change up and plus curveball, and he's been developing a slider.

If he can get his control down, he'll have, at the minimum, two above-average off speed pitcher to go alone with a good lefty fastball.

Robbie Ross is a two-pitch pitcher right now, and that just doesn't get it done in the rotation over the long haul. Like Alexi Ogando, the progress he makes with his change up will determine his fate as a future starter in the league.

* pitches, * along

Agree with Primi and Kristen. Perez is somewhat underrated right now, promoted a bit too quickly to MLB and then had to learn on the job. But I'd wager he'll be way better for the experience, and either he'll be in Arlington in 2013 or in AA-AAA proving himself an elite pitching prospect if they want to "sell high" at a later date.

At this moment in Ranger world, the Rangers have few choices to be the team they were even were last year. One of those choices is DO NOT TRADE OFF ANYMORE YOUNG TALENT, and do not go after second tier free agents, unless you want a second tier team. An AJP signing, ok. Roll the dice with Kazmir, he could be back to 2007 form as 5th starter. But imperative to start Perez on a regular basis. He lacks command and control, which can only develop pitching, he at 21 has already has pitched enough innings above A ball. Perez needs to start at Major League level. Knowing that signing Kazmir, and being the pre-2009 version, is highly unlikely, then start Ross, who by minor league years was only a starter. Perez once evolving c&c, will trust his fastball, making his 'swing-and-miss' change-up his out pitch, Perez also has a tight breaking curve, so he has the pitches to start. Better in Texas then some other team. Ross may pleasantly surprise starting as #5. Having 4 lefties is not an overwhelming factor. Oakland has succeeded by rolling with their young guns, now it is the Rangers turn. Who knows, with more maturation with Yu, Harry and The Dutchman that Texas can not have a 2012 Oakland-like year in 2013. Really, it is the only current option.