Spring Training Attrition & The Scott Feldman Dilemma
Joey MatschulatTwo weeks have passed since we undertook a snapshot assessment of the state of the AL West's four starting rotations, and while Mariners right-hander Brandon Morrow has since overcome lingering forearm stiffness, Athletics right-hander Justin Duchscherer -- who was prematurely yanked from a minor league start on Thursday -- has again been shut down after somberly proclaiming that his multi-million dollar arm "still isn't right." Meanwhile, the Angels are dealing with a troika of ailments involving their top three starting pitchers, none of which seem outwardly serious in the sense of being potentially season-endangering but all of which should place the clear-cut divisional favorite at an inherent disadvantage throughout the first few vital weeks of the 2009 regular season.
But what about Texas?
The notion that presumptive No. 5 starter Scott Feldman could be relegated to the bullpen as a versatile "everything man" -- that is, a role entailing spot starts and work in both long and middle relief -- has been neither embraced nor dispelled by Texas, but rather appears to remain on the drawing board as the Rangers attempt to sort through an assortment of hurlers that evidently adhere to the "one step forward, two steps backward" philosophy.
While the injury status of right-hander Dustin Nippert's (right rhomboid muscle strain) remains in flux, his considerably promising counterpart, Warner Madrigal, yielded four earned runs for a second consecutive appearance on Thursday afternoon -- struggles that could conceivably jeopardize the traction he seemed to be accumulating:
"The Mad Dog is slipping," Washington said. "He's just catching too much of the plate. He's not walking people, he's just catching too much of the plate."
ESPN.com's Keith Law filed an encouraging scouting report on veteran right-hander Kris Benson back on March 16th (in which he lauded his command and suggested that he "could probably help a major league team in a fifth starter/swingman role even if that's as good as his stuff gets"), the significance of which does not become blatantly apparent until you realize that it is Benson who may well be on the verge of displacing Feldman. Concerning? Possibly, particularly if you're of the mindset that Benson is an established veteran mediocrity who will likely crash and burn in dramatic fashion while a 26-year-old Feldman still has room to marginally improve.
Extenuating circumstances perhaps render that gameplan more palatable in the hearts and minds of management than one would immediately surmise, however: though Benson would require placement on an already crowded 40-man roster, the fact that he can invoke the opt-out clause in his minor league deal and take his free agency on May 5th if not present on the major league roster could be a motivating factor to see exactly what he has left from the outset.
Furthermore, strategically placed off-days enable the Rangers to roll with a four-man starting rotation on four days' rest for all but two games in April (those being on the 12th and the 26th at Detroit and Baltimore, respectively), and aside from the reality that Feldman is already a rotation placeholder, one whose peripheral standing amongst a talented, but questionable quintet of pitchers would undoubtedly place his head on the chopping block first if a higher-grade starting pitcher were acquired via trade or if minor league prodigies Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz accelerated their ascension, one also wonders whether Feldman's reported incorporation of a slider into his array of pitches would make him a better fit for the bullpen than the starting rotation anyway.
This conciliatory tone may sound peculiar coming from somebody who has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Rangers needing to learn as much as they possibly can about their young players in 2009 and not procrastinating in that effort. Given that I regularly integrate statistical analysis into my work, however, I readily admit that I am not exactly Scott Feldman's number-one fan, and those of you well-versed in peripheral indicators such as strikeout-to-walk ratios probably know why. That Feldman might be usurped by Benson isn't necessarily distressing in and of itself in my view, nor is it analogous to the Andruw Jones situation ... well, unless Benson supplies mediocre production while blocking a younger and more talented alternative, a scenario I don't envision unfolding on the pitching side.
And in all honesty, the mere fact that the Rangers are even in a position where spring training attrition hasn't yet whittled away their pitching depth and roster flexibility is a tremendously refreshing deviation not only from years past, but from the embattled divisional front-runners who might well find themselves embroiled in a much more challenging early-season fight than anybody thought.
Quick Hits: The Rangers fell to the Brewers on Thursday afternoon, 11-10; right-hander Pedro Strop hurled a walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning ... Owner Tom Hicks on the possibility of signing a free agent to a four- or five-year deal: "We'd be willing to do that for the right guy. We were willing to spend money on Ben Sheets. We'll spend whatever we have to on veterans, but the veteran you spend more for has to be a better value than one of the younger kids. And we'll have the financial flexibility to do that going forward" ... Hicks, looking to alleviate reported cash flow problems, announced on Wednesday that he was amenable to selling 35-44 percent of his 95 percent ownership in the Rangers.
Approximately 400 obstructed-view seats and 1,200 standing-room tickets remain available for the Rangers' April 6th home opener versus Cleveland ... George W. Bush has been invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day; should he accept, it would represent his first appearance at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington since before his election as the 43rd President of the United States in 2000 ... Catcher Max Ramirez was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma on Wednesday ... Shortstop Michael Young (sore left quadriceps muscle) is questionable for Friday evening's televised rematch against the Brewers.
Reader Comments (10)
Good morning Joey,
It is always nice to get up in the morning and see some new commentary/analysis form BBTiA. If managed properly the Rangers should be able to get good looks at Turnbow, Benson and Jennings with that 5th SP roster spot. Heck, they may even be able to work in 2-3 weeks of minor league time for Elvis Andrus. I am a little concerned about the Rangers going from getting all of thier "championship players" on the field to trying to win the division this year. As long as no youner players are being blocked I guess I am OK with it. If Andruw struggles and Max rakes in OKC, would Andruw be blocking Max?
Quoted from above... "Shortstop Michael Young (sore left quadriceps muscle) is questionable for Friday evening's televised rematch against the Brewers." They're moving MY back to shortstop?!?! So much for the experiment... or maybe just habit.
I was just yesterday thinking the same thing rob brings up here. If you need a right-handed bat, why not Max over Jones? You could give him some games at C, and you could also DH Salty at times without worrying about the double-switch, since you'd have Max on the bench in those games. You could definitely guarantee around 400 AB each for Salty, Teagarden, and Max, and you could boost the value of all 3 if they perform well in Arlington. Then, when late summer rolls around, you can try to move Blalock for a prospect, and you can consider bringing up Smoak. At that point, there would be an opportunity to pull off a big trade for a GOOD pitcher, using one of the 5 players as bait: Max, Salty, Tea, Davis, or Smoak.
I make this argument because from all appearances, Max is ready to hit v. big league pitching, and Jones is probably not going to do much more than Max would, even if you consider Jones' former plus D.
Regarding the pitching, to me the Feldman thing isn't that big of a deal, as I don't believe that he's going to be anything more than a 5th starter or mop up reliever in the big leagues. I'm very thankful for what he gave the team last year when pretty much every other pitcher rolled over like a dog, but if you look at his overall numbers, he isn't anything special. How many other teams would he even make a 13 man staff?
Sorry to be negative, but I for one do not buy into the idea that our pitching staff has improved drastically from last year. I don't see how we don't have the same questions we had last season: Can Millwood & Padilla regain their 2006 form? Can McCarthy give us 30 starts? Can Feldman be league average as a starter? Can Franky survive in the closer's role over the course of a season? Can Texas find 3 or 4 middle relievers who won't walk the first guy they face in just about every appearance? And most importantly, can the offense survive the beatdown of constantly scoring 6-10 runs and yet only winning around 45% of their games. And will any fans be in the stands in August to watch this team play? The one guy I believe in is Harrison - he could step up and put up some good numbers if he can keep the ball in the park.
I think the biggest disappointment is that from what is happening in LAA, this might be a year that Texas could actually sneak into the playoffs by winning a VERY suspect AL West - if they had any pitching. Sure, Texas will get better in coming years, but so will Oakland. That window of opportunity might very well close in coming years.
I'm hopeful and optimistic, but I have a sinking feeling that we're in for another wild spring with a bunch of out-of-control games as a result of terrible pitching. I hope I'm wrong about that...
Experience teaches us that no matter what plan is enacted regarding Feldman or Benson, injuries to the pitching staff will likely occur and subsequently change all plans. The specific role of those two guys (5th starter or mop-up) doesn't seem to be all that important to start the season. Just keep the best pitchers, pray for continued good health, and score some runs, baby -- our pitchers are going to need all the run support they can get.
there is a chance rangers can make a run at the division this year they just have to start strong. benson pitching at the 5 spot might not be to bad of an idea if he wasnt blocking feldman, they just need to let feldman work this year let him stretch his arm out its not like the fans are expecting a world series playoffs would be nice but who are we kidding? all im saying is if the rangers wanna block someone like feldman(or any other young player) then get a quality vet in here like a pedro martinez someone that will give us somebody to look forward to watching! the only thing i look forward to watching when i hear the name benson is his wife!
J$ - I totally agree. I fear that Max may turn into Adrian Gonzalez if we don't get him up here soon. Whether we are about winning now or winning in the future I just don't see the advantages of Jones over Max. I think that we keep Cat as our left handed bat off the bench and look for a chance to bring Max up at the first available opportunity. If we have AJ on the team, we are going to be limiting Max's ABs when he is called up.
While I like Washington, it seems to me that he is obsessed with veterans. And we do need veterans, but Byrd, Young, Blalock, Kinsler, Vizquel and Cat can provide leadership for the youngsters. Does AJ really provide more leadership or club house presence. If he is a "proven commodity",he is a commodity that cannot hit and strikes out way too much. Short term, long term, I don't care. Keeping AJ is the wrong move and it will end up pushing Max behind Smoak and we'll end up trading him away for nothing.
I'd like to pipe in again on Frank Cat. To me, this is a good example of ownership making poor decisions & giving the wrong contracts to the wrong guys. Here is a guy who has never been a full-time player, and despite his ability to hit, he's mostly a singles hitter. He doesn't have good speed, he doesn't play particularly great defense, and he has very little power, even in Arlington where an average lefty hitter like Delucci can manage to put up 29 homers. So why why why why why do you sign a guy like Cat to a 3 year 13.5 million deal with an option for a 4th w/ buyout? That's ludicrous.
See how Cat's contract has hamstrung the team this season. He has nowhere to play, we already have too many lefties as it is, and yet the team can't justify throwing 6 million in the toilet, so they are forced to keep him. That keeps guys like Max from moving up, and it only furthers a pronounced lefty imbalance on the 25 man roster.
Wash may be obsessed with vets, I don't know. But let AJ strike out a few times with runners in scoring position and 2 outs and Wash's, Ryan's & JD's love affair with him will kinda resemble the one I share with my ex.
Jason, I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that Hicks was seeking investers. We had this discussion the day BEFORE Hicks' intentions were announced. I feel better now. I'm sure Ryan can assemble a team of investers. Your thoughts?
JDolla$, while I wouldn't think of answering for the Professor or Joey, these guys are awesome!, I would like to say that the Cat deal was done before JD got smart and before Ryan came on board. JD is much improved but still a work in progress.
Fair enough, and I suppose I should be gracious and admit that 13.5 million was a much smaller sum then than it is now. Also I'd like to add that I really like Frank Cat, and from what I can tell he's a great human being and a perfect teammate, so my comments were nothing personal.