Pitching Clarity & The 40-Man Roster Crunch, Part II
Joey Matschulat
Veteran right-hander Kris Benson (pictured) is closing in on a spot in the Texas Rangers' Opening Day starting rotation.Thanks in large part to right-hander Kris Benson's solid, if not spectacular six innings of three-run baseball against a AAAA-caliber Giants lineup on Monday afternoon, the uncertainty enveloping the Texas Rangers' Opening Day pitching staff has finally dissipated to a point where both the starting rotation and the bullpen can be projected with a reasonable amount of confidence:
Starting Pitchers: RHP Kevin Millwood, RHP Vicente Padilla, RHP Brandon McCarthy, KHP Matt Harrison and RHP Kris Benson
Relief Pitchers: RHP Frank Francisco (closer), LHP Eddie Guardado, LHP C.J. Wilson, RHP Scott Feldman, RHP Jason Jennings, RHP Warner Madrigal and RHP Josh Rupe
We discussed the allegedly still-ongoing competition for the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation at length on Friday morning and Monday morning (here and here, respectively), and to be quite honest I'm not sure what else can really be said that hasn't been said already. What should be reiterated, however, is that if Benson is designated as the No. 3 starter, that designation will be in name only, because Harrison and McCarthy both possess more upside than either Benson or Feldman, and the odds of Benson faltering like so many veteran mediocrities before him have in Arlington are not inconsequential.
Would Feldman have been unseated if a relative scarcity of viable relief options hadn't materialized? Probably not. Lingering injuries dictated the apparent outcome of this race to the finish line for right-handers Willie Eyre (tightness, right groin muscle) and Dustin Nippert (strained right rhomboid muscle), however, and fireballer Derrick Turnbow (sore right knee) has reportedly been informed by Texas that he likely won't crack the Opening Day roster, presumably because the same abhorrent control that merited diminished expectations when the Rangers originally inked him to a minor league deal on January 1st never appreciably improved this spring. Pitching coach Mike Maddux is only made of flesh and blood, after all; the man isn't a miracle worker.
Thrusting Benson, Guardado, Jennings, infielders Elvis Andrus and Omar Vizquel and outfielder Andruw Jones onto the currently maxed-out 40-man roster will obviously entail placing right-handers Joaquin Benoit and Eric Hurley on the 60-day disabled list, placing recently acquired first baseman Joe Koshansky back onto waivers with the ultimate intention of outrighting him to Triple-A Oklahoma City, and evicting outfielder Frank Catalanotto via trade or release; indeed, it's hard to fathom a scenario where Catalanotto and Jones would simultaneously reside on the 40-man roster.
Designating third baseman Travis Metcalf for assignment makes a certain amount of sense from the standpoint that he's not a very good player, but if he were to be claimed off waivers and Michael Young, his major league counterpart, were to sustain an injury that would require a protracted stint on the disabled list, the Rangers would be left without a true third baseman on their 40-man roster. Southpaw Kason Gabbard represents another obvious possibility for banishment, but with embattled left-hander Joe Torres facing both physical (sore lower back) and occupational (bad control) problems, any sort of injury befalling Guardado or Wilson would again place Texas in a precarious spot. Granted, these worst-case scenarios are pretty significant long shots, but then most worst-case scenarios are.
Placing one or two of Eyre, Nippert and/or similarly injured right-hander Tommy Hunter (right groin muscle strain) onto the 60-day disabled list to begin the season would alleviate some of the pressure building on the organization to designate multiple players for assignment. Texas could backdate such an assignment to March 27th (the earliest possible date) and prescribe a maximum 30-day minor league rehab assignment, which might make the most sense for Hunter given that the odds of him being tabbed to contribute at the major league level before June 1st -- even in a completely healthy state -- are not all that great. Given the unnerving rate at which Rangers relievers have been incurring injuries this spring, however, postponing the major league eligibility of Eyre and Nippert until late May may not be a feasible option.
Complicating factors remain in play, of course; manager Ron Washington insists that Feldman remains a candidate for the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation, and if that scenario were to transpire it might affect several other assumed roster moves as well; similarly, a resoundingly successful live batting practice session for Nippert on Tuesday or a speedy return to full health for Eyre could relegate Jennings back to Triple-A Oklahoma City for the time being. That said, the likeliest Opening Day pitching configuration is the one outlined in the second and third paragraphs, and should that remain the status quo, we'll be seeing a lot more of Kris Benson than we thought would be seeing just a week ago.
Quick Hits: Outfielder David Murphy clubbed a game-winning two-run home run to topple the Giants by a 7-5 margin in 10 innings on Monday afternoon ... First baseman Chris Davis (patella tendinitis, left knee) is day-to-day ... One baseball official told Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the Rangers would be "lucky" if they could find a trade partner willing to absorb as much as $2 million of the $6 million still owed to outfielder Frank Catalanotto.
Reader Comments (10)
I originally thought they wouldn't put Hunter on the 60 day DL. But now I think it might actually help him. It will give him some time to work on things at extended ST. So it looks like Metcalf will get the boot. However, I do think it is just delaying a decision on Mendoza.
typo Harrison is a LHP
I am not sure if Benson should be lumped in with any old veteran mediocrity. He has a career WHIP of 1.38, which is a hair less than Padilla (1.39), and his WHIP this spring (1.06) is by far the best among our starting candidates. He may be more analogous to John Thompson than Sidney Ponson, and he is probably only a little less likely than Millwood or Padilla to give this team 175-200 innings.
That 2003 pitching staff was brutal. I would love to get a 2003 John Thomson type of season from Bensen. Heck, I might even take a R.A. Dickey type of season.
I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for a surprise Millwood to bullpen move.
Shoulda caught that Jeremy, thanks. Writing at 2:00 a.m. on a school morning is stupid.
Clark: My apprehension over Benson stems primarily from the fact that his peripherals have steadily declined since his league-average 2004 campaign...he's thrown fewer strikes, generated fewer swinging strikes and collected fewer strikeouts since, and his stuff is not what it was before February 2007 rotator cuff surgery. The scouting reports have been encouraging (particularly his tendency to pound the strike zone this spring), but how will he fare vs. legitimate major league lineups? I certainly hope that he surprises me with a solid early-season run (honestly, I think I'd take a 5.00 ERA out of that No. 5 spot...expecting more is probably setting yourself up for disappointment), and he may very well do that, but there's a decent chance that he'll be crushed.
MJH also ran down the 40-man roster situation this morning, and hypothesized that Hunter would hit the 60-day DL and Metcalf would be DFA'd...I think that I concur with assessment...of course, he also has Mendoza higher on the potential list of roster removals than Gabbard, and what strikes me there is that if Texas had more left-handed relief depth behind Guardado and Wilson than Gabbard, Gabbard would probably be the easier choice to cut...
Evan Grant, meanwhile, thinks that Metcalf would be claimed by the Yankees (which I disagree with -- I don't think a waiver claim would be submitted) and echoes my concern that that would leave Texas without a true third baseman on the 40-man roster. Here's the thing, though: What are the odds that (a) Metcalf is claimed and (b) that Young, a perennial 155- to 160-game player, will be seriously injured?
He also suggests cutting Greg Golson, which also strikes me as a pretty dangerous idea...
Cutting Golson? I knew there was something about Grant that bothered me. About the LHP situation. Gabbard is obviously going to be a journeyman lefty. There will always be a job for him because of throwing from the port side. We have leftys in the minors that we believe to be 1-3 years away. If we cut Gabbard and Guardado gets hurt, (I think Guardado is toast), one of these leftys in the minors might just seize the opportunity and develop earlier than expected. Genuine opportunities often create pleasant surprises. It might be the way to ease Holland into the majors without labeling him the Savior of the Franchise. Let him get his feet wet in relief rather than either in a pennant race in September or, more likely, an attempt to salvage a lost season. Bye Kason. Good luck.
I think I would be most comfortable with cutting Eyre and/or Mendoza.Both are guys that might have success somewhere else, but I wouldn't cringe at the thought of losing them. Last season I cringed when I read that they were cutting Gallaraga. I also think if Metcalf is placed on waivers then he will be claimed by another team. There are multiple teams looking for more depth at 3rd and Metcalf would provide that depth. Gabbard I still think has the potential to be a successful starter, (with the caveat being he must stay healthy), but can definitely be a quality reliever. I still think we might see someone else aside from Cat traded before the season begins.
We have a kid in Kasey Kiker that will more than make up for the loss of Gabbard, in my opinion.
Mendoza has one clear above-average pitch -- the sinker -- that he struggles to command and not much else, but you can't instill God-given gasoline through coaching. It's irrelevant now because Gabbard was the one that was successfully pushed through waivers, but exposing Mendoza to waivers might have put me on edge a bit. Then again, I have been a bit of an advocate for him at times.