Back of the Rotation Depth

by ~ September 6th, 2009 at 5:00 pm

Bill Bavasi did a lot of things poorly during his time with the Seattle Mariners, and one of them was to overpay for back of the rotation arms.  He gave Jarrod Washburn 4 years/$37.5M, Miguel Batista 3 years/$25M, Carlos Silva 4 years/$48M, Jeff Weaver 1 year/$8.325M and traded a promising young arm in Rafael Soriano for Horacio Ramirez.

The New York Yankees aside, it’s tough for teams to get away with sinking a large chunk of their payroll into the back of the rotation.  Nor is it necessary, because there are typically comparable arms in the upper rungs of any given farm system, or cheap players available on the wire wire or free agent scrap heap.

Heading into the 2010 season the Mariners have a large amount of back of the rotation depth to fill out their rotation, and most of it is cheap.

Felix Hernandez should still be around as staff ace.  A good #2 would be helpful, but beyond that the Mariners are covered.  Ian Snell and Brandon Morrow have the stuff to anchor the middle of the rotation, but just have to put it together.  Ryan Rowland-Smith is a solid #4, especially when he’s pitching at home or any park with a spacious outfield.  Those three would make an ideal 3-4-5 if a #2 is brought in, but if they’re bumped up to 2-3-4 or something goes wrong (health, ineffectiveness) there are plenty of guys that can step in.

Silva is still around, obviously, and you have to think that he’ll get first crack at a rotation spot because of the $12M owed to him.  Hernandez, Snell, Morrow, Rowland-Smith and Silva make up a decent enough rotation, but if injuries or ineffectiveness come into play, or the Mariners pay no mind to Silva’s contract and stick him in the bullpen (as they did with Batista), there is no shortage of cheap options to jump in.

The righties: Doug Fister, Chris Jakubauskas, Andy Baldwin, Kyle Parker

The lefties (stuff gets extra boost from Safeco Field): Jason Vargas, Garrett Olson, Luke French, Nick Hill, Chris Seddon, Robert Rohrbaugh, (edit to add:) Ryan Feierabend

That’s a lot of spaghetti to throw at the wall, and at least one of those strands should stick.  This is how you fill the back of the rotation (and a bullpen and a bench).  One thing is for sure: the Mariners will not be offering large sums of money for Jason Marquis, Carl Pavano or Mike Hampton this winter.

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  • Slurve

    Erik Bedard for number 2 starter! He probably won’t be available at the beginning of the season but you can get him for really cheap. If not there is always the other 2 RHP version of Erik Bedard Harden/Sheets.

  • http://www.marinercentral.com Lonnie

    I couldn’t agree more Jon. If anyone in the M’s org goes looking for a pitcher and looks any further than their own backyard, then something is wrong. I honestly believe that someone from the system will rise to the top. Hell, who saw Hypen busting out like he did?

    Fister could be the guy, but we have probably seen his ceiling already. He could stick around for a bit longer, but no one should have visions of him throwing CG two hitters while strikingout 10.

    One name that I think that everyone has forgotten may prove to be a wild card next year. Remember Ryan Feierabend? Hell, I can barely remember how his name is spelled! Next year he’ll be just 24 to begin the season. Who knows how ready he’ll be coming off of Tommy John surgery, but he shouldn’t be forgotten quite yet.

    Lonnie

  • http://proballnw.com Jon Shields

    Hmm.. I thought I had Feierabend in there. I mentioned him in another post I’m working on, so I must have gotten them mixed up.

    I’m not a big fan of Der Schnabel, but he’s definitely in that same general set of pitchers.