Update time. The Braves want/need a 5th starter. Let’s review the checklist:
- Braves won’t trade for David Price (regardless of my own druthers)
- Braves won’t spend big money on a free agent pitcher
- Braves are not interested in trading away prospects for a frontline starter
So that leaves only a few possible routes:
- Signing a free agent 5th starter
- Trading for someone’s “extra” starter
- Internal Options
The Free Agent Route
It was three weeks ago that Jeff last looked at the list. Since then, the following pitchers have signed (elsewhere):
- Brett Anderson, Chris Capuano, Gavin Floyd, Josh Johnson, Hiroki Kuroda (in Japan), Justin Masterson, Daisuke Matsuzaka (in Japan), Brandon McCarthy, Kris Medlen, Brad Mills, Brandon Morrow, Jake Peavy, Wandy Rodriguez, Ervin Santana, Kevin Slowey, and Edinson Volquez.
Those still available:
- Of the “Too Expensive” variety, there are: James Shields and Max Scherzer
- Of the “Please, no” group, there are: Scott Baker, Paul Maholm, Franklin Morales, Felipe Paulino, Randy Wolf
- In the “Risky” group we still have: Brandon Beachy, Chad Billingsley, Alexi Ogando
That leaves the following (those with weak constitutions may wish to turn away now):
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Chris Young. He’s tall.
Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Carlos Villanueva (31; 77 innings in 2014; typically close to league average results. Never over 128 innings, though)
In a video blog from yesterday, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman suggests that Aaron Harang might have earned himself a multi-year deal thanks to his 2014 performance, which would take him out of consideration for Atlanta. While Braves’ fans would probably like to see him back, that’s looking less likely unless he were willing to accept a 1 year offer.
In fact, the Phillies are apparently showing interest in Harang now, and estimates suggest he’ll be able to command a 2 year deal in the $14 million range.
Based on the above, I’d rank these pitchers into these tiers:
- Chris Young, Carlos Villanueva in the top tier… along with Aaron Harang
- Joe Saunders, Eric Stults in the next tier
- everybody else… and if we get here, I’d actually encourage using the internal options
The Trade Route
This gets tricky, for the idea of trading away a major league pitcher usually requires a significant return… which Atlanta will not do at this point. But there are some ways that the Front Office might be able to sneak a bargain from somebody. Clearly, that would start with a team that has excess starting pitching… which immediately limits the candidates.
- Teams needing a lefty reliever (Luis Avilan, perhaps?)
- Teams with their own pending 40-man crunch
- Teams wanting to dump salary – or a specific salary (though please: not Bartolo Colon)
There aren’t too many teams with that kind of ‘surplus’ available, but keep an eye on San Diego if they throw all caution to the wind and go after Cole Hamels. But anything in this category is certainly a long shot, so I won’t go into depth here.
The Internal Options
We pretty much have two or three, though I’ll add names since you never know:
- David Hale
- Cody Martin
- Gus Schlosser
- Jason Hursh (likely still just a bit to soon for him)
Of these, Hale is the only one already on the 40-man list, so if it comes down to this option, he’d be the choice unless he falls flat on his face this Spring.
So that’s about it… if you have any further suggestions, then please forward them to 755 Hank Aaron Drive, Atlanta, GA 30315. I’m pretty sure they would like to have your input!