Starting Pitching for 2015

[nsacpi]

We go into the off-season with Teheran, Wood, Minor and two wide open spots. What should we do about the rotation?

I would fill one spot with a cheap internal option. Hale or Martin.

To fill the second spot I would try to structure a trade that would move BJ or CJ and most of his contract. I would be willing to kick in some cash and include a prospect such as Bethacourt or Hursh to make it happen. Pitchers we might be able to pick up in such a trade include Jackson, Dickey and Buerhle. A key aspect of any such trade would be moving some salary.

[tvsportscaster]

We go into the off-season with Teheran, Wood, Minor and two wide open spots. What should we do about the rotation?

I would fill one spot with a cheap internal option. Hale or Martin.

To fill the second spot I would try to structure a trade that would move BJ or CJ and most of his contract. I would be willing to kick in some cash and include a prospect such as Bethacourt or Hursh to make it happen. Pitchers we might be able to pick up in such a trade include Jackson, Dickey and Buerhle. A key aspect of any such trade would be moving some salary.

I think you sniff around and see how much Harang will cost you and seriously consider bringing him back, I also would not be opposed to bringing Floyd back. He should be completely healed by Spring Training, but with Medlen's and Beachy's uncertainty it might be too risky. I wouldn't be surprised to see them acquire a pitcher though.

[emk418]

We go into the off-season with Teheran, Wood, Minor and two wide open spots. What should we do about the rotation?

I would fill one spot with a cheap internal option. Hale or Martin.

To fill the second spot I would try to structure a trade that would move BJ or CJ and most of his contract. I would be willing to kick in some cash and include a prospect such as Bethacourt or Hursh to make it happen. Pitchers we might be able to pick up in such a trade include Jackson, Dickey and Buerhle. A key aspect of any such trade would be moving some salary.

Yea I think we definitely should go in to ST letting a few young guys Hale/Martin/Northcraft/Hursh(longshot) battle it out for the 5th spot. But we definitely need a vet behind Teheran Wood and Minor. Harang wouldn't be bad as depth but we should at least set our sights higher to start.

I'm also not sure the cost and some injury updates but there are a decent amount of bounce back type starters I have some interest in. Masterson would be great but will be too expensive even after a rough year. Also have some sort of interest in Billingsley(depending on health reports), Colby Lewis

[Enscheff]

It's going to be a long year if the Braves go into the opening day with the 4 and 5 slots filled by a pitcher bad enough to be traded for BJ, and a young guy who's ceiling is a #5 starter. The Braves need to do better than that if they want to get back into the playoffs.

I don't think folks fully appreciate how well Santana and Harang performed last year, and how hard that production will be to replace. We are talking about 400 IP of ~3.5 FIP ball. That is some SERIOUSLY good pitching over a LOT of innings.

One spot in the rotation can be punted with someone like Hale or a retread, but one spot absolutely must be filled with a legit middle of the rotation arm. Yes, I would expect improvement from Minor, but I would also expect Teheran or Wood to disappoint or be injured. As a whole, I would expect the Teheran/Minor/Wood trio to produce about the same as they produced last year, maybe slightly more. Not enough improvement from that trio to make up for the drop off in the 4 and 5 spots, however.

[UNCBlue012]

I'm still on board with Floyd. I know how he went down this year, but he's a guy that I think can continue to do work that he started this past year. I'm pretty confident in Teheran, Minor, Floyd, Wood, Harang/Hale.

[Knucksie]

It's not like teams go into the season with a 5-man rotation, written in stone. Realistically, there have to be about 8 potential starters.

[nsacpi]

It's not like teams go into the season with a 5-man rotation, written in stone. Realistically, there have to be about 8 potential starters.

You're right about the need for 8 or more potential starters. However, in practice few teams carry that many potential starters on their roster. Most have 5 in the rotation and one or two in the pen or on the DL. The rest are in the minors. We are going to have a fairly deep AAA rotation with the candidates including Martin, Hursh, Graham, Williams Perez, Thomas, Daniel Rodriguez, Northcraft and Schloser.

[Hudson2]

No way is Floyd and Hale gonna be our 4th and 5th starters going into spring training. I'd say Jake Peavy will be our main target.

[nsacpi]

If we take a shot at the free agent starter we should look for someone with good peripherals but an ERA inflated by high home run rate and low strand rate. Someone like Phil Hughes coming off his 2013 season.

[zitothebrave]

No way is Floyd and Hale gonna be our 4th and 5th starters going into spring training. I'd say Jake Peavy will be our main target.

Why the boner over Peavy? I seriously don't get it. Last 4 years he's got like a slightly above average ERA+ and he has health issues.

[50PoundHead]

You're right about the need for 8 or more potential starters. However, in practice few teams carry that many potential starters on their roster. Most have 5 in the rotation and one or two in the pen or on the DL. The rest are in the minors. We are going to have a fairly deep AAA rotation with the candidates including Martin, Hursh, Graham, Williams Perez, Thomas, Daniel Rodriguez, Northcraft and Schloser.

Is his arm still attached to his body? I think we'll be combing the waiver wire for some AAA upgrades. I can go along with Martin as a candidate for a few starts, but I'm having trouble with pretty much anyone else on your list being ready or effective.

[zitothebrave]

If we take a shot at the free agent starter we should look for someone with good peripherals but an ERA inflated by high home run rate and low strand rate. Someone like Phil Hughes coming off his 2013 season.

I also would like a gamble guy like Brett Anderson. I think signing high risk high reward guys like Anderson, Medlen, and Beachy is something we should do cause if they're healthy all 3 of them are pretty close to top of rotation starters.

But the guy who we can maybe pickup on the cheap is Burnett if the Phillies don't pick up his option.

[nsacpi]

Is his arm still attached to his body? I think we'll be combing the waiver wire for some AAA upgrades. I can go along with Martin as a candidate for a few starts, but I'm having trouble with pretty much anyone else on your list being ready or effective.

There was some discussion of Graham in BA's Southern League Top 20 chat. They were still positive on his stuff, but see him more as a reliever.

Of the guys I listed for AAA, I would put Martin, Hursh and Thomas at the head the pack as potential major league starters. Williams Perez is also interesting as a groundball specialist. Northcraft and Schlosser have had pronounced splits most years, which suggests they are better suited for the pen.

[nsacpi]

I also would like a gamble guy like Brett Anderson. I think signing high risk high reward guys like Anderson, Medlen, and Beachy is something we should do cause if they're healthy all 3 of them are pretty close to top of rotation starters.

But the guy who we can maybe pickup on the cheap is Burnett if the Phillies don't pick up his option.

I think they will pick up one injured or injury-prone starter on the cheap (similar strategy to the Floyd signing last season). But that won't be the guy they pencil in as the fourth starter after Minor, Wood and Teheran. They will be looking for someone more durable for that.

[50PoundHead]

There was some discussion of Graham in BA's Southern League Top 20 chat. They were still positive on his stuff, but see him more as a reliever.

Of the guys I listed for AAA, I would put Martin, Hursh and Thomas at the head the pack as potential major league starters. Williams Perez is also interesting as a groundball specialist. Northcraft and Schlosser have had pronounced splits most years, which suggests they are better suited for the pen.

I've always seen Graham as a reliever (which he was in college). The Braves have had a considerable amount of success taking guys who project as relievers and converting them to starters, but Graham is another one of those smallish guys who may not have the leverage to project as a starter. He would be a nice bullpen piece if he's healthy.

I think they rushed Hursh. Maybe it doesn't matter that much in the long run, but he didn't miss many bats in AA. In fairness, it was his first full season. I'm not much on Thomas at all and while Perez' heavy groundball stats are interesting, I think I want to see him in AAA before making any judgments.

I'm with zito on Anderson. He'd be an interesting pick-up. I have no faith that either Beachy or Medlen will be ready for the start of the 2015 season.