Harang: A Tale of 3 Metrics

The Braves have lost 3 pitchers to TJ surgery, and also just had a scare with Avilan's hamstring. I don't care how lucky Harang has been, the undeniable fact remains he is getting MLB outs and he is healthy.

Wren is an idiot if he allows a healthy pitcher to leave this organization this year. Minor and Floyd (Floyd especially) are still no sure bets to be effective MLB pitchers this year, so keep the guy around that is actually toeing the rubber and getting results, mmkay?
 
Enscheff said:
The Braves have lost 3 pitchers to TJ surgery, and also just had a scare with Avilan's hamstring. I don't care how lucky Harang has been, the undeniable fact remains he is getting MLB outs and he is healthy.

Wren is an idiot if he allows a healthy pitcher to leave this organization this year. Minor and Floyd (Floyd especially) are still no sure bets to be effective MLB pitchers this year, so keep the guy around that is actually toeing the rubber and getting results, mmkay?
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I think the most likely scenario is he goes to the pen when Minor and Floyd are done with their rehabs. I'd say trading him is pretty unlikely. We need someone in case something happens to a starter or Wood needs to miss a few starts to keep his innings down.

Problems involving an apparent excess of pitching have a way of taking care of themselves.
 
Harang is 35, with Medlen/Beachy down, and Minor/Floyd coming back from injuries there is zero reason to deal him.

Depth, depth, depth.

We're already short on pitching depth as it is, why hurt that?
 
Enscheff said:
Being the long man and spot starter out of the BP is a far cry from throwing 239 pitches in three games over the course of eight days because Dusty Baker is your manager.
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I don't see Harang willing to ride bitch when he's still capable of succeeding as a starter. Veteran's prerogative. Plus, as evidenced, he's had bad experiences when bounced around in relief - the 6 times he's pitched in that role in nearly 330 games.

Does anybody actually think Harang would stick as a swing man?
 
Hawk said:
I don't see Harang willing to ride bitch when he's still capable of succeeding as a starter. Veteran's prerogative. Plus, as evidenced, he's had bad experiences when bounced around in relief - the 6 times he's pitched in that role in nearly 330 games.
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The Braves also have a prerogative in this case. And a contract.
 
Contending teams aren't usually in the habit of trading away reasonable starting pitching options in the middle of a potential playoff season, especially when those teams have been ravaged with pitching staff injuries. I won't say it's impossible; Harang might be so hostile to the idea of moving to the bullpen or some team might be so desperate that a trade makes sense. But it strikes me as exceptionally unlikely and out of character for the organization.

Is keeping a perhaps mildly perturbed Aaron Harang around in long relief an ideal situation? No, but it's a lot better than trading him away for a middling return and then watching another starter go down with an injury.

Plus, others have noted that Wood's innings limits adds another complication.

Of course, all of this is assuming that Harang will keep getting people out. If he starts getting his head knocked in, the decision gets a lot easier.
 
nsacpi said:
The Braves also have a prerogative in this case. And a contract.
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Yeah, and we have no idea what that contract actually says or pays.

But putting that side, I think you know as well as I do that the Braves would rather release Harang than force him to fester in a role he's wholly uninterested in.
 
I'm fairly certain that Harang will not be coming out of the rotation if he is still lights out a month from now. In that case I expect Floyd to stay in AAA for more conditioning, or for Wood to move to the BP.

More than likely though, Harang will come back to Earth over his next few starts, and it will be very apparent that he should be in the BP. Either way, no way in hell does Wren allow him off the roster, and I have to imagine a 35 year old vet who was released by the Indians in ST will understand his role on a WS contending club.
 
Hawk said:
Yeah, and we have no idea what that contract actually says or pays.

But putting that side, I think you know as well as I do that the Braves would rather release Harang than force him to fester in a role he's wholly uninterested in.
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Harang was released by the Indians. I doubt there is any sort of understanding that he will only be used as a starter. When he signed he knew that Santana, Minor and Floyd were eventually going to return to the rotation.
 
nsacpi said:
Harang was released by the Indians. I doubt there is any sort of understanding that he will only be used as a starter. When he signed he knew that Santana, Minor and Floyd were eventually going to return to the rotation.
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There could easily be language which allows Harang to opt out once he's no longer in the rotation.

Tom Hart interviewed Aaron before his first start in Milwaukee and asked him how he was preparing mentally knowing that his spot in the rotation wasn't assured past the first few weeks of the season. Harang said that he hoped to pitch well enough to make a permanent place for himself there. He has. Even if he gave up 10 runs in his next two starts, there's going to be some team willing to roll the dice on a veteran like Harang (who has shown consistent velocity, endurance, etc.) ... the incentive for him to accept a bullpen role is infinitesimally small, especially when he could still ostensibly score another sizable FA contract (ala Bartolo Colon).

JMO.
 
Hawk said:
There could easily be language which allows Harang to opt out once he's no longer in the rotation.

Tom Hart interviewed Aaron before his first start in Milwaukee and asked him how he was preparing mentally knowing that his spot in the rotation wasn't assured past the first few weeks of the season. Harang said that he hoped to pitch well enough to make a permanent place for himself there. He has. Even if he gave up 10 runs in his next two starts, there's going to be some team willing to roll the dice on a veteran like Harang (who has shown consistent velocity, endurance, etc.) ... the incentive for him to accept a bullpen role is infinitesimally small, especially when he could still ostensibly score another sizable FA contract (ala Bartolo Colon).

JMO.
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I'm sure some team would be willing to roll the dice as you put it. The question is whether they are also willing to make it attractive to the Braves to reduce their starting pitching depth. That part I doubt will happen.
 
Braves1976 said:
Harang also pretty much requested a trade once the Dodgers told him he's going to the bullpen. I could see the same happening here at some point.
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Especially when you have the bench that we do and add in that there is probably no bench help in the minors.
 
MadduxFanII said:
provided we don't do anything insane like start him in Game One of the LDS.
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nsacpi said:
I'm sure some team would be willing to roll the dice as you put it. The question is whether they are also willing to make it attractive to the Braves to reduce their starting pitching depth. That part I doubt will happen.
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That sentiment seems in part an overvaluation of Harang and an undervaluation of the Braves awesome ability to trawl for cheap, bottom of the barrel, pitching solutions. I'm a huge proponent of depth, and was one of the ones that was screaming for an additional veteran arm even before Medlen and Beachy went down -- but I don't know if I'm ready to buy in on Harang for an entire season yet. If we can sell high on him, so be it ... if not, no love lost.
 
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