Starting Pitchers not offered arb

[Bombers]

Wow!! But it seems as if no teams offered arbitration to any of their players. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/12/2010-mlb-free-a.html. This has to spell good news for the crew. The more free agents there are, the lower the salaries will be. With players like Wolf, Bedard, Davis, Garland, Harden, Padilla not offered arbitration, you would have to imagine the Brewers would be able to get 1 of their higher end targeted pitchers signed to a 2 year deal. Who do you think was the best starting pitcher not offered arbitration?

 

Here are some stats from a few of the top starting pitchers not offered arb:

 

Name	TEAM	G	W	L	ERA	IP	WHIP	OBA	K/BB	BB9	K9	H9
1. R Wolf	LAD	34	11	7	3.23	214.1	1.1	0.285	2.76	2.44	6.72	7.47
2. J Garland	LAD	33	11	13	4.01	204	1.4	0.335	1.79	2.69	4.81	9.93
3. D Davis	ARI	34	9	14	4.12	203.1	1.5	0.355	1.42	4.56	6.46	8.99
4. R Harden	CHC	26	9	9	4.09	141	1.34	0.327	2.55	4.28	10.91	7.79
5. V Padilla	TEX	18	8	6	4.92	108	1.5	0.36	1.4	3.5	4.92	10
6. Erik Bedard	SEA	15	5	3	2.82	83	1.19	0.298	2.65	3.69	9.76	7.05

I like Bedard or Wolf. Both have a low ERA, WHIP and walks/9. They also have a good k/9 and k/walk ratio.

[davego]

Padilla might be worth a shot.

[Bombers]

The Padilla who pitched for the Dodgers, yes. I like Padilla's walks / 9 but his WHIP, not so much.

[dadofandrew]

Isn't Bedard out 'til late summer? I don't see much interest considering how into innings eaters Doug is.

[Bombers]

I found the item below dated 8/14 from http://www.kffl.com/player/7739/mlb

Christian Caple, of MLB.com, reports Seattle Mariners SP Erik Bedard's (shoulder) arthroscopic surgery Friday, Aug. 14, revealed a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Bedard will not be able to return to baseball-related activities for four to six months. Dr. Lewis Yocum also repaired an inflamed bursa during the surgery. Bedard will be in a sling for up to three weeks. The chances are slim that the Mariners will re-sign him after the season.

 

So in short it looks like he will be back from Jan to March

[Hate those Rodents]

Nobody wanted Padilla a few months ago when he could have been had for free (well, paying his salary but you know what I mean) and when we were absolutely desperate for anybody that could help our horrid rotation.

[MNBrew]

From that list . . . Wolf, Harden, & Bedard in that order.

 

Bedard's numbers are clearly better. Harden's health record, while dubious, is still better than Bedard's over the past couple years.

 

By the numbers, Davis seems to be a noticeably less extreme version of Suppan. On the other hand, he'd also definitely be an improvement over what we saw in the Brewers' rotation most of last year. I'd take him as an improvement over the status quo, but hardly the first guy to go after.

[TooLiveBrew]

I'd personally prefer Harden over Wolf, but those are the three I'd identify too, MNB. I also think there's a pretty good chance Davis winds up with the Crew... as long as he's added along with a legit #1/#2 SP, I couldn't get too upset.

[MNBrew]

I think if I'm Melvin, I'm still doing everything reasonably possible to get Vazquez (and not Lowe) from Atlanta. Then I maybe put my eggs in the basket of Harden or Bedard, plus Mulder and a 2nd low-risk/incentive-heavy comeback guy (Sheets!!!!!!!).

 

So, dreaming...

 

Gallardo

Vazquez

Bedard/Harden

Parra

Bush/Suppan

 

Capuano, Sheets, Mulder, Halama all become nice potential depth. If any of them start out-pitching someone in the rotation, you'd have to figure things were going well enough that you could trade Suppan and only pay part of his contract when some other team (Yankees? Red Sox?) end up with enough injuries & desperation. (Like I said, I'm dreaming!)

[strawbossisevil]

Agreed with what everyone is saying. If we can go out and ink Harden and Wolf, I think that will give us a very strong rotation. Is there anyway we could afford signing both?

 

Gallardo

Harden

Wolf

Bush

Parra

 

I really think we need to sign to of the following four: Harden, Wolf, Bedard, Sheets. Those are the only four worth spending FA money on in my opinion (assuming the report is true about Lackey looking for a Zito type contract).

[Invader3K]

No way Lackey gets a Zito type contract. Lackey is older and teams have seen how badly burned the Giants got on that.

[endaround]

Not Zito but more AJ Burnett or Derek Lowe.

[brewmann04]

We should be able to afford both Pitchers above because that the Exact reason why Melvin Didn't offer any player arby and has cut payroll.

[Invader3K]

Not Zito but more AJ Burnett or Derek Lowe.

AJ Burnett seems like a valid comparison, and supposedly Lackey and/or his agent have said that's the type of contract he's after. 5 years, $82.5 million was what Burnett got. Doesn't seem that outrageous for a 30 year old pitcher to me. Lackey and Gallardo at the top of the rotation for the next several years would look pretty good, and hopefully in a year or two we'd have some of those younger guys coming up from the system to fill the back end. Just not sure the Brewers have any realistic chance of getting him if some team like Boston or L.A. jumps into the bidding.