Joakim Soria - Potential Starter?

[HOF4canrake]

There was some talk the last couple of off-seasons of the Royals discussing moving Joakim Soria from the closers role to the rotation. It's obviously worked for some other guys (Adam Wainwright being a great example), so could it work for Soria?

 

If the Brewers truly believe so, I think he'd be a decent guy to target - though I don't know off-hand how the Brewers match up with Kansas City in terms of prospects they want. My thinking here is, to trade for a starting pitcher of quality you'll need to give up an arm and a leg. With Soria, however, his value is lower because of his current position - thus the Brewers would be getting a good starter for cheaper...if he could handle the workload.

 

Any thoughts on what K.C. would want or if Soria could become a valuable starting pitcher?

[TooLiveBrew]

It's obviously worked for some other guys (Adam Wainwright being a great example), so could it work for Soria?

 

Wainwright was a starter all through the minors & only spent the '06 season in the 'pen as a rookie. Soria made a total of 5 starts in the minors (0 in the majors), and that was in 2005. I have serious doubts that he could be effectively stretched out to be a starter at this point when you consider workload, injury risk, etc.

[HOF4canrake]

Yeah I know Wainwright was groomed as a starter, but it still had to be tough to go from long outings to short 1-innning stints and back to long outings.

 

I think with proper training and off-season work 20-something pitchers can make the adjustment. One can look at it like a pitcher who has been hurt a bunch. Sure, he's not stretched out, but his arm should have some extra bullets from a lack of use.

 

I'm not saying that it would be a sure-fire success, but I think the Brewers have to look at stuff like this...a risk, no doubt, but it doesn't work him as a starter, he's still a good relief pitcher.

[endaround]

How would trading for a closer and paying the trade premium of a closer and then trying to make him a starter make any sense?

[HOF4canrake]

The premium for a closer is still way below the price for a #2-3 starter. The Brewers are still in need of starters...if he can't pull it off, you have a closer. His contract is extremely team friendly.

 

$4 million in 2011

$6 million club option in 2012 (guaranteed with certain performance levels)

$8 million club option in 2013

$8.75 million club option in 2014

 

Each option has a $750,000 buyout and the deal has escalators for games finished as a reliever and innings as a starter

 

I just see him as a guy (and some scouts agree - including an Astros scout I coached with) that has the makeup and repertoire to become a legit #2 starter. If that fails, you have a proven, relatively young closer essentially signed through 2014...and he could always be dealt elsewhere if that should be the best move. Too often people treat Major League athletes like they're kids that have no mental strength, no ability to re-learn and no desire to change.

 

Of course, there are plenty of guys who don't want to do anything different because that's what got them to the Bigs, but by all accounts Soria is a baseball player first, then a "relief pitcher." To just write something off because of difficulty, uniqueness or risk seems a bit harsh...why can't we just discuss things instead of treating everything in a yes or no context?

 

Again, I know it's a risk to try to get a guy to become a starter after exclusively being a closer...but there's no reason it cannot be done. Obviously, whatever you have to give up becomes an issue, but at some point your prospects need to become Major Leaguers or currency for Major Leaguers. It would be a risk, but a small one in the sense that the worst thing that happens is you have a proven closer under team control till 2014.

[endaround]

Well sure it can be done but he's under market price for a closer so you'll have to pay a huge price in prospects and then risk him blowing up as a starter. Should he have been a starter? Probably but its likely too late now.

[HOF4canrake]

That's fair. I wonder if the bio-mechanical "expert" Rick Peterson would have any insight on such a move for a pitcher.