MLBTR - Top 34 Free Agent Starting Pitchers

[torts]

Top 34 Free Agent Starting Pitchers

By Tim Dierkes [september 10 at 4:18pm CST]

Sometimes, there's just not a $100MM free agent pitcher out there. C.J. Wilson benefited from a weak free agent starting pitching class after the 2011 season, nabbing $77.5MM to lead the group. In the upcoming offseason, the top end of the starting pitcher segment is similarly uninspiring. Here are my early rankings, which are subject to change. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section or on Twitter.

 

1.Matt Garza - In terms of pure free agent starters, I think Garza will receive the largest contract this offseason. He's ineligible to receive a qualifying offer because he was traded midseason, which boosts his value. He may have quieted health concerns by making all of his starts since his May 21st big league season debut and averaging nearly seven innings per start.

 

2.Masahiro Tanaka - Tanaka, a righty with the Rakuten Golden Eagles, is not technically a free agent but belongs here since he can be obtained by bidding the most (assuming he is posted). I don't want to give too much credit to the unknown, but there are some who would take Tanaka over Garza, especially since Tanaka will pitch next year at age 25.

 

3.Ervin Santana - A quality arm whose stock will be damaged by a qualifying offer, if he turns one down and reaches the open market.

 

4.Hiroki Kuroda - He'll play next season at age 39, but in feedback on early drafts of this list, most thought he should be this high.

 

5.A.J. Burnett - Burnett said in March he wouldn't want to play anywhere but Pittsburgh, and I imagine the team's success this year only solidifies that stance.

 

6.Tim Lincecum - I had Lincecum ranked better in earlier versions of the list, as a case can be made he's at least equal to Santana, if you're willing to look past ERA. Like Santana, a qualifying offer could suppress his market.

 

7.Ricky Nolasco - I'd want to pay Nolasco like a 4.00 ERA guy, despite a 2.07 mark since joining the Dodgers in a July 6th trade. He doesn't have to worry about a qualifying offer, and could sign a new deal with the Dodgers during the exclusive signing period.

 

8.Bronson Arroyo - He's not flashy, and he'll pitch at 37 next year, but he supplies innings and avoids the free pass. Arroyo spoke recently about wanting a multiyear deal, but turning down a qualifying offer from the Reds could put him in a bind on the market. I don't expect the Reds to chance it.

 

9.Dan Haren - Haren will likely avoid a qualifying offer from the Nationals, as they won't want to risk giving him a raise on this year's $13MM. Despite a 5.23 ERA, Haren's K/BB ratio remains sparkling, and I still think there's hope for a sub-4.00 ERA given a few more groundballs and BABIP and HR/flyball swinging back his way.

 

10.Scott Feldman - Ineligible for a qualifying offer, Feldman is in line for a multiyear deal. He's re-established himself as a solid mid-rotation arm, and he'll pitch at 31 next year.

 

11.Paul Maholm - Maholm started his season with 20 1/3 scoreless innings, after which he's posted a 5.09 ERA in 120 1/3 frames. He also missed a month with a wrist contusion, and may have to settle for another one-year deal.

 

12.Roberto Hernandez - I like Hernandez more than most. Though he hasn't done it since 2010, I see the skills of a sub-4.00 ERA pitcher. His combination of a decent strikeout rate and big-time groundball rate is rare, but among the flyballs he has allowed, a whopping fifth of them have left the yard.

 

13.Scott Kazmir - There's a lot to like about Kazmir, who I originally had inside my top ten. He's still young, he's got strikeout stuff from the left side, and he's sporting the lowest walk rate of his career. But he should finish the season with around 160 innings, a total he last reached in 2007. The Indians signed Kazmir to a minor league deal in December; MLBTR's Steve Adams covered his rise and fall in a June post. I think he could find a multiyear deal.

 

14.Ubaldo Jimenez - He has the second-best strikeout rate in this free agent class, behind Burnett. If he can push his walk rate back under four per nine innings, as it was with the Rockies, he'd be close to the front-rotation hurler the Indians thought they acquired at the 2011 trade deadline. Some feel he's among the ten best in this free agent class, and he will be able to score a multiyear deal.

 

15.Bartolo Colon - I reluctantly pushed Colon up to 15th, as over 300 innings of 3.22 ball since 2012 can't be ignored. Colon's career, elbow, and shoulder were resurrected in an April 2010 stem cell procedure, and he was later suspended 50 games for a positive PED test in August of last year in an apparently unrelated incident. He'll pitch most of next season at 41, and is succeeding with a subpar strikeout rate.

 

16.Josh Johnson - Johnson's final start of the year came on August 6th in Seattle, and at least that one outing was reflective of what we used to say about him: he pitches well when he's on the field. His final injury was a strained forearm that will not require surgery, but unlike years past, Johnson did not pitch well while on the field this year, with a 6.20 ERA in 16 starts. His downfall was a fluke in theory, in that his strikeout and walk rates were solid while his BABIP and HR/flyball went through the roof. A qualifying offer is unlikely -- Johnson would probably accept, and that would not be a good deal for the Blue Jays.

 

17.Phil Hughes - Hughes was demoted to the Yankees' bullpen earlier this month. He had a respectable 2.85 K/BB ratio in 26 starts, but the extreme flyballer also allowed 23 home runs. There's a 4.00 ERA pitcher in there somewhere, especially away from Yankee Stadium, where he allowed 17 of those longballs. Hughes won't turn 28 until June next year, and as the youngest free agent starter, the former phenom should be a popular one-year deal reclamation project target.

 

18.Jason Vargas

 

19.Chris Capuano

 

20.Roy Halladay - The former ace had labrum and rotator cuff surgery in May, returning to make a few starts this month.

 

21.Tim Hudson - Hudson was pitching well before his season ended in July with an ankle fracture.

 

22.Jason Hammel

 

23.Wandy Rodriguez

 

24.Andy Pettitte

 

25.Joe Saunders

 

26.Jake Westbrook

 

27.Ryan Vogelsong (club option)

 

28.Edinson Volquez

 

29.Chad Gaudin - Gaudin has been quietly solid in a dozen starts for the Giants, with a 3.53 ERA.

 

30.Mike Pelfrey

 

31.Shaun Marcum

 

32.Scott Baker

 

33.Colby Lewis

 

34.Randy Messenger - The 32-year-old is a sleeper MLB deal candidate this offseason, with a 2.83 ERA as a starter for the Hanshin Tigers from 2011-13.

 

Jon Lester, Jorge De La Rosa, and James Shields were excluded from this list, under the expectation their club options will be exercised.

[monty57]

I don't think the Brewers have the money to add another arm, and are probably best off not adding one in any case. That said, Scott Feldman just looks like a guy to whom Milwaukee would offer a 3 year / $33MM deal.

[torts]

oh yeah, I know, especially if the brewers keep Gallardo and Loshe, just wanted to post this going forward... If management feels good about this team for next year with Braun back, a healthy rammy and possibly Hart coming back at 1B, I wouldnt be surprised if they tried to get another arm for the rotation to go with Estrada/Peralta

[JohnBriggs12]

Kazmir and Jimenez are two guys who have intrigue, but both have been good enough this year to attract a fair amount of attention unlike Francisco Liriano last year so neither will be all that cheap. I would expect the Brewers to kick the tires on solid vets coming off of injury. Three names come to mind, Colby Lewis, Wandy Rodriguez, and Scott Baker. All 3 could likely be had on short term deals and all have ceilings as mid rotation starters if healthy. Rodriguez would give them a lefty which they lack.

 

Assuming their healthy, any of those three could be turned into a decent return at the deadline if the Brewers are out of it.

[jerichoholicninja]

Josh Johnson is almost to certain to get a one year deal but you're very likely only getting a half season out of him anyway.

[reillymcshane]

I am not banking on the Brewers to be particularly good in 2014. Therefore, I'd look to develop our own pitching. Gallardo, Lohse, Estrada, Peralta look like locks for next year, but I'd pick someone from Thornburg, Hellweg and Nelson to be the #5 guy. I'd rather try and let our young guys have a chance. So many of the free agents have health issues, age issues, skill issues, etc. And then there's the cost of $10 million or more for multiple years.

 

If a lot of things go right next year the team, we could, conceivably, be contenders. If we need another starter at that time, we can have the financial flexibility to add a salary dump from another team - like the Dodgers getting Nolasco for next to nothing.

 

Either path has risks, but at least we are not on the hook for a huge salary if the guy tanks.

[logan82]

I am not banking on the Brewers to be particularly good in 2014. Therefore, I'd look to develop our own pitching.

That was the hope many had going into this year. Then they signed Lohse.

[MNBrew]

I'm confused. Some on this board blame Melvin for relying too much on young pitchers who either were grossly ineffective (Fiers), who obviously weren't MLB-ready (Thornburg & Hellweg initially), or were injured (Rogers). Then there are comments like logan82's above that signing Lohse interferes with the Brewers' plan or ability to develop young pitching.

 

Lohse had nothing to do with not any decision NOT to develop our own pitching. If Lohse were the pitching equivalent of Yuni B., I could understand Logan's assertion. But Lohse has been their most reliable SP -- not bad even considering April & May effectively were his Feb. & March. Don't forget how shaky Gallardo was through July, how lousy Peralta was before the All-Star break, and that only since his DL stint finally ended has Estrada looked like the SP he showed glimpses of what finally earned him his first Opening Day rotation spot going into this year.

 

As spring training went on, and pitchers who proved they couldn't keep themselves in the MLB picture kept eliminating themselves from any realistic consideration for the Opening Day rotation, what was Melvin supposed to do? Just keep throwing young guys on the mound as they kept getting brutalized by opposing hitters?

 

Lohse and Peralta have been the only really non-injured SPs the Brewers have had this year (Gallardo, Estrada, Narveson, Burgos, Fiers, Rogers, & Gorzelanny have all been injured at one time or another for MIL or Nashville). At some point you HAVE TO HAVE enough proven depth to survive the injuries and ups/downs that go with utilizing so many young pitchers. Don't get me wrong, I believe the Brewers have to have a pipeline of reliable, high-ceiling SPs at all times because they can't usually afford a headline-making trade or FA signing. I'd rather not keep relying on rotations that resemble the fairly constant disasters the Twins have been trolling out to the mound for the past few years. Without Lohse, I think "Twins Territory" is exactly where the Brewers' rotation would've been. And that's NOT a good place.

 

But why? What about a better draft pick? Thanks to Michael Gonzalez (the Mike Gonzalez version of him was much better, btw), the Cardinals, an imposing (if not ugly) September schedule, and the net of really only one healthy traditional 3-4-5 hitter over the year, I'm afraid the draft pick's already going to keep getting higher over these last 3 (potentially unwatchable) weeks. But young players/pitchers also benefit from the leadership & examples of a steadying, established/proven successful veteran (think Axford under Hoffman, for instance). As such, I believe Lohse fills a role with the young guys that would otherwise be an uglier, more glaring void on the roster & in the clubhouse if he weren't here.

[logan82]

I have been pretty clear in the past that I thought giving up a pick to sign Lohse was a bad idea and a complete waste given the talent of the rest of the team. We didn't need proven depth. That is a need for a playoff team or a team with a strong farm system. What Lohse has actually done is inconsequential at this point. He has not brought back a good player in trade and cost us a pick. The few marginal wins he may have added are actually worse for us right now.

[JohnBriggs12]

I am not banking on the Brewers to be particularly good in 2014. Therefore, I'd look to develop our own pitching.

That was the hope many had going into this year. Then they signed Lohse.

 

They can do both if they stick to signing guys on short term (like 1-2 years tops) deals. Say they signed a Wandy Rodriguez for 2 years, and he pitches well. Either he's going to help them contend, or they'll have yet another guy contenders will covet in July along with Lohse, Estrada, and Gallardo or they could trade one of those 3.

[monty57]

I'm confused. Some on this board blame Melvin for relying too much on young pitchers who either were grossly ineffective (Fiers), who obviously weren't MLB-ready (Thornburg & Hellweg initially), or were injured (Rogers). Then there are comments like logan82's above that signing Lohse interferes with the Brewers' plan or ability to develop young pitching.

 

Lohse had nothing to do with not any decision NOT to develop our own pitching. If Lohse were the pitching equivalent of Yuni B., I could understand Logan's assertion. But Lohse has been their most reliable SP -- not bad even considering April & May effectively were his Feb. & March. Don't forget how shaky Gallardo was through July, how lousy Peralta was before the All-Star break, and that only since his DL stint finally ended has Estrada looked like the SP he showed glimpses of what finally earned him his first Opening Day rotation spot going into this year.

 

As spring training went on, and pitchers who proved they couldn't keep themselves in the MLB picture kept eliminating themselves from any realistic consideration for the Opening Day rotation, what was Melvin supposed to do? Just keep throwing young guys on the mound as they kept getting brutalized by opposing hitters?

 

Lohse and Peralta have been the only really non-injured SPs the Brewers have had this year (Gallardo, Estrada, Narveson, Burgos, Fiers, Rogers, & Gorzelanny have all been injured at one time or another for MIL or Nashville). At some point you HAVE TO HAVE enough proven depth to survive the injuries and ups/downs that go with utilizing so many young pitchers. Don't get me wrong, I believe the Brewers have to have a pipeline of reliable, high-ceiling SPs at all times because they can't usually afford a headline-making trade or FA signing. I'd rather not keep relying on rotations that resemble the fairly constant disasters the Twins have been trolling out to the mound for the past few years. Without Lohse, I think "Twins Territory" is exactly where the Brewers' rotation would've been. And that's NOT a good place.

 

But why? What about a better draft pick? Thanks to Michael Gonzalez (the Mike Gonzalez version of him was much better, btw), the Cardinals, an imposing (if not ugly) September schedule, and the net of really only one healthy traditional 3-4-5 hitter over the year, I'm afraid the draft pick's already going to keep getting higher over these last 3 (potentially unwatchable) weeks. But young players/pitchers also benefit from the leadership & examples of a steadying, established/proven successful veteran (think Axford under Hoffman, for instance). As such, I believe Lohse fills a role with the young guys that would otherwise be an uglier, more glaring void on the roster & in the clubhouse if he weren't here.

 

All this, and yet we're still on pace to win 69 games this year.

 

The money spent and yet-to-be-spent on Lohse will get us a few extra meaningless wins that may hurt us more in the future than they help us if they knock us down the draft board. Right now, we're on pace for the fifth pick, while the Angels are on pace to get the 15th pick with around 77 wins. Additionally, teams that finish at the bottom get a big benefit in draft pool money and international signing money. I'd take the draft pick we lost in 2013 and the better draft pick in 2014 over the few extra wins this season, and a $22MM liability over the next two seasons as Lohse likely faces significant age-based regression.

 

At some point, management may realize that we don't have the talent to compete at the MLB level, and we don't have a good enough farm system or a big enough checkbook to make us a good MLB team in the near future. It would've been nice if they had realized this when they had some trading chips to make a quick turnaround possible, but that ship has sailed. Now we're faced with a long, uphill grind where we wait for bad contracts to fall off the books and we see which of our so-so prospects become serviceable MLB players. Starting 2015, we should have some free cash to make some moves (as long as we don't do something stupid like another Lohse-type signing this offseason) and the Top 10 draft picks we should get over the next few seasons should help us re-stock the farm with good - as opposed to "could make the MLB in some capacity" - talent.

 

That said, as I mentioned earlier, it would not surprise me at all to see Attanasio tell Melvin to sign someone like Feldman to a 3 year/$33MM deal. It wouldn't make the Brewers winners in 2014 and it would make the long-uphill grind a little longer, but it may sell some tickets in 2014 and that in itself may supercede whether or not it's a good "baseball move."

[reillymcshane]

Lohse was not a 'bad' signing because he did poorly. He's been really good. The signing was 'bad' because we expend resources (1st round draft pick, $33 million) while still not being good enough to the make the playoffs. We should have saved those resources to make us better in 2015 or 2016, when we might have a chance to compete better.

 

Of course, we have hindsight to make the 'bad' signing call. What if Gallardo had pitched like in the past? What if Braun, A-Ram and Hart been around for a full season? I'm still don't think we would have been playoff caliber - but you never know. The same goes for next year. Perhaps things all fall into place and we make a go of it. Then the Lohse signing looks better. The problem is that we aren't likely to get good enough over the next season or two to make the playoffs. Thus making the signing a futile - in the long run.

[paul253]

I wouldn't mind taking a one year flyer on Johnson or Hudson. PLEASE no multi-year deals!

[logan82]

I am not banking on the Brewers to be particularly good in 2014. Therefore, I'd look to develop our own pitching.

That was the hope many had going into this year. Then they signed Lohse.

 

They can do both if they stick to signing guys on short term (like 1-2 years tops) deals. Say they signed a Wandy Rodriguez for 2 years, and he pitches well. Either he's going to help them contend, or they'll have yet another guy contenders will covet in July along with Lohse, Estrada, and Gallardo or they could trade one of those 3.

One or two years without giving up a pick would be fine. Probably not the best use of money unless the end goal is to trade him though.

 

On the other hand many people also though Lohse would get traded to a contender this year if we were out of it.

[nate82]

On the other hand many people also though Lohse would get traded to a contender this year if we were out of it.

 

They did try and trade Lohse but there wasn't a big demand for starting pitching this year during the trade deadline. The offseason is where you can expect a trade to happen especially with the Royals losing Santana. Lohse is probably a better fit for the Royals than Santana would be for them next year as Lohse would fill in almost perfectly as a #3 or #4 pitcher for them.

 

As for signing someone I would like to have Johnson, Kazmir, Volquez, or Jimenez on a 1-year or 2-year deal I would prefer the 2nd year to be a team option year but that won't happen. I don't see Hellweg or Nelson starting out on the major league roster next year unless they have a great spring as both need more time in AAA to work on their control. Of the four I mentioned I would prefer to have either Johnson or Kazmir as I believe both would be very tradeable during the deadline.

[MNBrew]

I don't know where this fits into the Lohse equation, but I believe it's neither inconsequential nor irrelevant:

 

You can't quantify veteran leadership. Young pitchers learning from the experience of veterans. Even if your team's losing, and losing a lot, there are many valuable things young guys can learn in spite of the losing that pay off over time. Without eventually some experienced leadership of your young players, you're much more likely to end up in endless rebuilding cycles in spite of plenty of good young talent (see: KC, for instance).

 

I also totally get the viewpoints that that leadership and a few wins may well not be worth a lost (and very needed) 1st round pick and $11M/yr. over 3 seasons.

 

... However, that $33M/yr over 3 years spent on Lohse doesn't mean that payroll figure took away from other needed resources. Without full, open access to the Brewers' books and Melvin's & Attanasio's thinking, all we can assert "for certain" is the current/conventional thinking that you should shrink your payroll as much as you can if you're losing. Otherwise, that the $33M was poor/fruitless/unnecessary/detrimental spending is purely conjecture.

 

One more point, more on topic: No one on that list in the opening post excites me a whole lot. The pitching staff just plain needs more talent. But how much some of those FA guys would add at a reasonable cost and for team-friendly term may well not outweigh the net gains of the Thornburgs, Peraltas, Hellwegs or Nelsons getting more meaningful MLB development/experience.

[trwi7]

What exactly are they learning from Lohse and why is it costing us that much money and a pick? I think "veteran leadership" is a bunch of crap that's used to defend the signing. The only young pitcher on the staff to open this year was Peralta. Why couldn't Gallardo or Estrada teach him all of their "veterany leadershipness?"

[jerichoholicninja]

What exactly are they learning from Lohse and why is it costing us that much money and a pick? I think "veteran leadership" is a bunch of crap that's used to defend the signing. The only young pitcher on the staff to open this year was Peralta. Why couldn't Gallardo or Estrada teach him all of their "veterany leadershipness?"

 

"Veteran leadership" is the most expensive, overrated, useless, and cliche thing is sports. I'm sure the only things the kids are learning from him, or any other veteran for that matter, is how to make trick catches in the OF during BP, secret sunflower seed spitting techniques, and where the best restaurants are in each major league city. Vital stuff.

[TheCrew07]

You can't quantify veteran leadership. Young pitchers learning from the experience of veterans. Even if your team's losing, and losing a lot, there are many valuable things young guys can learn in spite of the losing that pay off over time. Without eventually some experienced leadership of your young players, you're much more likely to end up in endless rebuilding cycles in spite of plenty of good young talent (see: KC, for instance).

 

I would qualify that statement as grasping at straws to justify an end. The team already had plenty of veteran pitching, and not all veteran pitchers are willing to "coach" younger players. I do not subscribe or buy into the theory that buying veteran leadership is necessary.

 

Signing Lohse was a bad move for all of the reasons already stated by other posters and it has nothing to do with his performance on the field. The root cause of 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013 is management's inability to correctly assess and assign value to talent. Continually fielding a rotation who's upside is to be league average isn't going to get us over the hump, and it hasn't, because when those few pitchers become injured or ineffective there's nothing behind them to keep train moving forward. Not to mention that in the play-offs our 1-3 don't really stack up with the competition.

 

The Brewers essentially have backed themselves into a corner, they need high attendance to stay in the black with all of the contract commitments for 2014, but the franchise itself is never going to get over the top for 2 reasons: The inability/unwillingness to develop or trade for young impact pitching and a payroll that's far too top heavy, we have too few players making too much money for our market. Not that I believe payroll flexibility is key to the organization's future, I actually believe that talent flexibility is the key, and there is a wide gulf between payroll and talent flexibility. However, if we keep replacing impact players with aging and average players in FA we're losing ground with the position players and just keeping the status quo in the rotation, a rotation that's never been good enough as it was... the MLB team will win games keeping enough fans buying tickets to sustain the payroll, but the organization itself is stagnant, the Brewers haven't been moving towards anything other than getting another year older and more expensive for some time now.

[MNBrew]

TC07, I agree with many of your points, but as you'll re-read my opening disclaimer, you'll realize all I'm saying it that I think the veteran leadership factor fits into the picture of Lohse's value somewhere -- I'm suggesting neither where nor with what weight, only that I think that notion isn't meaningless or worthless.

 

The Lohse signing is hardly catastrophic IF it's not followed by yet more of the same. Obviously there is oft-documented skepticism due to this regime's history that that will be the case. It furthers the problem if, for instance, Hart or eventually Weeks or Ramirez are replaced by other big-buck signings, whether at their positions or others' . . . and especially if such signings prove to compromise the Brewers' ability to effectively develop or otherwise obtain more high-end young assets, especially starting pitching.

[brewcrewdue80]

I can't find a reason to sign any of these pitchers with the team's current makeup of Pitching. Lohse already Plugged a hole for our younger guys to not fill and adding another would plug 1 more. Clearly we have Lohse,Gallardo,Peralta 1,2,3. And I've been a fan of Estrada to be #4 for a long while in statement. That leaves 1 spot for Thornburg,Hellweg,Nelson, and Jungmann. Hmm, I guess that's not a lot of depth.

I look at that list and see no one that jumps out to me...Kazmir? Is about it. The team needs to fill their holes via trade of either Braun or Gomez or even going the route of Lohse or Gallardo...but in that case I would look at that as rebuilding and have to send Gomez or Braun away as well because just 1 trade of Lohse or Gallardo isn't going to fix the franchise's Pitching problems.

[logan82]

The Lohse signing by itself isn't catastrophic. It is just one choice in a long line of choices hamstringing the franchise. I could even forgive the money part of it to some extent. That is why I wouldn't have a huge problem with a one or two year deal for any of these guys provided we didn't give up a pick. Not that it would be a great idea to throw money at any of them.

[MNBrew]

Taking half a step back, I think you can justify adding one FA SP over last winter & this coming winter -- one over the two years, NOT one per year -- to plug a major gap in quality and/or proven depth. And that's what the Lohse signing was.

 

But if part of the point is to develop young assets, then there's no evident need to acquire yet another veteran SP without a factor of major debilitating injuries -- which at the moment simply aren't a factor -- unless one of the current rotation arms is traded (Lohse, Gallardo, Estrada, Peralta, Thornburg, etc.). But to my thinking, to sign an FA SP just to say you signed him to a good deal isn't enough to justify the move unless it's a MAJOR talent upgrade, which likely isn't going to happen at a remotely reasonable $$ figure. . . . . Lohse was a major talent upgrade over the net-effect "dregs" (in terms of production, not necessarily talent -- Fiers, Narveson, Rogers -- though don't get me wrong b/c I did like all of that group for the rotation going into ST except Narveson) that were the rotation candidates over ST.

[RobertR]

While I can understand the concern over a draft pick, if Attanasio is ok with picking up a veteran and it fits into the payroll, I don't see the issue. I'm not concerned whatsoever with how much money Attanasio makes or loses. He's a successful businessman and not hurting for cash.

 

Gallardo, Lohse, and Peralta are givens at this point. I expect Estrada, Thornburg, Nelson, and Hellweg to get starts at some point next season. Is that enough? Is the quality acceptable to management/ownership? If the answer to either of those questions is no, then I expect that the Brewers will go after someone.

 

I also think it's worthwhile to keep an open mind as we don't know what kind of market it's going to be. If it's a buyers market on pitching, then the smart thing to do is buy. If not, then hold off and address other needs.

 

I agree that the Brewers shouldn't be in any hurry to give up more draft picks, especially in what promises to be a strong draft year. But if there's a good deal to be had, I don't think some dogmatic ideal about building from within matters a whit.

[logan82]

I don't think any of those guys will be enough of an upgrade to make it worth while to give up building from within. Way back in 2008 when we had good minor league talent and a club close to playoff talent I could understand giving up the long term plan a bit for a short term solution. However, we have not done well enough on building for the long term for a few years now and our MLB club isn't close to playoff level right now either.

 

If they want to sign a guy thinking they can flip him at the deadline I would be okay with that. It just doesn't seem like Melvin's MO.