Jake Westbrook has signed, and if the Tribune Company isn't scared off by Carlos Zambrano's slow start, the Cubs' right-hander will sign. There aren't many established, successful prospective free agents set to hit the market this fall.
Except for Mark Buehrle, who probably helped to make himself a whole lot of money with his no-hitter Wednesday. There were a lot of questions about the White Sox left-hander last year, as he struggled through a second half in which he went 3-7 with a 6.44 ERA. But even through his struggles, a couple of veterans scouts I spoke with last fall thought that Buehrle wasn't going through a significant decline. His velocity, both of them noted, never really had a major drop-off, the way that Freddy Garcia's velocity fell off. The problem, they agreed, was with Buehrle's command. "He can work that out," said one of the scouts.
And he has, apparently. It was Buehrle's first no-hitter at any level, he said, and A.J. Pierzynski said it was the best stuff he'd seen in two years, as Mark Gonzales writes.
Think about this: He'll be a free agent at about the same age that Barry Zito was when Zito hit the market last fall; he's left-handed; he's been a staff ace; he has postseason experience. And while Zito's velocity was seen as a major factor in whether or not teams were interested -- this is what kept the Mets' theoretical offer at five years -- Buehrle's velocity isn't as crucial to his success. As pitchers go, you figure he will age well. It will be a very good fall for Buehrle's accountant.
Remember, too, that the Mets may be looking for a starter when the season ends, and the Red Sox were interested enough in Buehrle that they offered Coco Crisp for him before last year's trade deadline. So big-money teams figure to be involved in what will probably be big-dollar bidding.
The White Sox will regret not signing him, writes Phil Rogers.
Not that I disagree, but is there anybody you do want in St. Louis?
I'm not sure why you say that.
I think it's more interesting to ask who the Cardinals should get rather than ask who they shouldn't get. I'd be fine with a rotation of Carpenter, Mulder, Wainwright, Reyes and Looper, with Hawksworth as the spare tire. But you ridiculed this group when Carpenter got hurt, so I'd expect you'd feel differently.
I'd be fine with that rotation as well....maybe with Wells in there instead of Reyes or Mulder. But the group I "ridiculed" was one that had Kiesler and Wells in there with two guys starting in the big leagues for the first time and another in his second full season as a starter. And I said that with Carp out the Cards would struggle and struggle mightily. In fact, I said they should play for 2008. Doing that, you might be able to include Mulder and Carpenter as you're doing. Right now, you can't count on either for the rest of the year.
I stand by what I've said, and it's going to take a vast improvement from what I see on the field right now to change that.
BW23 wrote:I'd be fine with that rotation as well....maybe with Wells in there instead of Reyes or Mulder. But the group I "ridiculed" was one that had Kiesler and Wells in there with two guys starting in the big leagues for the first time and another in his second full season as a starter.
The problem with Reyes, Wainwright and Looper is they're largely unknowns. However it's not like pitchers have nice, clean learning curves. If it turns out they won't be good enough to win in 2007, then they probably won't be good enough in 2008 either.
