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Preliminary 2006 Planning: Roster Analysis, and Depth Chart
The road map for next season’s active roster is below. There are good young players pushing their way into the picture, so hard decisions must be made for the roster and the starting lineup. Thus, this lengthy analysis will be broken into several posts.
Starting Pitchers: Brian Wilson still wants a nine-year contract but he has reduced his salary demand to “only” $171M ($19M/year). He is compensation-eligible so he will be offered arbitration. He will refuse and then I will audition several young starters in spring training to take his spot in the rotation. The early leaders are Pedro Castro and newly-acquired Juan Hernandez. Mike Yates, Bill Jackson, and Warren Corbishley are on the 40-man roster and will be given a chance, but there may not be as many spring innings for them. Corbishley is out of options so he might be shopped. Ron MacLain is a free agent won’t be offered a contract.
Robert Westaway is signed for two more seasons at $15M/year, a bargain for the likely Federal League Outstanding Pitcher in the prime (age 29) of his career. Antonio Luna is only 24 and should bounce back from his injury-shortened season to be a strong #2 in the rotation. He is signed for another four years at an average salary of $4.5M/year. Ray Alexander could be the #3/4 starter on almost any staff in the CBA. He will be 27 next season and has four years left on his contract at an average salary of $2.6M/year.
That brings us to the second lefty, Chip Davidson. He was projected by BNN to be one of the top five starters in the league in 2005 but that didn’t happen. He stayed healthy and reached 200 innings for the first time in his career, but he struggled early and again late. He finished with a 4.31 ERA, but his 3.64 FIP, 2.9 K/BB ratio, and 1.27 WHIP say that the ERA may be misleading. Davidson is arbitration-eligible this year. It might be smart to pay the award and see another year of work before signing him to a long-term deal, but what if he has that breakout season? Davidson’s greed rating is high and his loyalty is very low. The price may never be lower than now.
Bullpen: There are far fewer questions here than last year. George King had 37 saves and a 2.50 ERA. He is the closer until he proves unreliable. He will be 29 and is signed for two more seasons at $2.4M/year.
Brooks and Jones is not a country music act; they are the setup men. Edgardo Garza and Jesus Trejo are the primary middle men. All of these guys had fine seasons and none of them are qualified for arbitration yet. Sweet!
Reliable veteran David O’Daniel has another year on his $3.4M/year contract and we hold a team option for 2007. Leonard Sherman leads a whole bunch of young relievers that will compete for the final spot in the bullpen. Micah Reed and Jason Watson are out of options so they may join Corbishley on the trading block. The bullpen is definitely an area of strength and organizational depth.
Next: Position Players
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