Seattle Rotation

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 5:09 am

Who is the best bet to earn a permanent rotation spot for the rest of the year? Will any of them be worth adding to a 10-team AL only league?

Blackley
Thornton
Nageotte
Meche
Other

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 5:36 am

I'd feel good about adding Blackley in an AL-only. He has nice stuff & looked pretty poised in his debut.

Meche could conceivably come back, but how he would do is anyone's guess. The stuff is there, but for a guy who's had control problems it's not encouraging that he's walked 11 batters in 20 IP since he went down to AAA. I'd wait & see, (and this is from a guy who's been big on Gil for years).

My bet for the rest of the year: 1.Moyer 2.Pineiro 3.Franklin 4.Blackley 5. Thornton now, Meche later. Nageotte stays in the pen and Thornton back to the minors. The only 'other' I could see is Mateo, who could go swingman if they can't find a 5th starter (just a theory - they bounced it around late last summer).

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 11:31 am

Umm, Nageotte has already been sent back to AAA. Most likely Meche could come back up and Thornton will stay in the bullpen. The team has already told Thornton that his role is in the pen, and honestly RC2 and myself think he will do best in that role. Blackley is likely to stay in the rotation as well. Villone has been getting some spot starts and probably will continue to until Meche is ready to return.

1. Moyer
2. Pineiro
3. Franklin
4. Blackley
5. Villone now, Meche later.

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 12:07 pm

Yes, I'd have to agree that Thornton would not be a good bet. He's got serious control issues right now. I'm actually surprised that he got called up over Bobby Madritsch or George Sherril, though the M's would've had to designate someone to fit Sherril on the 40-man roster.

I'd expect that Meche or Blackley would be your best bets. Meche is still having control problems, down at Triple-A. Blackley admitted last night that he was working on 3 hours sleep and none of his pitches were as good as he's used to. I'd like to see him when his stuff is on. He's not a high velocity guy, but he'll throw any pitch in any count and he's a smart pitcher. I'd hate to put the label of "crafty left-hander" on him, but he is that and more. He throws a couple above-average pitches and is good at changing speeds and locating his pitches. You just have to wonder what kind of success he'll have early in his career. A lot of times the stuff these guys throw doesn't translate to the bigs. Look at Jamie Moyer: sure he's one of the winningest pitchers since 1997 or so, but it took him a while to find success.

Regardless, I like Blackley more than Nageotte. Until Nageotte learns to throw a changeup and locate his fastball consistently he's looking more like a setup man or closer. The nice thing is that the kid recognizes what it is he needs to do.