This installment will highlight SP who are on the outside looking in right now. Perhaps they're not ready, or they're veterans who look good on paper and in a SSS, but have too many questions to get answered in the few games I could possibly give them.
FYI to rebuilding teams who should be trying to play the arbitrage game... DeGiusti, Simonnet, and van den Hoek are available for... not much. I believe in building a team methodically. There is no silver bullet trade, or at least, it doesn't happen out of the blue. The process of extracting value wherever it can be found is my path. Were I rebuilding, I would take a chance on one or more of those three building value with me the first half of the season and then trying to flip them to desperate ring-chasers for a better spec. But that's just me.
SP Axel DeGiusti - We picked him up last year as a 7/2/7 mLFA, because we had about 29 SP injured. He never got a chance in the bigs with us, but he's now 9/4/8 and could easily provide value in a spacious park. He likely will not be doing it in our bandbox, but he's valuable depth.
SP Thierry 'OBP Jesus' Simonnet - Thierry came over from Omaha in a classic "change of scenery" trade for SP Niall Hanlon. We didn't expect much, but he impressed after being pressed into duty last year, putting up a 3.71 ERA in 80 IP of starting and pen work. He's a K machine, so if he keeps the walks under control, he gives us a chance to win.
SP Luuk van den Hoek - Another castoff found in mLFA all the way back in 2037. He patiently kept signing those minor league extensions until finally getting a chance during our 2043 championship run. We needed somebody... anybody... to step up, and he did, giving us four adequate starts when we had almost literally nobody else. For that, he got a ring. Now, his time is likely up in LOU, but we'll always remember his grand mediocrity.
SP Katsumi Kokawa - Kokawa is... guess. A minor league FA. We signed him for $300,000 when he was a 22-year-old 6/5/6 SP. It was worth a shot. He's continued to develop, and after a dominant AAA last season and an impressive Winter League stint, he's knocking on the door of our rotation. A good $300K spent.
SP Dae-hyun Kim - Kim was... you'll never guess. Go ahead. I'll wait.
Another minor league FA. This one cost a bit, though... $2.065M. But he's a fully-developed 18-year-old SP who, if he gains velocity, could easily break into our rotation . If we needed to pitch him this year, I wouldn't hesitate.
Slugger Shavings 2045.03 - Spring Training Decisions - Rotation Backups
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