Rumors of San Fernando trading away beleaguered veteran starting pitcher Nick Rivers were confirmed today with reports that he was given away to Charlotte in exchange for the Flyers assuming half of Rivers' 2065 salary obligation. He signed a two year, $30M contract last offseason that was immediately panned around the league as a gross overpay. Coming off a streak in Phoenix of six years in a row with a FIP of 4.50 or less, Rivers allowed a career high 24 home runs in his lone SFB campaign with a 4.57 ERA. We still think he's a capable back end starting pitcher and believe Charlotte got a great deal. But we're excited to turn our eyes to the future in our starting rotation and don't see the 35 year-old Rivers as a viable option in the bullpen.
The 2065 SFB starting rotation now appears to be filled with five players all less than 24 years of age. 22 year-old Brent Chappel will be joined by four 23 year-olds: Augusto Gonzalez, Enrique Perez, Marcos Rodriguez, and Doug Pomeroy. All but Pomeroy spent at least a month in the Bears rotation in 2064 with some measure of success. While none of them look like aces, there's not a weak link in the bunch. The team is counting on continued growth from this group rather than investing significant resources to bring in a TOR starter from outside the organization.
