Ahead of the game: Starting pitchers
11/16/2005CLEVELAND -- Mark Shapiro looks at his starting rotation about the same way he did last offseason. Oh, the order of things has changed, for that order resolved itself because of the performances of three holdovers in the rotation: C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Jake Westbrook.
"We've got three solid guys -- Cliff, C.C. and Jake," Shapiro said. "We're fine with those three. But we need two more starters -- one of which could be internal, but they both can't be internal."
Broken down to their essence, Shapiro's words mean this: The Indians will be a player in the free agent pitcher market.
Now, he's hopeful that free agents Kevin Millwood and Scott Elarton will return. Elarton's return, though, seems more a possibility than Millwood's.
They are two different kinds of talents. Millwood is a top-of-the-rotation guy; Elarton, an end-of-the rotation guy. Yet Elarton's more inclined to stick around, and his price tag won't be close to what Millwood will fetch on the market.
After earning $7 million last season, Millwood proved he's healthy, and healthy pitchers who can brag about a 2.86 ERA, durability and clubhouse presence earn three-year deals, if the 2004 market indicates anything, for more than $20 million.
Will that figure price the Tribe out of the Millwood sweepstakes? Shapiro doesn't know.
"Do I think he wants to sign back here? Yes. Does he like it here? Yes. Do we have the immense appreciation for what he can do on and off the field? Absolutely."
Can the Indians afford Millwood's price tag? Well ...
But if the 30-year-old Millwood bolts, the free agent market should have some capable talent that might bring the veteran presence he did. But that talent won't have to be an anchor for the top of the rotation, though having someone with Millwood's capability slide into the No. 3 slot or No. 4 would strengthen the Indians' starting staff.
Not that the rotation was bad last season.
Millwood, Elarton, Westbrook, Lee and Sabathia were a rock of consistency, and for the first time in 105 seasons, the Tribe had five pitchers each make at least 30 starts and used only six starters in a season (Jason Davis made four starts).
Those starters went at least five innings in 142 of the 162 games (87.7 percent) and overall posted the fifth-lowest starters ERA (3.96) in the American League. All of this is good stuff, which is why Shapiro wouldn't mind keeping the rotation as is.
He can if Millwood decides Cleveland isn't a bad place to work, because Elarton has gone on record as saying he wants to return.
"Most definitely," Elarton said. "It's a good situation from the management all the way down to the lowest guy on the food chain and just a very tough situation to leave. I'd love to be a part of it next year."
Elarton, who made $800,000 last season, should get some kind of feelers from Shapiro, although a No. 5 starter like Elarton, 29, might be somebody that Shapiro can replace from his long list of internal candidates.
The names on that list include pitchers with some Major League experience such as Davis, Jason Stanford, Billy Traber, Brian Tallet and Jeremy Guthrie, and Minor League prospects such as Fausto Carmona, Andrew Brown, Kyle Denney, Jake Dittler, Dan Denham, Adam Miller and Jeremy Sowers. The latter four are high-draft picks.
Yet Shapiro will look hard in the offseason for more arms. He knows an organization can never have too much depth, which is why his recent drafts have leaned so heavily toward pitching prospects.
At some point, those prospects should be ready for the bigs, and the Indians have a few openings that guys such as Carmona, Guthrie and Sowers might be able to fill.
Source: http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/
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