Corey Brock of MLB.com posted on his blog today that the Padres starting five will be, drum roll please -
Chris Young
Jon Garland
Kevin Correia
Clayton Richard
Mat Latos
About Latos, Brock had the following to say, "He's in the rotation, trust me on that".
He also posits that Tim Stauffer will be traded for a mid-level prospect. I for one am hoping he is wrong.
I think that Stauffer can give the Padres the same type of production that we saw from Correia in 2009 for much less money and that Correia will bring much more in trade than Stauffer could.
With Sean Gallagher sitting in the pen and Wade LeBlanc in AAA, the Padres can afford to take a chance on Stauffer and trade Correia while his value is highest.
What do you think the Padres will do?
The more I think about it, the more I believe Young would be traded, if he pitches well, and replaced with Stauffer. If Young gets hurt, he's replaced with Stauffer.
ReplyDeleteGallagher rehabbed his knee instead of surgery, and pitched only 40 innings last year. I think he's in the 'pen to build up his arm and innings, work with Balsley, and have the trainers keep an eye on him. He can replace Correia or Garland next year.
LeBlanc isn't regarded highly by lovers of heat, but he did what Black wanted and mastered control of his fastball, moving it in and out to all batters. There are power pitchers who get past 30 without learning that.
I expect Latos to be limited to about 120 innings, or less if he becomes ineffective, and replaced with LeBlanc late in the season, like last year. If Wade does what he did last year, he'd be the fifth starter next year.
I don't expect to see 2011 options on Young, Garland or Torrealba picked up.
Larry Faria
Ocean Beach