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Dear Jim, please blame the media for this one. |
With the impending signing of Kerry Wood, talk has already begun that Andrew Cashner will be moved into the rotation as Kerry takes his spot in the bullpen. At this time, though, giving up on Tom Gorzelanny just doesn't add up.
Tom Gorzelanny made his first impact on Major League Baseball in 2006, when he started 11 games for a not good Pirates team. The southpaw has had difficulty with control throughout his career (4.15 BB/9). At times, especially in 2007, Gorzelanny could be effectively wild. That year, he went 14-11 on another terrible Pirates team that lost 94 games.
The major X-factor in Gorzelanny's career has been his ability, or inability, to limit Homeruns.
Tom Gorzelanny (HR/9 ~ ERA)
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Good times are ahead for Tom Gorzelanny |
2007: 0.80 ~ 3.88
2008: 1.71 ~ 6.66
2009: 1.15 ~ 5.55
2010: 0.73 ~ 4.09
2008 was a disastrous year. He spent considerable time back in AAA in '08 and '09 before the Cubs traded Josh Harrison, Jose Ascanio, and Kevin Hart for him and John Grabow.
Although Gorzelanny struggles with his command and does not strike out very many batters (Career 6.63 K/9), he is a valuable player. Fangraphs values his career contributions at $23 million dollars, yet the most Gorzelanny has ever made was $800,000 last season. This year, through arbitration, he'll likely get a 2011 salary in the $3 million range. Not bad, when compared to league average (or worse!) veteran pitchers making eight figure salaries, think of Randy Wolf, Derek Lowe, Bronson Arroyo, etc.
Tom Gorzelanny will turn 29 around next year's All Star game. For a left-handed starter, I'm pretty sure this is just around the time he's going to enter his prime. Instead of trading Tom Gorzelanny, why aren't the Cubs buying out his arbitration years with a 3-year contract while teaching him to refine his mechanics to improve his control? It seems so much more logical than hanging on to Carlos Silva or squeezing him out for Randy Wells or Andrew Cashner? From this seat, the only rotation spots that should be relatively secure at the start of Spring Training should be those of Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, and Tom Gorzelanny. Let Silva, Wells, Cashner, Jeff Samardzija, Thomas Diamond, Christopher Carpenter, and Chris Archer compete for the final two spots in the rotation. Heck, trade for King Felix. Do something disruptive! This is basically coming out of nowhere, and I apologize for ranting at the Interweb. It's just that I've been keeping it inside for too long, and we all know that's not healthy.
If you're going to rebuild, rebuild. Blow it up. Trade everyone. Trade the veterans for anything worth more than the draft picks the team may get if they leave as free agents. Trade Big Z, Dempster, Silva, Fukudome, Byrd, and Aramis. Build up Carlos Peña's trade value and package him up. Why are the Cubs treading water in 2011?
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"I can't believe we're here, either!" |
Trade Silva, go with...
ReplyDeleteZambrano
Dempster
Gorzelanny
Wells
Samardzija or Cashner or Diamond
Go Cubs!
bob says... the cubs wont spend any money for 4..or 5 years..the ricketts want to recover the 800 million they spent on the club frist... dont you get it??.........so they will continue to be lovable losers til you die...the ricketts suck!!!!!!!!!!
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