Archive for Vance Worley

We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or following along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

At present, the Orioles are far from favorites to win the AL East. In fact, our own projections have Baltimore finishing dead-last in the division this year, with a 78-84 record. Personally, I think they’re considerably better than the Rays, but that’s not the point of this column.

As was the case with Jeff Sullivan’s piece on Friday, Yovani Gallardo may or may not have signed with the Orioles by the time you’re reading this. If you want an in-depth look at Gallardo himself, I highly suggest reading Jeff’s article. Either way, it’s interesting to dig into the “why” behind the club’s pursuit of Gallardo, who will turn 30 later this month.

It would certainly seem that the Orioles view themselves as contenders, as they would need to sacrifice the 14th overall pick in this year’s draft to sign Gallardo, because he declined the Rangers’ qualifying offer. Why else would a team coming off a .500 season in a highly competitive division cough up a top-15 pick and ~$15 million a year for a solid — yet unspectacular — mid-rotation arm? Especially when that organization possesses an already-depleted farm system?

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I’ve stolen from the movie before. I’ll do so again…

Guarantee? If you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your fantasy teams’ sake, for your daughter’s sake, ya might wanna think about listening to quality content from me.

If you don’t know where this reference is from, then well…just ring your call button, and Tommy will come back there and hit you over the head with a tack hammer.

I actually will play guarantee fairy here, specifically for deep leagues since there are no uber-exciting names that jump out in my below grid. So here goes…

So long as they pitch to a qualifying level of innings without getting hurt or losing velocity (not ballsy enough to leave out these contingencies), I GUARANTEE these starters won’t be any worse next year (although in the grid below I highlighted in different strengths of green/red both starters and relievers):

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Two pitchers who have changed scenery in the past four months and have rediscovered better versions of themselves with the relocation. Either of them could have a shelf life that lasts into the season’s final weeks. The first is pretty much entirely in control of that possibility, for fantasy baseball owners. The second’s rotation spot may be in jeopardy, but if he survives the week, then you might want to take a look.

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Buzz, your girlfriend, WOOF! – Kevin McCallister

When you look at the potential 2013 Minnesota Twins rotation, you’re likely to have the same reaction that Kevin did when he saw the framed picture of Buzz’s less-than-attractive girlfriend. The Twins rotation finished dead last in WAR and strikeout percentage last year and were bottom five in the league in just about every other category. Woof, indeed.

Scott Diamond, the staff “ace,” is scheduled to make his first spring start a little over a week from now and is questionable for the start of the season. And even when he does return, the Twins will be getting back a guy who had the fourth worst strikeout rate among qualified pitchers last season.

The Twins must really like low strikeout pitchers because their staff is littered with them. This offseason they brought in one of the three pitchers who had a lower strikeout rate than Diamond last year, Kevin Correia. And all but one of their potential starters has a career strikeout rate that is under 16%. Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday, Tampa’s Jeremy Hellickson and Atlanta’s Craig Kimbrel took home Rookie of the Year honors in the AL and NL, respectively. Both Hell Boy and Kimbrel (this fellow needs a menacing, pee-your-pants-upon-hearing-it nickname) seemingly have very bright futures ahead of them. But winning ROTY doesn’t always mean that a player is destined for long-term stardom (Jason Jennings and Angel Berroa say hi!)

Today, I want to hear you opinions on a different question: which rookie pitcher (minimum 50 IP in 2011) has the most long-term value? In other words, if you could only have one rookie hurler, which would you choose? Below I’ve listed 15 rookie pitchers who are likely to garner consideration, as well as a quick case for and case against choosing each rookie.

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