Late Innings

I’m surprised this isn’t getting as much coverage as it should be. Everyone knows by now that the Rangers lost pitching prospect (first round 2004 draft pick) Eric Hurley for 2009. He was penciled in to be the team’s #3 starter, however due to his shoulder problems this won’t be happening. Baseball America wrote up an analysis of the injury, and John Sickels commented about it today as well. Sickels, being the master of prognostication and such, wrote this a month ago:

Worried about health here. I held onto him too long as a higher-ranked prospect, but could do better with a change of scenery.

Checkmate, he called it here. Granted Jon Daniels did a wonderful job building up the team’s talent pool of late (they’re ESPN’s #1 orginization according to Keith Law), and there’s plenty of arms ready to step in as well to mitigate the blow. I’m excited to see Neftali Feliz pitch, and Derek Holland is his southpaw equivalent. Matt Harrison is already part of the rotation.

Now as an Orioles fan, I’m seeing the same similarities here. The Orioles have a plethora of young arms ready to make an impact (e.g Brian Matusz, David Hernandez, Chris Tillman, et al.), much like how Texas did a year ago. Building a team around young pitching is crucial and key today, and if news of a pitcher being out for a season arises (e.g. Hurley or Troy Patton or whomever), there needs to be someone ready to step in. Just ask Tampa Bay… a Jake McGee injury hurt them last year, but thankfully there are plenty of other arms for the organization to fall back on.

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Some “closing humor", CNN’s Jon Heyman ironically quipped this bit of information today:

Oddly, starting pitchers still aren’t as well-rewarded as relievers as first-year arbitration-eligible players. This is the only time where relievers have the edge, and there’s no rhyme or reason to it. While star closer Jonathan Papelbon got $6.25 million and fellow closer Bobby Jenks $5.6 million, the ceiling for starters in their first year of arbitration still seems to be the $4.35 million that Dontrelle Willis got three years back (and that deal included some deferred monies). Hamels’ contract calls for $4 million in 2009, his first year of arbitration eligibility, a major bargain by any accounting.

For someone who once suggested that Francisco Rodriguez be given the MVP award for the AL, this was very odd to read this afternoon…