According to the AP, Jack Taschner and the Giants agreed to a $835,000 contract (link tip from MLB Trade Rumors). That’s more than four times the salary of the U.S. Treasury Secretary, and Taschner doesn’t have to roll out any TARPs. Thank you, ladies and germs, I’ll be at my keyboard all week.
So it looks like the Giants will head into spring training with these characters as bullpen front-runners:
RH Wilson
LH Affeldt
RH Howry
RH Romo
LH Taschner
LH Hinshaw
RH Yabu
Not a bad picture, but it won’t take much to jumble it all up. Keep in mind that if Noah Lowry returns healthy and pitches well in Arizona, either he or Jonathan Sanchez must move to the bullpen (barring a trade, of course). This is a huge decision. Sanchez was on his way to a breakout year as a starter last year when he seemed to tire. No doubt some (not me) still see his future as a late-inning reliever.
Won’t a healthy Lowry make a trade inevitable, either with him or Sanchez as the centerpiece? Not necessarily. First: having a good sixth starter stashed in the bullpen is a big plus, especially with a 45–year-old guy with back problems in the rotation. Anyone wanna bet Randy Johnson makes all 32 or 33 of his scheduled starts this year?
Second: Trade partners might not want Lowry until they see him throw well for a month or two, and the Giants might not want to part with Sanchez.
Third: A trade of Sanchez or Lowry means Pat Misch is the most experienced candidate for emergency rotation filler, unless Keiichi Yabu makes the team. Yabu did good work in long relief stints last year, so the team might see him as a viable fill-in who can give them four or five innings a couple times through the rotation. If Kevin Pucetas or Henry Sosa or Joe Martinez steps up in spring training and emerges as a call-up candidate, the brass might feel more comfortable making a Lowry/Sanchez trade.
As for the rest of the bullpen candidates currently on the 40–man roster, I think Sadler, Pichardo, Misch, Matos and Sosa will start the year in the minors. Sadler is one to watch closely — he’s never lived up to the promise of his 95–MPH fastball and big curve, and he might be out of options after this year.
Valdez will probably start in the minors or on the DL, unless he shows himself fully healthy and dominant. If he does, what a boost that would be. It would allow Hinshaw, perhaps, to start in AAA and work on throwing more strikes.
It’ll be tough for Rule 5 draftee Perdomo, who reportedly has great stuff, or the three non-roster invitees from outside the organization (Beltran, Miller, Medders) to crack the big-league roster. But injuries and trades have a way of shifting the landscape quickly.
