The price for short-term, veteran, starting pitching has been quite low this year.  Westbrook, his contract, and the fact that we had to trade Ludwick to get him, are looking very expensive by comparison. 

We could have economized on starters, trusted the season to Wainwright, Carpenter, Garcia, and some low-hanging fruit, and had an extra several million dollars to add depth to the bench, left-side defense, and or LHP in the bullpen.

Punto accomplishes the left side defense and will do it quite well. I was initially wrong about him, but that was a solid defensive addition.

I don't think leaving the rotation in the hands of three injury-prone starters, Wainwright and 36-year-old Freddy Garcia is a good idea.

And it's not like the market was overfilled with great LH relievers, either.

Jake Westbrook is also better -- and substantially so -- than those other pitchers.

Being better than Freddy Garcia or Bruce Chen isn't that hard.

When I saw this thread I thought the Cardinals signed Jamie Garcia to a 5.1 million deal.  I didnt get that because he is only a second year player.  Then I thought it was about Fred Garcia signing with the Cardinals and I like the idea of adding another pitcher but questioned the price.  Then after actually reading I saw that it was about the Yankees overpaying for a marginal player and I stopped caring.

My main point is that Mozeliak is making choices, taking risks, as he is supposed to do, and I see a strong potential for these to backfire and to be used against him in the ubiquitous game of office politics.  Let's face it, he hasn't brought much success to St. Louis.  So, if Westbrook and Berkman perform great, Moz is vindicated.  If not, there will be a lot of what if's. 

One 'what if' that leaps out at me just looking at that list is what if we had gone after Fuentes and 1-2 of those budget SP (aware that several of those budget SP have had great success in the past)?

To me, Westbrook is just another horse who slots in at 3-4 in the rotation, pitches 200 innings, and if the team is good, he wins some games.  He's Jeff Suppan.  We shouldn't have had to trade anybody to get him, let alone our one tradable chit with any value. 

As for the rankings, I note that Westbrook is the highest ranked, unranked FA on the list.  Everyone above is a type A FA, and six or more of those below him are also Type A.

forsberg_us wrote:

Also compare what Westbrook signed for an what other starters comparable in rank signed for.

Yeah, I saw that.  Pavano is ranked higher and signed for the same money.

One 'what if' that leaps out at me just looking at that list is what if we had gone after Fuentes and 1-2 of those budget SP (aware that several of those budget SP have had great success in the past)?

Carl Pavano signed for the exact same contract as Westbrook. The other pitchers you're talking about all come with a lot more risk. Garcia is 36 and not very good. Jeff Francis is coming off a significant injury, as is Chris Capuano.

To me, Westbrook is just another horse who slots in at 3-4 in the rotation, pitches 200 innings, and if the team is good, he wins some games.  He's Jeff Suppan.  We shouldn't have had to trade anybody to get him, let alone our one tradable chit with any value.

He's actually worlds better than Suppan. Watch a game pitched by Suppan then one pitched by Westbrook and tell me you don't see the difference.

Max wrote:

forsberg_us wrote:

He was signed to be a #3

Just out of curiosity, who do you see him starting in front of, Wainwright, Carpenter, or Garcia?

Garcia.  Mainly because of his inexperience.

Understand then when I call Westbrook the #3, that doesn't necessarily mean he starts game #3 of the season.  I don't think it's a big stretch to argue that Garcia and Lohse be separated to avoid wear on the bullpen.  I'm thinking more along the lines of if the team made the playoffs, who would I expect to start game #3.

tkihshbt wrote:

He's actually worlds better than Suppan. Watch a game pitched by Suppan then one pitched by Westbrook and tell me you don't see the difference.

Done:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=230728124&prov=ap

I'm not saying that Suppan today and Westbrook today are comparable.  I'm saying Westbrook now is about what Suppan was when we signed him.  I was in favor of signing Suppan, but we didn't have to trade anyone to get him.

Wait, Suppan in 2010 or Suppan in 2004? Because he's closer to that version of Suppan than the Suppan who was topping out at 86 mph and saying a Hail Mary every time a batter made contact.

Huh?