Starting Pitchers are a Premium

The situation in Dallas has become so dire that we are now looking to take on salary via trades rather than attempting to overpay for the remaining free agent starters. According to an article in the KC Star this morning, Kris Benson is one such player we are trying to obtain from the Mets. He has two years remaining on his contract and we would be on the hook for $15 million.

We seem to be in a hurry to deal Mike MacDougal and Jeremy Affeldt—not necessarily in a package deal—to improve our rotation. Benson would certainly help. He's 57-61 with a 4.25 ERA in his six season career. But does anybody else scratch their head and wonder how a pitcher with a below .500 record can be paid more than $7 million per season? Has major league pitching become so bad that even guys with mediocre numbers are consider a great addition to a rotation? The obvious answer is—yes.

Baird has all but ruled out Kevin Millwood, Jarrod Washburn, Jeff Weaver, and Matt Morris because they want four-year contracts and he doesn't want to sign pitchers for that long. It's hard to argue with him. We do have some extra money to spend finally, but tying a large chunk of it up with a one player over the long term doesn't make sense right now.

Can you believe that Kenny Rogers (41 years old) is looking for a three-year contract? The guy knows how to win (and get into trouble), but he's old and the idea that he's going to keep putting up such good number into his mid-40's just isn't realistic enough to take a chance.

Most of the rest of the free agent starters don't thrill me all that much. They include: Scott Elarton, Joe Mays, Brett Tomko, Shawn Estes, Ramon Ortiz, Jason Johnson, Brian Moehler, Byung-Hyun Kim, and Tony Armas Jr. Why not just put Affeldt back into the rotation and see what he can do? He appeared to turn things around during the final weeks of the season. His blister problem hasn't reoccurred since having his fingernail partially removed. And he's always seemed more comfortable as a starter.

I'm not opposed to taking on salary via trades, and at this point, it looks like our best opportunity is with Benson. Let's just hope that he's the only we commit that amount of money to.