Masterson's got to get the walks under control. I would like to see him get a shot at the rotation for next year and go from there. If he ends up back in the bullpen, so be it. We know he is a quality BP arm at the worst.
Going to be a small army competing for the rotation. Theoretically Jake Westbrook, Masterson, Jeremy Sowers, Aaron Laffey, David Huff, Carlos Carrasco, Hector Rondon, Yohan Pino, Scott Lewis, and maybe even Fausto or Chuck Lofgren. Probably see a reclamation project or two in there, also (I am looking at you, Benjamin Sheets). If Fausto and Masterson end up in the pen, it may not be such a bad thing. Would give the club two guys who can throw 95+ mph to go with Chris Perez, Tony Sipp, and Wood. We know both can handle a relief role, too; Fausto just can't close. And who knows, maybe it will help Fausto get under control. The club is quickly running out of options with him.
Another guy I would like to see given a realistic shot is Frank Herrman; that is if he isn't snagged in the Rule V. He is a big, hard-throwing sinkerballer at C-Bus. He isn't flashy but he 'gets the job done', to use a lame cliche. He is one of those feel-good stories, a low-round flyer from Harvard who has made himself into a potential prospect. He's getting old, though, so the time for him appears to be now.
What can I say, I am looking forward to the spring training pitching battles. The club also has another group of relievers ready to graduate to AAA (Ryan Wagner, Zach Putnam, Steven Wright) and some starters like Jeanmar Gomez, Eric Berger and Kelvin De La Cruz (depending on if he can pitch w/o pain in winter ball). The team has some talent now they need to transition it to bigs in a timely fashion this time. It will be on the shoulders of the new managerial team to do what Wedge and Co. did back in '04/'05.
