Three of baseball's upper echelon teams need to make some pressing decisions regarding their pitching staffs before the postseason approaches. The Angels need to fill a void while the Brewers and Cardinals need to decide who stays and who goes.
With starting pitcher Garrett Richards on the shelf for 6-9 months, the Angels have some work to do. Their ace went down last week in Boston and tore his left patellar tendon and the team needs to find a somewhat formidable replacement because they're not going to find anybody of his caliber. Los Angeles is tied with the Oakland Athletics for the AL West lead and need to maintain the best record in baseball to avoid making the playoffs as a wild card team. So who can replace Richards in the rotation?
Well, here are some pitchers who have cleared waivers and are eligible to be traded to any MLB team: Scott Feldman, Bartolo Colon, Yu Darvish, Jonathon Niese, Gio Gonzalez, Kevin Correia, and Josh Beckett. Right off the bat we can rule out Darvish (who is likely to be shut down for the year because of elbow inflammation), Gonzalez (because then the Nationals will need to find a better option, which is unlikely, as they move toward the postseason), Correia (acquired by the Dodgers to replace Josh Beckett), and Beckett (because he's on the DL and can't stay healthy). Feldman, Colon and Niese are interesting options, but their 2015 salaries will put the Angels close to/beyond the luxury tax limit. Are they willing to pay the fine if they can acquire one of those three? If not, they'll have to claim someone else off of waivers and try to work out a deal within the 48-hour window.
As for the Brewers and Cardinals, they've already been dealing with a number of injuries to their pitching staffs and are expecting those players to return soon. Brewers starting pitcher Matt Garza is expected to return within the next ten days and manager Ron Roenicke will have to choose between Mike Fiers and Jimmy Nelson for who will get the boot out of the rotation. It's hard to believe he'll demote Fiers (4-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 32 strikeouts in four starts) because the 25-year-old Nelson is 2-4 with a 4.15 ERA in eight starts since being called up from Triple-A.
St. Louis made a couple of trades to acquire Justin Masterson from the Cleveland Indians and John Lackey from the Boston Red Sox. Starting pitcher Michael Wacha is making strides in his comeback from a stress reaction in his shoulder and he might return within the next couple of weeks. The safe spots in the rotation belong to Adam Wainwright (2.52 ERA), Lance Lynn (2.78 ERA) and probably Lackey (2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in five starts since being acquired). Masterson has a 7.43 ERA in five starts since joining the Cardinals and Shelby Miller has witnessed a long slide, having earned only one win since June 14 (13 starts with a 1-4 record and a 5.02 ERA). Regardless of who it is, Wacha will be taking a rotation spot from one of those two guys when he returns.
Check out ESPN's MLB Rumors page for the latest baseball news.
