Tom Haudricourt's JS Blog this morning he states the following about Jeff Suppan:
"If Suppan continues to struggle during spring training, you have to wonder if the Brewers will try to find some way to part with him despite his $12.5 million salary and a $2 million buyout of an option for 2011. Without question, the Brewers would like to get something productive for that money but would they do it at the cost of losing another candidate for the rotation who has pitched better?
"That is the $14.5 million question."
This absolute lack of understanding as to the value of Jeff Suppan us infuriating. Jeff Suppan is not worth $14.5 million just because that's what the Brewers are paying him ($12.5 million in salary and a $2 million buyout for next season). That $14.5 million is GONE. IT IS GONE. It's a Sunk Cost. No more. It has nothing to do with the future of the Brewers' rotation. The Brewers need to think about who the best pitchers on their roster are, which easily leaves Suppan out of the rotation and off the team. But they also have to think of prospective costs. Unlike sunk costs, prospective costs matter in your decision making. Deciding whether or not Suppan makes the Brewers' rotation is not a $14.5 million question, it's a control-over-Chris-Narveson-or-Dave-Bush-dollar question. And it has a really really simple and obvious answer.
2 hours ago
6 comments:
"The Brewers need to think about who the best pitchers on their roster are, which easily leaves Suppan out of the rotation and off the team."
Manny Parra still appears to be insane, and Chris Narveson, while having an excellent spring, was awful in AAA until he started coming out of the pen. Suppan isn't any good, but that still leaves him the 5th best candidate for the rotation.
Fine. I disagree, but the argument should then be about whether Suppan is better than any of the other three. It shouldn't have anything to do with his salary.
In that case, I'd say your argument is more likely with Haudricourt than Macha/Melvin. Have you heard them say anything that would suggest that anything other than Suppan's performance will determine his role this year?
By the way, Macha's comments to date imply that Bush has already won a spot.
I think it's pretty clear from my post that my argument is with how Haudricourt views the choice before Macha/Melvin.
THat's how i read it.
Honestly at this point I'd be shocked if Suppan was named a starter. I think he was the right choice last year, back when there was still a slight chance he would be decent, but now it's obvious that he's going to suck...however I would not release him, every team needs a #6 or even #7 guy for later in the season. Let's face it, as bad as Suppan's numbers were, Parra and Bush both did worse, and the starters that filled in his place when he got injured were even worse than all of them. I'm not trying to be pessimistic here...every team deals with this stuff, but honestly even a 5.5 ERA starter would be nice to have in case of injury...you really don't want to have to play AAA roulette again
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