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2004 MONTREAL POSITION REPORT: Starting Pitchers
Dewey Baumer (Brl/Avg/Brl,10/7/8,26yo) has already become the bona-fide ace. He was third in the league in ERA (2.46) and WHIP (0.85) last year. Freddy Castonguay (Brl/Brl/Brl,10/8/9,26yo) began to show some of his potential in his second full season (13-6,3.46). He appears to have more upside than Baumer even. Lefty Steve Adams (Brl/Avg/Avg,9/6/6, age 28 led the staff in Wins last year with 14, and had a 3.47 ERA. Ronald Smith (Good/Avg/Good,7/5/7,34yo) looks like he could be getting a little shaky. He struggled in the postseason. Finally, there’s Benjamin Lopez (Avg/Good/Good,6/6/7,25yo). He had a decent-enough showing for his age (9-10,4.48).
We have three SP prospects worth mentioning at this point:: Hikoshirou Haruhiko (Good/Good/Avg,6/5/4,23yo, 4 stars), Gregorio Cruz (Good/Brl/Good,6/6/5,23yo, 5 stars), and Gregory Alkire (Avg/Good/Avg,1/4/4,20yo,3.5 stars). Haruhiko and Cruz both could probably use at least another half-season at AAA.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: Baumer-Castonguay-Adams looks like the 2nd coming of Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz. Barring injury, I’ll try to keep these three around for a LONG time. Since I don’t have a lot of FA needs, and I do have some money available, I might look for a little more reliable option in the #4 slot. On the other hand, between Smith, Lopez, Haruhiko and Cruz, we can probably get by. We’ll see what is available.
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