Arroyo Frustrated with Bulging Disk

So what are the odds that Arroyo would be diagnosed with a bulging disk in his back? Apparently, and unfortunately for the Arizona Diamondbacks, not as remote as you would have been expected. Last week Arroyo was diagnosed with a bulging disk in his back and missed the first start of his entire career. Even though it was just a spring training start, the missed start points to the fact that Arroyo may have to begin the 2014 season on the disabled list. The idea of this scenario, should be and, apparently is extremely disappointing for Arroyo and his ballclub....

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Arroyo Sidelined with Back Injury

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ newly signed pitcher, Bronson Arroyo, has been sidelined by a bulging disk in his back. This could signal bad news for Arizona, who recently signed Arroyo, 37, to a two-year $23.5 million deal. The aging pitcher was considering retirement but decided to stay on the free-agent market, eventually signing with the DBacks. 

Arroyo’s trademark, besides having good numbers (138-127 with a 4.19 ERA) over his 14-year-career, is his durability. He’s averaged over 200 innings pitched a season throughout his career. His durability is certainly in question now.

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Orioles Finally Ready to Forfeit Draft Pick for a Starter

According to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal the Baltimore Orioles are finally giving in to the fact that in order for them to round out their rotation they are going to have to give up their first round, 17th overall, draft pick.

The Orioles haven't had the greatest off season. They traded away their closer, Jim Johnson, for a mediocre second baseman, Jemile Weeks. They had pretty much done deals with both RHP Grant Balfour and OF Tyler Colvin only to have both deals fall through due to issues surrounding the player's physicals. They were interested in closer Fernando Rodney but lost out to the Mariners. The Orioles have an even more desperate need for a fifth starter. They had would like to have signed Bronson Arroyo who signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, reportedly saying that he was deterred from playing in Baltimore because of the issues they'd had with Balfour and Colvin. Baltimore was also very interested in AJ Burnett. It was widely known that Burnett wanted to pitch somewhere near his Maryland home and the Orioles were automatically seen as the front runners, only to have Burnett sign with the Phillies instead.

The Orioles did sign Korean pitcher Suk-min Yoon on Wednesday to a three year, $5.75 million contract. This signing does give their rotation a definite boost, but only if Yoon performs like fellow Korean pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu has performed for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Signing a player from overseas is always a risk because there is no guarantee how they will adjust to playing Major League Baseball as opposed to baseball in their home countries.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Still there are two free agent, proven starting pitchers out there for the taking but they each have a downfall. Both Ervin Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez have a draft pick attached to them. Meaning that if signed by Baltimore, the Orioles will have to give up their highest draft pick to either Santana's former team, the Kansas City Royals or to Jimenez's former team, the Cleveland Indians. Both pitchers' former teams offered one year deals worth $14.1 million and both deals were rejected by the players, thus the Indians and Royals receive a draft pick to compensate for their loss.

The Orioles (and most other teams) have been shying away from Jimenez and Santana for this reason. It is very likely the reason these two are still on the market with pitchers and catchers having already reported to training camp. Baltimore's only other option is to stay in-house and promote their 2012 first round draft pick, Kevin Gausman, to the starting rotation. Promoting Gausman is, like signing Yoon, a gamble because he is young and inexperienced.

As was reported by Ken Rosenthal the Orioles have a small window if they want to win (2014-2015) so the best bet for the team is to suck it up and give up a draft pick in order to get a proven starter. We will probably know within a matter of days if that starter is Jimenez or Santana.

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Suk-min Yoon to Orioles? Where Does That Leave Remaining FA Starters?

After watching pitcher Suk-min Yoon last week out in California it appears the Baltimore Orioles were impressed about what they saw. The Orioles have reportedly made an offer to right-hander, proving how serious they really are about the young Korean. As the Orioles are one of the main teams still shopping for a starter but seem to have found one, what does this signing mean for free agents Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez, AJ Burnett and Bronson Arroyo?

Image courtesy of Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Of course there are still teams looking for starting pitching. The Yankees have expressed a desire to possibly add another starter. Considering how much they have spent this off season, a little more money spent for them is definitely not an issue.

The Toronto Blue Jays are absolutely still looking. Yoon had also been reportedly linked to the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers so if he accepts Baltimore’s offer than does leave options for Santana, Jimenez and Arroyo.

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Garza Contract NOT Confirmed by Brewers!

Contrary to all of today's media reports, including my own, Matt Garza has NOT finalized a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. It was reported early Thursday morning that a four-year, $52 million deal had been reached between the two parties, pending a physical. But come afternoon Thursday the Brewers released the following statement, 

Despite media reports, negotiations between the Brewers and Matt Garza are ongoing, but there is no deal yet.

 There is no indication that the lack of a concrete deal has anything to do with Garza medically but the 30-year old pitcher is coming off of two injury plagued seasons.

As of now, Garza is still the most coveted free agent pitcher on the market, since Masahiro Tanaka was signed by the Yankees, followed by Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez and Bronson Arroyo. Jimenez is the most available as both Santana and Arroyo have draft picks tied to them.

With Tanaka Taken, What's in Store for Santana and Company?

The free agent market has been nearly dead since Masahiro Tanaka was posted by the Rakutan Eagles in December. But now that Tanaka has signed a 7-year $155million deal with the New York Yankees there's going to be a lot more action in a short period of time.

The left over major contenders for Tanaka: the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mariners  and even some smaller less-likely contenders like the Toranto Blue Jays or the Chicago White Sox, for example, are going to be scrambling to get the good players who have been waiting to sign with a team. Scarily enough, even with the signing of Tanaka, the Yankees could still be in the mix. With the amount of money they've been spending what's a little more for another starter to help out their aging rotation?

Of those  starting  pitchers who are still free-agents four stand out: Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Garza and Bronson Arroyo. 

• Ervin Santana is a right handed pitcher who played for the Royals last season. He has been one of the most reliable pitchers in baseball with the exception of 2012. He posted a 3.24 ERA in 30 games last season. He has had an ERA below 4.00 in three of the last four years. So his potential to do well is certainly high. His value has been diminished slightly this off season as most interested teams with the exception of the Blue Jays would have to give up a first round draft pick to sign him. The bottom 11 teams in the league have protected first round draft picks so they would only have to give up a second round pick for Santana.

• Ubaldo Jimenez was considered one of the best pitchers in the game until he had some major problems in the end of the 2011 season and most of the next season. Jimenez bounced back in 2013 posting a 3.30 ERA  in 32 starts with the Indians. Even though he made a comeback last season Jimenez could be considered a risk because he has control issues. Last season he walked 80 batters in 182 2/3 innings. He could be a liabilty but he's overall ERA stands well for itself. The right handed Dominican might just be lucky enough to grab a spot on someone's big league roster.

• Matt Garza, well there are a lot of things I would like to say about Matt Garza but I will stick with his stats unfortunately I cannot be biased here. One, the guy can pitch period. Last season with the Rangers he started 24 games and posted a 3.82 ERA. But there are health question regarding the 28 year old right hander. He was injured part of last season and there are always the questions of his temper and erratic behavior. Here is what I was not going to mention this but it should make a difference to the club who signs him. Last year he went on a well documented tirade on Twitter against Oakland's Eric Sogard and his wife Kaycee, making him look, at best, a bit unstable. It was all over a bunt. So regardless of how Garza can pitch he has his downfalls as well.

• Bronson Arroyo could be a catch for any team. He reportedly had a deal with the Twins in the works but it never panned out. So here he is still on the market just a month away from Spring Training. He's one of the most durable pitchers in the league, pitching at least 200 innings in all but one of  the past nine seasons. In 2011 he missed that mark by one inning.  Here's the issue most teams will have with  Arroyo, he is seeking a three year deal at the age of 37 and most clubs won't want to put too much money into that kind of risk. But in reality a lot of  pitchers, including starters, have been pitching into their 40's. It's not exactly a new thing. Yet the age factor can sometimes go a long way when deals are being made.

So now the question remains who is going to end up where?