Carlos Villanueva, Scott Baker and Scott Feldman combine to make one slightly below average starting pitcher

In Commentary And Analysis, Projections by dmick8946 Comments

The Cubs have gone a little nutty in signing as many back-end of the rotation starters as they can find. They grabbed Scott Feldman who would be the worst starter in many rotations and the Cubs rotation is no different. They did sign Scott Baker though he's coming back from injury so we have temper expectations. Then they signed Carlos Villanueva, who hasn't been any good as a starter and pretty good as a reliever.

I decided to check out their CAIRO projections to see what they would combine to be. My thought was that they'd combine to be a little better than average and be projected to pitch a full season in the rotation (combined!). I was wrong.

Pitcher G GS IP H HR BB SO RA ERA FIP WAR
Scott Baker 6 6 30 30 3 10 25 4.49 4.19 3.82 0.2
Scott Feldman 22 17 100 103 11 29 72 4.55 4.10 3.93 1.1
Carlos Villanueva 36 9 83 81 13 30 70 4.51 4.37 4.45 0.3
Total 64 31 212 214 27 68 167 4.52 4.22 4.20 1.6

It's worth pointing out that Villanueva is projected in the AL so those numbers would be slightly better in the NL. Then again, many of his appearances are as a reliever so those projections will only improve if he's used similarly to these projections. My guess with him is that he'll primarily be a reliever, but get some starts to fill in because of injury and perhaps ineffectiveness.

The group is slightly less valuable than Travis Wood's CAIRO: 166 IP, 1.9 WAR.

Interestingly, Scott Feldman no longer appears to be the worst starter on the roster so he's got that going for him. At least according to CAIRO anyway.

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  1. Author
    dmick89

    @ Aisle424:
    I wouldn’t give up on Wood. At least not over guys like Feldman, Baker and Villanueva. If Baker is healthy and returns to form, he’s better, but it’s doubtful either of the other two are.

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  2. Author
    dmick89

    RC, I hadn’t checked out your blog for a couple weeks (been working on OV) and saw you’re looking for help to get rid of the black background. Shoot me an email and I’ll let you know how to do it. Really simple.

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  3. Author
    dmick89

    @ GW:
    I think Baker is definitely better. I’ve never liked Villanueva. I looked forward to facing the Brewers when he was pitching. I’d put him ahead of Feldman, but not Wood.

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  4. Berselius

    Villanueva’s been a swing-man his entire career, so the Cubs might be eyeing him in that role. Though I guess he wouldn’t be inking this deal if he wasn’t expecting to start.

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  5. Author
    dmick89

    @ Berselius:
    Yeah, as a guy who makes a few starts sure, but I don’t want him if he’s going to be starting 30 times per season. He’s been a terrible starter in his career and I see no reason to think anything will be different now. He’s older, he’s a fly ball pitcher and he’s pitching in a pitcher’s park.

    I’d be surprised if he’s anything other than a swing man, which is what he’s basically been in his career.

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  6. Berselius

    @ dmick89:

    I’m laughing at some of the things I’ve seen written about him while poking around. Basically people are saying he was great as a starter in toronto, there was just a few outings in the last two weeks that ballooned his ERA. Good thing stats in September don’t count (dying laughing).

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  7. Tyler

    I don’t think Villanueva is a front end starter… but I’m not sure why you guys are so down on him either. He figured things out a little bit last year. He had a 2 month stretch as a starter that featured a 3.35 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 79 innings… in the AL East. That’s more than just a few good starts.

    It will be interesting to see what happens with our rotation. If we sign Jackson, maybe Garza will be shopped. Or maybe Theo wants Wood to start in AAA and isn’t convinced Baker will be ready by April.

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  8. Author
    dmick89

    @ Berselius:
    What about all the other years he sucked? Those don’t count either?

    Villanueva had a ton of promise as a prospect and looked to be a big future addition to that Brewers rotation, but it never happened and Villanueva just wasn’t very good.

    I don’t mind the signing. It’s nice to have some guys like Villanueva around. I’d have preferred this to not be 2 years guaranteed, but whatever. It’s not my money and the Cubs haven’t exactly been trying to spend money wisely this offseason (huge overpay for Dioner Navarro, overpaid for Feldman and Baker). But they haven’t spent much money so big deal.

    I’d not have offered more than $4 million for one year and if I had to go to 2 I’d have offered $6.5 million. I’d have added a team option for $100 million if it made Villanueva feel better.

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