It just occurred to me that the Winter Meetings are coming up fast, and we haven't told Doug Melvin which two free agent pitchers we wanted. (Frankly, that's probably how the Hardy/Gomez trade went down: we didn't specifically tell DM for whom Hardy should be traded, and he went rogue and made the trade himself.) Assuming we can't (and shouldn't!) get into a bidding war on the services of John Lackey, which two of the free agent pitchers listed below should we try to sign, and why? Be sure to consider salary when choosing.
(Note 1: I'm not including the likes of Mulder and Halama, as you can't sign them and assume they'll win a spot.)
(Note 2: I haven't seen much written about Kelvim Escobar, who hasn't had an ERA north of 4 since 2003. The Red Sox are asking about him, the Brewers should too.)
(Note 3: Shawn Hill is cheap, a sinkerballer, often injured, and one of the few ex-Expos out there not yet 30. A perfect flier for the Brewers.)
Here's the list:- Aroldis Chapman, LHP who throws 100 MPH, albeit erratically
- Randy Wolf
- Rich Harden
- Erik Bedard
- John Smoltz
- Andy Pettitte
- Joel Pineiro
- Jarrod Washburn
- Ben Sheets
- Brad Penny
- Justin Duchscherer
- Pedro Martinez. Vote for Pedro!
- Doug Davis
- Jason Marquis
- Jon Garland
- Vicente Padilla
- Carl Pavano
- Braden Looper
- Randy Johnson
- Mike Hampton
- Hisanori Takahashi
- Paul Byrd
- Ugh...I'll opt for choosing only one free agent and trading Gamel for the other