After getting swept by the Braves in their opening series, today the Phillies traded cash for Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Rosario. The cash was reported to be $100,000. Rosario is a 26 year old with a 1-2 record and 6.65 ERA last year for the Jays. After both Ryan Madson and Tom Gordon got lit up by the Braves this week, Phillies GM Pat Gillick hit the panic button.
The Braves reloaded their bullpen prior to the season. They even traded Adam LaRoche, their power hitting first baseman, to the Pirates for a relief pitcher. We know Mike Gonzalez is a good pitcher. Last year he was 3-4 with a 2.17 ERA in 54 games with the Pirates. But trading a young, promising first baseman for a relief pitcher is unusual, to say the least.
The Mets brought in “project” Ambiorix Burgos, gave Scott Schoenweiss a three year contract, and Aaron Sele and Chan Ho Park to compete for rotation/long relief work.
We can discount the Marlins and Nationals for this discussion because they are both terrible teams. Without question they won’t be competing in the postseason this year.
So the arms race is on in the NL East this year. Generally, baseball suffers from a lack of good pitching. So why should this division be any different? Clearly, it’s not.
The Mets Report 