In my first endeavour on FU Farrell, I am going to rebut my colleague's stance on Ricky Romero with the case of relatively new Blue Jay J.A. Happ, who has seemingly been disgruntled since coming to the team in July 2012. Typically a starter, Happ immediately found himself in the Toronto bullpen, even with the Blue Jays' starting rotation decimated with injuries to Brandon Morrow, Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison. He eventually got his opportunity when Brett Cecil was demoted to the bullpen and while he did not overwhelm by any means, he showed enough to suggest he would be a viable 4th or 5th starter for the team in 2013.
Fast forward to the offseason -- what looked like a guaranteed spot in the rotation all of a sudden became an all-but-guaranteed trip to Buffalo following the acquisitions of R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle. When last year's opening day starter, Romero, all of a sudden is pencilled in as the 5th starter, the writing is on the wall.
Yet here we are, well into Spring Training and 19 days before the start of the season, and there are more than just whispers floating around regarding Happ's displeasure. On one hand, you can sympathize -- a starter by trade who has shown his worth at the major league level is destined to start the season in the minors. Long relief, a role filled in the last few years by departed Carlos Villanueva, is an option, but the team seems adamant Happ stays stretched out in case an inevitable injury or hiccup occurs. On the other, he's good enough to know that he will get an opportunity at some point this season, and with the team a perceived playoff/World Series contender, why not suck it up? Is personal gratification better than team gratification?
That said, it brings me to my point -- why is Happ not being considered for the 5th starter's role? I understand Spring Training is meant to work out the kinks, but Romero's struggles of last season are creeping over. Add to the fact he hid an elbow issue last season, and revealed he has knee issues which will constantly nag him, and suddenly he goes from being a centrepiece of the starting rotation to damaged goods whose time may in fact be running thin.
Blue Jays management is loyal. One of the longest tenured Blue Jays certainly deserves a bit of rope. But I hope loyalty can be set aside when it comes to making the right decisions for the ball club. After the moves made, all the money spent, and the heaping expectations placed on the team as a result, the well being of the team should not come at the expense of loyalty. Forget who he is and has been within the organization. Forget his salary. Forget his tenure. Even forget he is a fan favourite. All that matters now is wins. Can it be afforded to let Ricky try and work through things over a few starts, only to see him go 0 and 4 in April? With a division championship the goal, and wins a premium in the super tight A.L. East, can games like that be pissed away? No.
So if Ricky continues to struggle this preseason, and J.A. is at least showing he can hold his own, I for one would like to see the two flipping spots in the rotation Happ-en. And the sooner, the better.
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