2015 Rotation: 6 men, 5 spots. How does the team determine the odd man out?

[Nevermore]

I don't think voting for Gonzalez is a sign of disrespect. The gaps among the six starters are quite small, IMO. Each has a case for the rotation. Some can say that Jimenez had the worst 2014 season, and that's true. But what's better for the team? Would you trust ubaldo's wildness as a reliever? I don't. You can't send him to the minors. Miguel has much more flexibility. Have O'Day, Britton, and Hunter been called on too much during a stretch? Give the ball to Miguel for three innings and have him help manage the bullpen usage.

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Actually, Ubaldo did pretty well out of the bullpen last year. He had 3 appearances, 1 was horrible, but 2 were perfectly good. His last appearance out of the pen, he struck out the side in a 1 run game.

Not to say that this means that it should be Ubaldo as the 6th starter. Any of them could do OK out of the pen. That's the dilemma.

[weams]

Actually, Ubaldo did pretty well out of the bullpen last year. He had 3 appearances, 1 was horrible, but 2 were perfectly good. His last appearance out of the pen, he struck out the side in a 1 run game.

Not to say that this means that it should be Ubaldo as the 6th starter. Any of them could do OK out of the pen. That's the dilemma.

I liked his last start myself.

[MarylandAaron]

I don't think voting for Gonzalez is a sign of disrespect. The gaps among the six starters are quite small, IMO. Each has a case for the rotation. Some can say that Jimenez had the worst 2014 season, and that's true. But what's better for the team? Would you trust ubaldo's wildness as a reliever? I don't. You can't send him to the minors. Miguel has much more flexibility. Have O'Day, Britton, and Hunter been called on too much during a stretch? Give the ball to Miguel for three innings and have him help manage the bullpen usage.

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It'd be awesome to have in some type of super reliever role, true. But he is too good to not have him start.

[Nevermore]

I liked his last start myself.

So did I. In Yankee Stadium against the Yanks.

But the start of Ubaldo's that I truly liked, which is the one that made me one of his fans, was the start that I attended, against the Blue Jays the night when the Os clinched the division title. What I remember most is how he turned himself around during that game. I remember well the first and 2nd innings, when he was giving up walks and hits and promptly gave up 2 runs. McFarland was warming up in the pen, the fans were booing, and it looked like it would be one of his horrible starts. But then he bore down, got out of the inning, and didn't give up a base runner for the rest of his appearance. The fans' boos turned into wild cheers every time he got a strike (which was often). I don't remember how many strikeouts he had, but it was a lot. I read later on where Buck wanted to take him out. Buck said that Ubaldo simply looked at him, and Buck decided to leave him in.

It's a dilemma. I'm sure that whoever ends up as the 6th starter will take it with grace. I suppose that it's better to have too many starters rather than not enough.

[El Gordo]

Forgetting about salary, the most effective SP in the pen, would be Gausman, Norris, and Gonzo, in that order, IMO. I wouldn't want Chen, Tillman, or Ubaldo, in the pen.

[Nevermore]

Forgetting about salary, the most effective SP in the pen, would be Gausman, Norris, and Gonzo, in that order, IMO. I wouldn't want Chen, Tillman, or Ubaldo, in the pen.

Gausman was truly dynamite out of the pen during the post season. But he deserves to be in the rotation, and I think that he will.

[El Gordo]

Gausman was truly dynamite out of the pen during the post season. But he deserves to be in the rotation, and I think that he will.

[SteveO]

I still think its possible one of these guys gets traded. My guess is that DD goes into ST with the 6 guys. Gets a look at how the young guys look and how well Ubaldo is looking. If things look up then at that point someone will likely need a SP be it because of injury or someone not living up to expectations. At that point I expect DD to make a trade and for it to be for a prospect (position player most likely at C or OF most likely) Norris IMO is the most likely guy to be dealt

[wildcard]

Forgetting about salary, the most effective SP in the pen, would be Gausman, Norris, and Gonzo, in that order, IMO. I wouldn't want Chen, Tillman, or Ubaldo, in the pen.

You have got to be kidding. You are asking the wrong question. The question is who has the most potential as a starter. A TOR starter is worth much more than a reliever. The answer is Gausman has the highest potential as a starter. There is no way he goes to the pen at this point. Gausman has the potential to be the O's Bumgarner come playoff time.

[Ruzious]

I'd be looking to see what I could get in trade for either Norris or Chen and then sign Brandon Beachy to an incentive laden contract - if his physical looks good.

[El Gordo]

You have got to be kidding. You are asking the wrong question. The question is who has the most potential as a starter. A TOR starter is worth much more than a reliever. The answer is Gausman has the highest potential as a starter. There is no way he goes to the pen at this point. Gausman has the potential to be the O's Bumgarner come playoff time.

Gausman in the pen until someone goes on the DL is not going to keep him from becoming a TOR. The fact is he isn't one now, and likely won't be one by season's end. He won't be a TOR until he develops that third pitch. For that matter he might be better served in Norfolk working on it for the beginning of the season.

[Nevermore]

Question: I saw the Steamer Oriole pitcher projections on another thread:

http://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&type=steamer&team=2&players=0&sort=8,d

In these projections, there are two categories possibly relevant for this thread. It's Games and Games Started. For Tillman, Chen, Norris, Gonzo, and Gausman, the number of Games equals the number of Games Started. However, for Ubaldo, the projection has him being in 48 games but only starting 13 games. Which means he would be projected to pitch 35 games out of the pen. So it seems that Steamer is projecting that the "6th starter" will be Ubaldo, who is projected to pitch most of his games from the pen. How would they figure this, what numbers and forumulas would they use?