What to do with Carlos Villanueva

Lateral Quicks · Post #1 » by **Lateral Quicks** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 6:00 am

I think we can all agree Carlos Villanueva has been a pleasant surprise for the team this year. He was absolutely lights out in the pen, and has been very good in the rotation as well. What should be done with him?

1. Leverage his success by trading him before the trade deadline.
2. Keep starting him the rest of the year.
3. Move him back to the bullpen when Cecil, Litsch and/or Drabek need a spot.
4. Sign him to an extension - he's only 28 after all.

I'm really torn. He's providing much needed the stability in the rotation right now, but with the numbers he's putting up and the poise/control he's showing at this relatively young age for a starting pitcher, I'm starting to think he could be a fairly valuable trade chip. If you believe this team already has enough starting pitching in the pipeline to contend down the road, he seems like a logical candidate to get traded.

Post #2 » by **Schad** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 6:13 am

I doubt that he'd get much in trade on the basis of well below 100 good innings. We have him for another year of arbitration...might as well hang on to him until someone pushes for his job.

Wally West · Post #3 » by **Wally West** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 7:55 am

I see them keeping him in the rotation until he goes on a slump. I doubt AA will tinker with something that's working. For shure AA will explore through trade what he can acquire for Carlos but if we do decide to offer arbitration and he turns it down, he'll net us a compensation pick if he sign with another team with him being listed as a Type B free agent.

dagger · Post #4 » by **dagger** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 1:05 pm

Right now, we're minus Litsch, Cecil and Drabek. When a couple of those guys are back, he becomes a bit more expendable but still fills a new for long-term relief. This is something to be decided in the off-season.

rtcaino · Post #5 » by **rtcaino** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 1:35 pm

blackflash234 wrote:I see them keeping him in the rotation until he goes on a slump. I doubt AA will tinker with something that's working. For shure AA will explore through trade what he can acquire for Carlos but if we do decide to offer arbitration and he turns it down, he'll net us a compensation pick if he sign with another team with him being listed as a Type B free agent.

He cannot refuse arbitration this off-season.

Next off-season will be governed by a new CBA. Consequently, it is difficult to anticipate whether CV would qualify for compensation.

Jimmy Chitwood · Post #6 » by **Jimmy Chitwood** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 10:40 pm

If AA ends up dealing one or two relievers at the trade deadline (Frasor or whoever else), we could use Villanueva for bullpen depth.

Randle McMurphy · Post #7 » by **Randle McMurphy** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 10:54 pm

If he keeps this up in July (though I somewhat doubt that he will, the schedule is full of AL East teams and the Texas Rangers), I'd certainly look into trading him to a contender in need of a starter. He's not a long-term rotation guy, and while he fits in the bullpen quite well, that's not a huge need for the team going forward with all their MLB and MILB depth.

The same thing applies even more to JoJo Reyes to me.