Quote:
Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy
Hicks command is atrocious. I will be completely shocked if he succeeds as a starter. He's only 27 though, so I would have been just fine if the jays gave him that contract. $11 million per for a solid high leverage late inning reliever in his prime is not too bad. Assuming he fails as a starter that is, if he actually succeeds that's a really good deal then. He's making Kikuchi/Green money
|
I think I like Hicks more than anyone else on here, but I don't think he's likely to succeed as a starter. I don't think he has the pitch mix to be a traditional starter, and there have to be durability concerns with his elbow and more innings.
However, he throws fire and the pitches he does throw are elite. I'd have given him that contract as a high leverage reliever if I was the GM.
But the Giants are probably a good place for him strategically. They run with an opener fairly often, and putting him in as opener for 1-2 innings once per series is probably very effective. Batters never see him twice, he burns through the top of the order and then you bring in a higher command and control long reliever to eat up the bulk of the innings starting with the bottom of the order. Maybe over time you stretch him to 3 innings or whatever, but I don't think he needs to become a 200 inning/year starter to be worth that contract.