Where does the rotation/pitching staff go from here?

 OK, in the last post we talked about the roster crunch.   We basically have a filled roster and with Luplow going on the 60 day DL AND Perez about to come off the 60 day DL, we have some issues if we want to add another reliever.    

Right now we could send Kyle Nelson down but the only guys we could bring up would be Logan Allen and Scott Moss, both on the 40-man but neither viable right now due to bad performance or injury, respectively.  If we bring up anyone else, we have to DFA someone.

Blake Parker has held it together so far, ERA-wise, but a deeper dive into his numbers so that he is only a AAAA space filler who has had some luck so far.  DFAing him would create a roster spot right now.  

Oscar Mercado and Daniel Johnson are quickly becoming AAAA guys but I don't think we want to DFA either right now.   If we did choose one, we could add a pitcher not currently on the 40-man roster.

We need to replace Nelson now.    We SHOULD replace Parker now.

What do we have in the minors?

Looking at the stats the most intriguing relievers are Justin Garza (0.49 ERA at AAA) and 3 AA relievers, Francisco Perez, Aaron Pinto and Nick Mikolajchak.

So what would I do?

At the earliest moment I would bring up Moss and send Nelson down, assuming Moss is healthy.  If not, I bring up Logan Allen and send Nelson down.   As Allen started last night, I would go with Moss if I need someone today.

Now the tough one.   As I know Parker is ready to self-destruct at any time I would DFA him and gamble that Garza can be effective.   He is having a breakthrough this year and is stretched out to go 2 innings and is a prospect of some level so would have to be rostered this winter, I think.  People may disagree but I play the hot hand right now and guess that the potential of the unknown is better than the mediocre of the present.

I would promote Perez, Pinto and Nikoajchak and demote 3 of the AAAA guys at Columbus to AA.  This preps me in the near future if I want to make a switch and DFA one of Mercado or Johnson if I need the extra roster spot AND if we DFA Luplow when he comes back.  However, if you don't intend to DFA Luplow or Mercado or Johnson, there is no way to add one of these relievers.

This is the problem where almost everyone on your roster is a current contributor or a prospect that you expect to contribute in the future.  You are limited in your flexibility of just throwing up a rookie and hope he makes a positive contribution as you likely would have to expose him to waivers if you need his 40-man roster spot.

Interesting to see how the FO handles this but I would at least expect to see Nelson sent down today and Moss brought up.