Veteran lefthander Tom Glavine, due to come off the DL this week, has become a problem of sorts for the Darwin Finches, who are struggling to find the right balance between a deep bench and a bullpen, and this illustrates the 'Brave New World' of BARB baseball.
Glavine hasn't been terribly effective so far this season and is 41, relying mostly on guile to reach the fifth inning these days. The Finches have a load of starters who strike out more hitters: even 44-year-old Randy Johnson can still fan nearly one guy per inning. But they can't send Glavine to the minors, nor would the lefty be expected to be all that useful coming out of the pen. If they cut him, the club eats over $3 million in salary. And if they traded him, his value would be marginal.
"Let's get something straight," said Finches GM Scott Hatfield. "I'm not bagging it in on Tom Glavine, and I'm not looking to trade him, or Tim Wakefield, or Randy Johnson. These guys have been around, they know the score, and they understand at some point they're going to hang their cleats up. But that time isn't now, and I'm going to stick with these guys."
Hatfield refused to address pointed media questions about whether or not hurlers like Chad Billingsley, Cla Meredith or Jonathan Sanchez would have to be optioned to the minors, or whether these young players could become available in the trade market.
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