September 30, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Zack Greinke (23) throws to the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

To be perfectly honest, I’m more heartbroken about the 2000+ songs I deleted from my phone today by accident. That incident led to a small brush fire. I had been holding out hope that Greinke might be coming back. Jerry Dipoto has been sticking to the clearance aisle this winter picking up relief help. He even got creative in picking up Tommy Hanson to fill the “middle of the rotation if good/back of the rotation if bad” starting spot. There was still plenty of money left in the payroll to go after Zack and set us up for 2013. Then Joe Blanton happened. In theory, we still could have had Greinke, but I prefer reality. Greinke was gone, time to move on.

So, here we are, sitting at roughly $135 million in payroll obligations. What does Jerry do now? Well, we still need pitching, mainly starting pitching. Our bullpen is set, and there a couple of high quality arms in the minors who could come up and fill in in a pinch. Our rotation is five deep, on a good day. Anibal Sanchez is still available. He is now the only “good” pitcher who is still in his prime left on the market. But I’m sure his agent is very pleased that Greinke has finally signed a contract. Any team that was in the market for a top-ish tier pitcher is now going to have to overpay severely for Sanchez. Ditto for Ryan Dempster, who is now more than likely to get that third year that he so badly wants on his next contract. Back to the clearance aisle Jerry.

Well, what do we have here? A mostly bare cupboard, that’s what. Dallas Braden is still available, as is Joe Saunders. We can see if Mike Butcher can screw up some more arms and sign either Jonathan Sanchez or Francisco Liriano. Yeah, it’s pretty depressing here. The drop off in this years free agent class after the top flight pitchers are gone is pretty damn steep. There really is, no one left on this list that a team who is expected to contend should even bother with. Dipoto could pull of another trade, but that would be a death punch to our minor league depth. So, I’m going to lay the conservative card and predict that we go into the season with a rotation of:

Jered Weaver
C.J. Wilson
Tommy Hanson
Joe Blanton
Jerome Williams/Garrett Richards

Yup, that’s a whole lot of meh right there. But, if I take off my pessimist hat and pick up my poms poms, it looks a little better.

Weaver is still Weaver and needs no build up from me. C.J. is coming off of bone spur removal. Yes it is “elbow surgery,” but it is the same surgery he had in 2009. He came back pretty good from that one. Tommy Hanson says he’s been tweaking his off season work out routine and regimen, which probably means that he will be showing up to spring training in the “best shape of his life” at the ripe old age of 26. Joe Blanton is why we can’t have nice things, but there is value in a pitcher who can be counted on to take the ball and pitch 170-180 innings every year. That value is right around replacement level, but it’s valuable nonetheless. The new question is: Who takes the fifth spot? Does it go to Richards, his upside and rumored attitude problems? Or Williams and his uninspiring repertoire? Decisions, decisions.

Richards is probably the best bet to be the fifth starter. Williams slots better as the long man/swing man type. It’s not the choice I would personally make, but it is most likely the decision that Mike Scioscia will go with. Sorry Jerome, I love ya, but sorry.

So, barring a trade (Which I fear), the rotation above is the one we will most likely see come opening day. The Dodgers payroll is now approaching infinity, which we can all laugh at when they get bounced out of the wild card game in October. Ours is a more comfortable, and flexible one. At least if it doesn’t work out, The beer prices are still incredibly low by Major League ballpark standards. Which is good, it will probably come in handy 60 percent of the time. Cheers.

Jun 2, 2012; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Sean Burnett (17)in the dugout during the games against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park. The Nationals defeated the Braves 2 – 0. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

If you follow me on twitter, it’s no secret that I’ve been pining for Burnett’s signing for some time now. A lefty arm, not named Hisanori Takahashi, who is good against righties (career .268/.348/.398 against him), and dominant against lefties (career .225/.291/.337 against). He pitches with deception, he pitches low in the zone, and he misses bats. Be still my heart.

Aside from getting a legitimately good arm for the pen, the price Dipoto paid for it couldn’t have been better. Two years, $8 million with an option for 2015. Repeat after me, bar-gain. Dipoto has done a very good job following what should be a golden rule, “Don’t spend big on the bullpen” with both this signing and the Ryan Madson deal.

Another player affected by this deal is young Nick Maronde. By signing a lefty who is not a specialist, Dipoto has practically ensured that Nick will head back to the minors for 2013 and continue his progression towards being a starter. Adding depth to a rotation that sorely needs it while simultaneously solidifying the middle of a bullpen that was the Angels Achilles Heel in 2012. Even though I personally would be tempted to put them both on the Big League roster, but my man crushes are besides the point.

I really shouldn’t be this excited about a left handed reliever. It’s not healthy, it’s not normal, for crying out loud we’re only going to get roughly 70 innings a year from him (He’s averaged 71 over the last four seasons). But, the ramifications that this one signing has, throughout the entire pitching staff, cannot be brushed aside. This is a great move by Jerry Dipoto, not just to shore up and complete a bullpen, but to add depth to the starting rotation as well. Well done, Jerry. Well done.