But as I started reading, immediately Ackley and Pineda come to mind as the two I would protect first. They're cheap and will be cheap for quite a while. Felix will be "relatively cheap" (in relation to WAR value) but not like those two guys. I'm not sure Felix would be in my top five, in fact.
Ackley, Pineda at the top, for sure. Then...it is a tough one. OK..Hultzen, Paxton, Carp, Smoak, Taijuan (because he's still in the lower minors), Franklin (might put him ahead of Taijuan, Smoak, Carp if he's a true MLB SS), Seager. Heck, I might only put Felix ahead of Seager. That might be it. The deal with Felix is that you can turn his $57M over the next three years into something quite pretty (or pretty hefty, if Fielder lights your fire). Then you would be stuck with a Pineda, Vargas, Beavan, Hultzen, Paxton rotation. Damn! That would be terrible, wouldn't it.
No knock on Felix, mind you. But we could "afford" to lose him. I don't want him to go. But we would recover. In that light, another question comes up. Would you do a straight up Felix for Votto swap right now?
By the way. In considering the Felix thing I went back and looked at Tom Seaver, a decent template for Felix. Guys, Seaver is better than I remember, and I remember him being one handful of best players I ever saw. In his first 12 seasons, in which he threw more than 250 innings 11 times (the other season he only had 236, the slacker), he had only one season where he had an ERA ABOVE 2.98. That time he ballooned to 3.20. Even Hoot Gibson has 7 of his first 12 seasons where he was above 2.98, and he had several seasons before they reaised the mound. I've thought for a while that Maddux was the best I ever saw. But, in reconsidering, it's an absolute photo finish at the wire between he and Seaver. Randy Johnson had a better 4 year run (starting when he was 35), but 12 years like Seaver had to start his career is unbelieveable.....and I hate to use that word in relation to sports.
Anyway. Felix isn't in my top 5 or 6
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