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Case Study #1:
From MC the question is asked:
Both Lackey and Harden have been linked to the Mariners this offseason. Setting aside any consideration of signing both, or other teams in the mix... let's say for a moment that Jack Z is going to sign ONE of these two starters (presumably to go with Felix, RRS, Morrow, and Snell).
Considering all aspects of these guys... performance, age, injury risk, cost to sign and probable length of contract, amount of 2010 cash left over for other acquisitions and Felix uber-contracts... which would you rather have?
Why sign up Lackey for multiple years when you have young talent at the MLB level and SP talent soon to follow? Instead of tying our hands with a longer contract, sign Harden to an incentive-laden contract. If he does well and stays healthy, he takes a roster spot all year. If not, bring in one of Morrow or RRS to finish the season of starts. This would help the issue of increasing the innings too quickly for our young starters.
What I would do is to sign two players with this in mind. I would try for both Harden and Bedard for the same reasons. Bedard might not be completely ready at the start of the season anyways and we can run RRS out there right from the start.
My .o2 cents.
God bless, Michael