John Sickels says he has the best combination of stuff and command of all the candidates, and has little left to learn in Triple-A.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?id=1824430

IMO he's one pitch away from being a very good pitcher.

what's his ERA down there, like 3.30?

Felix Diaz will never be a great pitcher(unless he somehow develops a very good slider or curve within a year), but he will be solid. He knows what he's doing out there and knows how to get outs. I could very easily see him being a guy that can win you 12-15 games a year, and in a good year, potentially 15-18 games. He does not have lights out stuff, but it's good enough to be a solid starting pitcher for some team. He kind of reminds of Ramon Ortiz actually to tell you the truth.

 

I think he's in the rotation next year, and I think he does relatively well. Maybe an ERA of 4.50-5.00, and it will come down as he matures.

Felix Diaz will never be a great pitcher. I could very easily see him being a guy that can win you 12-15 games a year, and in a good year, potentially 15-18 games.

15 - 18 wins a year is pretty close to being a great pitcher

 

I think he will be a decent pitcher at the end of our rotation next year and I would be very pleased with 10 - 12 wins since we dont always have to go with the 5th starter and they dont get as many starts as the top of the line guys we have goin

15 - 18 wins a year is pretty close to being a great pitcher

 

I think he will be a decent pitcher at the end of our rotation next year and I would be very pleased with 10 - 12 wins since we dont always have to go with the 5th starter and they dont get as many starts as the top of the line guys we have goin

That's about what I expect next year too.

 

And I do agree. 15-18 wins per year is a great pitcher. I don't ever think he'll average 15-18 wins a year though. He'll probably be in the 12-15 wins a year range, while winning 15-18 in his best years(much like Ramon Ortiz). In fact, Ramon Ortiz's best year was 2002(15-9, 3.77 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, K/9 of about 7, K/BB of about 2.75), and then he won 16 games last year(though his other stats were not nearly as good).

 

The interesting thing about Ortiz is that he was just as bad in his first year...he made 9 starts, averaged just over 5 innings in each of those starts, allowed 7 homers in 48.3 innings, had a WHIP of 1.55 and an ERA of 6.52. Those numbers look pretty similar(and just as s***ty) as Diaz's stats this year.