Ross should be a welcome addition to San Diego’s Pitching Staff. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Although Ross is not a top of the rotation type of Pitcher at this point in his career, spots are wide-open for competition on San Diego’s starting staff.  As it stands, the Padres have only 3 of the 5 potential starting spots sealed up and taken for the 2013 season (Richard, Volquez, Stults), and Ross could earn either the #4 or #5 spot during the offseason.  With Ross, the Padres acquired their team a Pitcher with not only more big League experience (53 Games, 21 Starts) than Werner had, but a Pitcher with a better arm velocity-wise, and some experience logged out of the Bullpen as well.  This type of versatility Ross could eventually bring would make his acquisition quite the effective move.

Even if Ross is unable to crack the Friars’ Starting Rotation out of Spring Training, he still should play a valuable role as a Long Reliever.  A position I might add that San Diego sorely needed last year when their Starters would sometimes get “shelled” and were left to rot without any adequate arms to fill in for them.  And hey, if injuries strike again, at least there will be a 6th Starter/Long Reliever already on the roster ready to fill a potential void in the Rotation with some sort of big League track-record.

As much upside and hope as there is surrounding Ross, he is still developing and is coming off of his most rough season as a professional.  Tyson struggled at times last season (2-11 record 6.50 ERA in 73.1 IP) with Oakland after he made strides during his first two stints with the club in 2010 and 2011.  The 25 year-old however rebounded in Triple-A Sacramento late last season, and finished the season on a high note with a 6-2 Record over 13 Starts (15 Games) and 78.1 Innings.  Ross definitely had a much better Strikeout to Walk ratio with the River Cats (64 to 29) than he did with Oakland (46 to 37) last season, and it is one of the biggest areas he must improve upon if he is going to earn any sort of role with the team.

The accumulation of arms is a perfect strategy San Diego should employ this offseason, and it appears that is the direction in which they are going right now.  Although the Padres still do not have a legitimate #1 Starter on their roster as of yet, and still could stand to acquire another Starting Pitching candidate or two this offseason the more potential starters coming to Peoria, the better.  Ross is not a be-all end-all solution to the team’s Starting Pitching/Pitching Staff woes, but any and every move to improve the competition on the team at such an important positional unit always helps.

Stats Courtesy of: Baseball Reference

Ross, 25, is the older brother of 2011 Padres first-round pick Joe Ross. In 2012, Tyson Ross had a 2-11 record, with a 6.50 ERA in 18 games (13 starts). He had much more success with AAA Sacramento, where he had a 6-2 record, with a 2.99 ERA in the very hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Ross has the versatility to relieve or start and gives the Padres flexibility.

September 24, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Tyson Ross (66) waits on the mound for a meeting with pitching coach Curt Young (41) at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The Rangers won 5-4 beating the Oakland Athletics. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-US PRESSWIRE

Parrino, 27, saw time at 5 positions for the Padres in 2012 and hit just .207 with a homer and 6 RBI’s. He should be in the mix for a utility job in Oakland. Parrino was the Padres 26th round pick in the 2007 draft.

Werner, 25, started eight games down the stretch for the Padres, posting a 2-3 record with a 5.58 ERA for the Padres. Werner went undrafted and was  signed by the Padres out of independent baseball.

Jones, 24, was the A’s 9th-round pick in 2010 draft. He hit .246, with 21 HR’s and 69 RBI’s with Single-A Stockton.

Personally, I love this move for San Diego. Werner and Parrino could have both been removed from the 40-man roster, in order to protect prospects, so turning those two players into Ross is a huge coup. Ross features a fastball in the low 90′s, that can hit 95 MPH. While his statistical statline was rather ugly for the A’s last year, he is still just 25.

Ross also can relieve, so the Padres will have some options with Ross. The Padres now have two open spots on the 40-man roster.

Bass could find himself in the starting rotation after a strong Spring. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-US PRESSWIRE

Do not get me wrong, I am sure that the Padres will explore the Free Agent/Trade markets for starting pitching help and fully expect at least one starter to be signed.  G.M. Josh Byrnes has shown he is not averse to pulling the trigger on trades and will likely be ready to wheel & deal this offseason.  Yet if the Padres brass’ elect not to break the bank or even trade for multiple starters over the next few months, they might be wise to look within their own organization for the solution.  In fact, the Padres have a group of young starters that have gained some big league experience over the last couple of seasons: Anthony Bass, Andrew Cashner, Andrew Werner, and Casey Kelly.

Bass and Cashner last season were moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation after injuries destroyed the projected staff and were able to log a combined 57 appearances (33 for Cashner, 24 for Bass) and 20 starts (5 for Cashner and 15 for Bass).  Unfortunately for both players, injuries struck both at midseason as Bass went down with a shoulder injury during the summer and did not return until September.  Cashner had some issues with his lat muscle and was shut down twice during the regular season after he was moved from the Setup role early in the year.

Werner and Kelly on the other hand are the proverbial “dark horses” in this race, behind Cashner and Bass. While both began the 2012 season at the Double (Werner) & Triple-A (Kelly) levels, Werner and Kelly were pressed into action for the same reasons that Bass and Cashner were, injuries.  Werner was quite the pleasant surprise for San Diego last season as the Undrafted Free Agent made his major league debut in late August and won 2 of his first 4 starts.  Unfortunately for the Rookie, he was knocked around in his final three starts of the season and failed to make it past the 4th Inning in none of them.  Kelly performed solidly in his big league debut to earn his first career Win, but like Werner, Kelly struggled over his final five starts and went 1-3 the rest of the way after some tough outings against the Giants and Diamondbacks.  And just like so many other Padres pitchers, Kelly’s elbow bothered him throughout the year, and he was later shut down by the team and forced to miss the Arizona Fall League to rest.

Final Thoughts

To me, Cashner and Bass have the best chances to start based on their experience at the big league level.  Werner and Kelly were both probably not scheduled to make their debuts until this upcoming year or even 2014, and another season to season and a half at the Triple-A level would definitely benefit both Pitchers and allow them to develop further after they gained some terrific big league experience last season.  Assuming Cashner and Bass are both healthy and can stay that way, the Padres will need at least one, if not both to hold down at least one spot in the back-end of the rotation until Luebke and/or Wieland come back from their elbow surgeries.

For now, these four appear to have the best chance to duke it out for spots to round out the Padres’ starting rotation next season.  But with eons of time to go before the team reports to Peoria, and moves still to be made I am sure more competition will begin to enter the mix soon enough.  Nevertheless, it would not shock me if one to two of these players made a decent amount of starts (15+) for the Friars in 2013.

Stats Courtesy of: Baseball Reference