[Myrtle]

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I'm the forum jerk; you'll get used to it.

Anyway, Carmona is probably due for some regression (mitigated by the possible move of Asdrubal to SS and Peralta to 2b - or better yet, Peralta to 3b and Barfield at 2b) because he relies heavily on the defense to convert outs. Sabathia sports a higher strikeout rate and a lower walk rate; his component ERA is going to be lower because of those factors alone.

Carmona does a great job of keeping the ball on the ground, and it's hard to hit a home run on a ball that can't leave the infield, but at the end of the day the ball is still being put into play and thus his ERA is reliant on defense, which is subject to variance.

I'd pick Sabathia over Beckett. The value you get out of him throwing more innings per game is worth way more than Beckett's better stats.

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Thanks for the insight into the potential defensive infield alignment changes.

As an "outsider" to the Indians, I'm more attuned to the fact that the upside with Carmona appears to be greater than that of an already know performance level of Sabathia, and that's where I'm coming from.

Again, it's just anecdotal observation on my part, but at this specific moment in time, it seems to me that there is greater upside in Carmona than there is in Sabathia.

As far as Sabathia vs. Beckett.....Is the extra 4 starts and 40 innings of CC last year truly indicative of what one can reasonably expect in the future?

It sort of depends upon one's perspective, methinks. Some would say yes.....some would say "Let's see how the extra wear & tear affects his future performance".

To a large degree, it all depends upon which pitching "philosophy" one ascribes to. There are volumes of data and writing in regards to pitchers surrounding performance, injury, longevity and how they interrelate to one another.

Depends upon who one talks to as to what is the more valid.

Personally, having been involved in managing and coaching for years, I tend to lean upon the medical studies that have been done in regards to relating all the various facets of pitching performance to one another.