I'm still a little stunned about the news today that Claudio Vargas has been released by the Brewers. Going into spring training, the team had eight legitimate potential starters. With Chris Capuano likely out for the year, Vargas dismissal leaves the team with six legitimate options: Ben Sheets, Yovanni Gallardo, Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush, Manny Parra and Carlos Villanueva. The team basically made the decision to go with their five best options to open the year, and there is something to be said for that. The reaction in the fan base seems to be mostly positive at this point, though there are those with their doubts. The team will save $2.7 million by releasing him toady, and that flexibility may well come in handy around the trade deadline.
But barring the sudden emergence of Zach Jackson, Tim Dillard, Chris Narveson or someone totally off the radar at the moment, chances are good that if they need to go beyond "Big Six" for anything other than a spot start, they will likely have to hit either the free talent or trade market to fill the slot. That isn't necessarily the end of the world, but given Sheets injury history and the fact that they are relying on at least two starters (and possibly three) with under a full year of starting experience, that doesn't seem like much of a long shot. Doug Melvin is placing a lot of trust in the young pitchers here.
It was a tough, "lesser of two evils" type of call all along, with Vargas being the 7th best pitcher in line for the job after Capuano went down and the only pitcher fighting for a spot out of options. On the other hand, it is also a sign of organizational strength that they had to make a decision like this at all. We're a long way from Gary Glover versus Wes Obermueller here people.