This year, you have higher expectations for:
| Ricky Romero |  21 (24.42%) |
| Mark Buehrle | 65 (75.58%) |
86 votes | 7 featured comments
Buehrle. Lower ERA, more IP, more WAR, kinder to the pooches in the clubhouse, I don't care.
Ricky might be better, but I don't expect it.
Ricky might be better, but I don't expect it.
I see Romero has having a higher ceiling but after last year he has shown he also has a lower floor. For 2013 I'd expect Buehrle to do better, but if I was betting on which would be more likely to have a Cy or near Cy season I'd go with Romero. Likewise, if you asked which the Jays would be wishing they didn't have a long term deal with Romero would be my choice as well. Basically, if we get the old 2011 or earlier Romero - woohoo. If we get the 2012 version though... uh oh. Buehrle though has never been lower than a 95 for ERA+, sub 100 just that one year (2006). A 100-120 range is reasonable to shoot for with him. Romero though... his last two years were a 146 and a 74. What the heck do you do with that?
I'm on the fence. Before Romero started struggling this March I would've put their 50th percentiles in the same ballpark, but now I'm leaning Buehrle. He's going to get smacked around some, but the nice thing about Buehrle is that smacking him around is the only way you can score off him. No walks, no smallball.
I voted Buehrle. Safe bet. Buehrle IMO should impress all the LHPs on the team with his success and his lack of overpowering stuff. They should learn a lot from him about getting outs with smart pitching. As well he may be able to teach a new pitch or 2 to some of our guys.
Romero, age 28, verses Buehrle, age 34, is a no-brainer, Romero will be the better Pitcher going forward. If Romero throws all his pitches and doesn't lose confidence in his stuff, he'll do well. But until he does, Buehrle's better.
I have higher expectations of Romero, but it is far more likely for Buehrle to meet the expectations I have for him.