Colon likely out for the year

With Bart likely done for 2006 he finishes with as many wins for Halos (1) as he got for the Dominican WBC team.

Note to Bill: 4 years from now, make sure Weav, Santana, Lackey (and likely Adenhart) stay as far from this thing as freaking possible.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm actually happy Bart's gone for the year. Why? Because it gives 10-11 more starts to see what Saunders is made of. If Colon needs surgery he's likely done for at least half of 2007 as well.

This team has already benefited from Colon's injuries since without him going on the shelf, Weaver would likely still be lighting it up in Salt Lake.

For a team that entered today 2 games over .500, the 10-0 contribution from the rook starters is of huge relevance.

Having Weaver get 19-20 starts this year and Saunders 12 or 13 will go a long way toward solidifying the rotation for 2007 and beyond, especially since Colon's contract is (thankfully) expired after next season.

Furthermore, if Saunders proves to be the real deal, Stoneman can afford to OVERSPEND on a big bat since $30 million comes off the books this winter (AK/Ersty/Romero/Shitty Weaver/Alfonzo/Yan) and another $34 million by 2008, (Colon-07, G.A.-08, O.C.-08). If Vlad's production declines significantly by 2008, the club holds a team option on him for 2009, and can decline said option and free up another $14 million or so.

Some of this will be offset with raises for Lackey, Rodriguez, and Shields, as wells arbitration eligibility for Santana and Rivera if they're not signed to a multi-year contracts by then.

Either way, the team is aligned not only with emerging impact talent at every position but the outfield, but a whole hell of a lot of payroll flexibility as well. In fact, no team has the combination of current talent, strong farm, payroll flexibility, AND an owner with deep pockets.

The future looks good.