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Justin Grimm to start on Saturday

By Adam J. Morris
June 9, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; Texas Rangers relief pitcher Robbie Ross (46) pitches the ball against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE
June 9, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; Texas Rangers relief pitcher Robbie Ross (46) pitches the ball against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

Bombshell time...from John Blake:

Neftali Feliz will be moved to the 60 day disabled list to make room on the 40 man roster for Grimm.

This is a surprising and, to me, a very strange move from the Rangers. Just yesterday, I wrote about why I didn't think that bringing up Justin Grimm for a start on Saturday makes sense. You can read my thoughts in detail by clicking on the link, but in a nutshell, the issue is that calling up Grimm means you have to clear a 40 man roster spot immediately for him, you lose a potential open 40 man roster spot this offseason (because Grimm wouldn't have to be added to the 40 man roster until after the 2013 season otherwise), and you end up burning two options for Grimm (this year, when he's sent back down, and in 2013) that you wouldn't otherwise have to burn.

All this, in order to have him pitch one spot start.

This move doesn't make a ton of sense to me. As I mentioned yesterday, it isn't an issue of whether Grimm is ready or not. I'm not in a position to make that judgment.

However, by bringing up Grimm, it means skipping over Martin Perez, who is scheduled to pitch on Saturday, and who is already on the 40 man roster, as well as passing over Robbie Ross, who has done great work in the bullpen so far this season and has certainly earned the opportunity to pick up a spot start. Ron Washington has been adamant, however, that Ross was too valuable in the bullpen to use as a starter, and it appears he prevailed on this issue.

By pulling up Grimm now, it does suggest that either the Rangers are extremely confident he will be in the major leagues for good in the very near future, or else that they expect that they'll end up dealing Grimm relatively quickly, in which case his option situation would be some other team's problem.

It also speaks volumes about how far Martin Perez's star has fallen. He's already on the 40 man roster, is on schedule to start on Saturday, the Astros are a team that have been horrible against lefthanded pitchers, and yet the Rangers would rather deal with the 40 man roster chaos and the two level jump in going with Grimm, rather than bring up Perez. For a long time, there's been talk that Perez was untouchable...a move like this has me wondering if, not only is Perez not untouchable, but if the Rangers have gotten to the point where they see Perez more as a trade chip than as a future contributor. Recall that, just two years ago, the Rangers were supposedly more willing to move Derek Holland than Perez as part of a Cliff Lee deal. Now, they don't even trust Perez with a spot start.

A very significant move by the Rangers, and one that I find baffling. All that being said, though, I'm still really looking forward to seeing what Grimm does in his major league debut on Saturday.

After the jump, you can see the video I did earlier this season about Grimm...

Texas League Hitters: Fear the Reaper (via lonestarball)