How Important is Randy Wells' ROY?

As the Cubs season goes from meaningful games to a battle to stay in second place, there will have to be some tough roster decisions made as management sees who is a legit player and who isn't.

One guy who has come up this season and been very good is starter Randy Wells. Really Wells has been a savior since he came up in May. His 2.84 ERA is one of the best in the National League, yet he only has nine wins to show for it. He is without question earned himself a spot in the 2010 rotation, and with that in mind I think a difficult question has to be asked. Wells is already at his career innings high, the Cubs are no longer playing meaningful baseball, and too many innings puts his arm on high injury risk next season. Should the Cubs shut him down at some point in September to save some innings off his arm? 

Think about it this way, the rookie of the year is a really nice award that Wells certainly deserves based on his play this year, but with JA Happ of the Phillies having a much better W-L record and a lower ERA Wells isn't the favorite to win anyway. Wells being this good a pitcher next season is way more important than Wells being the ROY this year, especially considering the past two Cubs ROY winners have gotten major arm surgery and really fat respectively. 

I have no doubts that Wells could finish this season without putting himself in danger, but history shows pitchers that have too big an innings jump one season tend to suffer with injuries the next year. Why risk it with Wells? Next season the Cubs will have a great chance to win the division again, heck I might call them the favorites after we see where Matt Holliday goes. Wells, Z, Lilly, Dempster is the start of an excellent rotation in 2010. Wouldn't it be nice if it could stay together injury free an entire season? Give Randy Wells a few more starts, but shut him down mid-September. Let Samardzija or Gorzelanny that starts instead, its not like the games will matter anyway.