Evan Meek DFA-Worth a look?/Bullpen options for next year...

[HiAndTight]

Now I know he's not exactly Mo, but adding a guy like Evan Meek, a former all-star and a guy who in the three years prior to this year was a VERY good middle reliever.

 

2.74 ERA 148 ERA+, 1.20 WHIP. Struggled with the walks, but was tough to hit giving up just 114 hits in 148 IP.

 

Throws in the low to mid 90's with a good slider. Spent most of the year in AAA for the Pirates, but they had a pretty dominant bullpen most of the year. He again struggled with walks, but he posted a 2.74 ERA, nearly a K per 9, and 33 H in 46 IP with 41 K's.

 

The walks are troubling obviously, but we've certainly taken bigger chances than this. Seems like a guy we could claim, bring into camp next year and see if he earns a way onto the 25 man for us.

 

The fact that the Pirates are walking away from him is a little bit of a surprise other than it sounds like they needed a spot on the 40 man, but he's a guy I think Kranitz could work with and possibly help lower his walks. If he cut down on his walks, he'd be a great 6th/7th inning type guy. He's also been a pretty GB heavy pitcher prior to a tiny sample size this year, so perhaps he takes the role of Loe if all goes well?

 

 

Any reason not to consider this? Kinda reminds me of the Todd Coffey type move we made a few years ago and one that worked out great for us in 2008-2009(though he did very little in '08 other than stabilize the pen.

[Lucroy fan]

I'd take him or another recent Pirates DFA Juan Cruz over Loe in a heartbeat next year. In fact, I'd be willing to add either one to the team right now. I'd lean towards Cruz, because of experience and better numbers. I see no harm in trying a cheaper alternative for a bullpen "workhorse" than Kameron Loe, but I'd leave Loe in his current role for now. The money saved here + K-Rod's money coming off the books should allow us to sign a decent 8th or 9th inning arm as well.

[DHonks]

I'd take Meek. He always is throwing 95+ gas against the Brewers. I like power arms

[HiAndTight]

I'd take him or another recent Pirates DFA Juan Cruz over Loe in a heartbeat next year. In fact, I'd be willing to add either one to the team right now. I'd lean towards Cruz, because of experience and better numbers. I see no harm in trying a cheaper alternative for a bullpen "workhorse" than Kameron Loe, but I'd leave Loe in his current role for now. The money saved here + K-Rod's money coming off the books should allow us to sign a decent 8th or 9th inning arm as well.

 

 

Well, the idea about Meek was because he'd still be under our control for another 3 years. We'd be able to control him, and if he can get his walks down, he could be a dominant reliever. He throws a mid 90's fastball, has a good slider, was an all-star and from '08-'10 he had an ERA of 2.74 while being a decent GB pitcher with a 1.80/2.08/1.57.

 

A guy with a 95-96 MPH fastball and a nice slider looks good when you look at that, right? The obvious problem, and the reason he was DFA(aside from an insanely deep bullpen and needing room on the 40 man) was because despite a nearly 8K/9 ratio, he had just a 1.79 K/BB ratio.

 

He's a very talented arm, and one that, if he could cut down on his walks, could be a nice addition to our bullpen.

 

I also wasn't really thinking about THIS YEAR. This year is just for fun. The run the Brewers have made helps you look at the future a little different. We're going to have a ton of money to spend(I've goneinto all of MLB's expiring TV deals, the 30 million we should get going into next year in ADDITIONAL revenue(At a minimum, ignoring the ticket price increase and parking increase, as well as new sponsorship deals) coming off a year we made 22 million dollars while spending nearly 100 million. This year we came in and started off with a salary of 106, budgeted for another 2-3 as they've said they always do for callup's, and went so far as to say they'd take on salary if they where in the race. Now of course with the Greinke trade, their payroll will end up lower, but the point is they where still willing to spend that money with 30 million in additional revenues, plus massive increases in revenue coming after 2013 when MLB's TV contracts are up. They've already signed a near 6 billion dollar deal with ESPN, and the Fox and TBS deals are expected to blow those out of the water(playoff, World Series and weekly broadcasts), PLUS licensed internet rights that people who are putting their finance degree to much better use than me think in 10 years will change the way baseball is watched.

 

So 30 million coming in next year following a year we should again have record profits, and then a enormous bump in revenue sharing due to the new TV deals following 2013.

 

So it's not about not being able to AFFORD Loe, a guy who himself has been very good posting GO/FO ratios of 2.42/3.28/4.43 while posting a 3.40 ERA over 193 Innings Pitched. He's been a workhorse, and WHEN USED RIGHT, he's been dominant at times and gotten us out of countless big jams.

 

BUT, just because I believe that the gap between big and small/medium market teams are going to close significantly due to everything Bud Selig has been doing since 1994 to help small market teams. MLB is really in it's golden age, and while local TV deals aren't shared, MLB has done a great job with their TV deals and growing the game.

 

 

So really it comes down to this for me with Loe, Meeks and Cruz.

-Cruz is a guy I've always liked, but he's 33 and he STILL has the control issues he's had his whole career. Good pitcher, but he'd be a guy we'd pick up for the next 3 weeks, and lets face it, even WITHOUT the Phillies playing well, chances where very poor we'd catch the Cards with their schedule(though we have gained 13 games on the Pirates in about 25 games). But with the Phillies, you're talking about a guy who's a FA.

 

Loe-He's a nice-nice pitcher. But we need a SU man. I don't think spending 3.5 million or whatever he'll make in arbitration this upcoming year is worth it. I think we non-tender him, and then we offer him 2 million to come back.

 

Meeks-He's a guy who comes with no risk. He's a talented, power arm, who's been to an all-star game, he's dominated out of the pen, and while he does have control problems, Kranitz has proven to me to be a VERY good pitching coach, and year after year after YEAR you see a guy who's been a so-so reliever, or even a good reliever like Meeks who don't break out fully until their in their late 20's, early 30's. I think Meeks could be a staple in our BP.

 

 

 

One last thing, K-Rod isn't coming back for 8.5 million dollars, but I would ABSOLUTELY bring him back for 3.5-4 million dollars, even on a two year deal. He's been very good his entire career, his velocity is back up a tick, and with these small sample sizes and the impact a bad outing has on a player, I think people are a little too down on him. I'm more than willing to give him another chance, and I think he and Ax will bounce back next year.

 

Throw out a BP of Axford/Henderson/K-rod/Meeks/Loogy or Parra or DLS/the other DLS and then a slew of other potential candidates, Veras who has good stuff, or perhaps a guy ilke Estrada/Rogers/Thornburg(less likely), Manzanillo(later in the season most likely), Wooten.

 

But I don't believe that you take the entire BP and just totally turn over. I don't see what good that does when you look at each individual player. Kintzler is another guy in consideration.

[RockCoCougars]

Why not? I can't help but wonder why the Pirates have been purging their bullpen the past few months. They started tinkering with the strength of their team, and what do you know, the downward spiral began.

[Roderick]

coming off a year we made 22 million dollars while spending nearly 100 million.

 

I'd be interested to see this link or where this came from?

[JohnBriggs12]

The reliever I'd go after hard in FA is J.P. Howell. He rebounded from a bad 2011 with a solid year. He's been exceptional in the 2nd half. He's lefthanded (a dire need in the bullpen) and he turns 30 in April. He's more than a loogy too.

 

He won't come that cheap, but they have money to spend in the pen just by non tendering Loe and Parra.

[MNBrew]

I'd agree that LH relievers represent a major gap in our bullpen, but that's not to say that there's a need.

 

We need better relievers overall next year (some of which are already here), regardless of the hand with which they pitch.

[HiAndTight]

coming off a year we made 22 million dollars while spending nearly 100 million.

 

I'd be interested to see this link or where this came from?

 

 

Forbes does estimates of every teams revenue. In past years we'd been about 11-12 in the black. Last year we where actually a little over 23 in the black.

 

Love Attanasio, but I think the "we're probably going to lose money on this deal," has been a smart and strategic way of putting the pressure on the fans to comes out to the games at record paces.

 

This year forbes report will be interesting. Spending down a touch due to the new draft rules, but we'll also hit 3 million or dang close, and that's with roughly a 10 pct raise in ticket prices.

 

But again, just imagine what 30 million in our own TV deal and additional money from MLB can do at a time when Levine, the President of the Yankees comes out and talks about how they have to cut payroll and how the face of free agency will look a lot different in years to come due to teams trying to stay under the luxury tax.

 

Do I think teams will out-bid us for a 2 year 8 million dollar reliever? Sure. Do I think a team that's up against the cap like a lot of the perceived players in the Greinke deal will end up paying him nearly 50 million dollars a year due to the luxury tax to retain his services? Of course not.

 

Plus, the evil empire has to deal with Nick Swisher...who they have suggested will not be back because of the luxury tax, and Cano and Granderson who both have deals coming up in an already extremely bloated contract.

 

I have no doubt the Red Sox will be right back where they where shortly with Hamilton type deals, Ellsbury and others, the Angels, Rangers, Phillies are teams that are going to be battling with that 189 number.

 

 

I think offering a player a reasonable contract in season before they hit Free Agency is going to become a lot more common place than it has been where a player simply isn't going to sign with half a year left, ie, Greinke.

 

And once again, I predict some extremely surprising teams to jump into the fray.

[JohnBriggs12]

Two guys I'd target are J.P. Howell and Jon Rauch. Howell's effective against lefties (.200 BAA in 2012), and RH hitters don't destroy him so he's perfect for a late inning situation where a team has 2 lefties scheduled up in an inning.

 

Rauch has some mileage on him but his WHIP of .9888 last year was outstanding.

[adambr2]

The frustrating part about adding relievers is that it's such a crapshoot. Even guys with well-established careers can turn out to be busts (David Riske), so you just kind of roll the dice and hope for the best.

 

It's a very important area... I think people sometimes try to quantify the importance of a solid reliever and might say, "Well, the starter pitches 200 innings, the reliever only pitches 50"....I just don't think you can quantify the importance of a good bullpen that way. If we ever learned that the hard way, it was in 2012.

 

It's just hard to effectively address because you never really know what you're getting. The good news is that it's going to be hard NOT to improve from this year.

[Baldkin]

The frustrating part about adding relievers is that it's such a crapshoot. Even guys with well-established careers can turn out to be busts (David Riske), so you just kind of roll the dice and hope for the best.

 

It's a very important area... I think people sometimes try to quantify the importance of a solid reliever and might say, "Well, the starter pitches 200 innings, the reliever only pitches 50"....I just don't think you can quantify the importance of a good bullpen that way. If we ever learned that the hard way, it was in 2012.

 

It's just hard to effectively address because you never really know what you're getting. The good news is that it's going to be hard NOT to improve from this year.

 

To expound on this: His first 46 IP this year, Yo's ERA was over 5.

 

Spending 10% of the teams budget on a guy who pitches 4% of the innings is just... well... stupid. Sadly, it's something the Brewers have done in 4 of the last 5 years.

[JohnBriggs12]

"Spending 10% of the teams budget on a guy who pitches 4% of the innings is just...well...stupid"

 

It depends on where else that money would be spent. The Brewers spent plenty on starting pitching in 2012. It's hindsight to point out that the money spent in the pen in one particular year was wasted. I'd argue that spending 10% on Wolf was stupid too, but that's all hindsight too.

[TheCrew07]

It's hindsight to point out that the money spent in the pen in one particular year was wasted. I'd argue that spending 10% on Wolf was stupid too, but that's all hindsight too.

 

1 year? What high price bullpen solution has worked out well for the Brewers? In fact, how many high priced bullpen solutions have worked out well historically all around baseball?

 

The problem with the hasn't been that Melvin has gone cheap, the problem with the pen was and still is that bullpen arms by their very nature aren't very reliable.

 

FA pitching has been a horrible market for the Brewers, it's not any kind of long-term solution regardless of who's the GM.

 

If you want to fix the Brewers' pitching issues the answer is the same as it's always been, the farm system. If we aren't developing any quality starting pitching then we won't be developing any quality bullpen arms either. The 2 go hand in hand and that's the problem, the Brewers have historically been horrible at developing pitching.

 

I haven't read anyone who said that bullpen arms aren't important, but those roles aren't nearly as important as the starting pitching or position players. The failure of this year's bullpen was evidence that this whole notion of "proven players" is quite suspect regardless of cost or experience. This is especially true in the bullpen where the pitchers don't have the same opportunity to work on mechanics or their pitches in side bullpen sessions like a starting pitcher would. 1 or 2 horrible months for a reliever and their season is basically sunk because they'll never pitch enough innings to even the stats back out. The failure of the bullpen proved the volative nature of that kind of player, not how important their contribution is or isn't to the team.

 

The most important question is why relief pitchers end up in that role in the first place... in almost all cases it's because they weren't good enough to be starting pitchers. If they were consistent or had great stuff they'd still be starting, it's very difficult to find relievers who will be consistent performers from year to year. This is why the theory should be to minimize the number of innings the bullpen has to pitch in the first place.

[JohnBriggs12]

TheCrew7.

 

Hoffman worked out the first year of his deal. Some of the mid level guys have worked out ok too. Hawkins worked out in the 2nd year of his. Saloman Torres wasn't a huge money sign, but he worked out well too.

 

The guys I'm suggesting they go after now, like Rauch and Howell are in that mid level price range. Rauch got $3.5 million from the Mets last year. He's very comparable to Torres. Howell's likely in that same range.

 

Axford is still the closer. Henderson, Veras and Kintzler appear to be viable mid and late inning guys. They need to replace K-Rod and Parra (assuming Kintzler replaces Loe).

[Bnowell4evr]

I thought we traded Marino Salas and some other low level prospect for Torres.

[TheCrew07]

TheCrew7.

 

Hoffman worked out the first year of his deal. Some of the mid level guys have worked out ok too. Hawkins worked out in the 2nd year of his. Saloman Torres wasn't a huge money sign, but he worked out well too.

 

The guys I'm suggesting they go after now, like Rauch and Howell are in that mid level price range. Rauch got $3.5 million from the Mets last year. He's very comparable to Torres. Howell's likely in that same range.

 

Axford is still the closer. Henderson, Veras and Kintzler appear to be viable mid and late inning guys. They need to replace K-Rod and Parra (assuming Kintzler replaces Loe).

 

So you're acknowledging that every other year performance is about the best we can hope for from FA relievers? That was my point in the first place, relievers by their nature aren't consistent, you want multiple inexpensive options because it's too easy to end up with dead money when you're counting on those kind of players to consistently perform, it just doesn't happen for most players.

 

There are a couple of very consistent relievers in every division, but by in large the majority of those guys are going to be interchangeable. We don't have to spend money to be revamp the pen, we have to develop a better mix of relievers in the first place. Right handed specialists are a waste of a roster spot, I don't even value LOOGYs at all considering they rarely pitch a full inning. Give me a pen full of relievers capable of going multiple innings so it's easier to even out the workload and ride the hot hand in any given game. Screw the notion of a 6th, 7th, and 8th inning guy. I'm not going to fight the closer battle because it's a waste of time since that's not going to change right now, but how does it make sense to pitch your best reliever the fewest innings in a season? Get a good mix of different kinds of pitchers who can go multiple innings and we'll be in good shape. I like having control/location guys with average velocity mixed in with fireballing 2 pitch type guys.

 

Get younger players who tend to stay healthy, can pitch multiple innings, and variety of pitching styles for the pen and I'll be a happy camper. I'm not necessarily opposed to a gritty veteran in the pen if he's a Hawkins type who's going to go out of his way to coach up the younger guys. I firmly believe in chemistry and I'd be looking to be bring in the right type of guy, not so much worrying about how much he'll cost or what hand he throws with. I don't want any part of a guy who's good but doesn't genuinely want to help out his teammates. It hasn't been quantified by statisticians and probably never will be, but I believe players who genuinely enjoy each other are going to win more games than a bunch of individuals who are just playing for themselves or for their next contract.

 

I've seen it play out too many times in all sports and at all level of sport not to believe in it... in baseball circles you'll see the term "random variance" thrown around quite a bit, but there's truly nothing random about baseball. For example where a batter hits the ball isn't random, it's the result of many variables from pitch location, to timing, to bat speed, and so on but in the end it's just a moderate physics problem: the ball's flight path depends on the angle of that bat at contact, where the ball strikes the barrel, and how quickly both objects are moving. It's not random... it's a series of choices and physical movements that we simply don't have enough information about to quantify so it's easier to measure the end result, and since games are won and lost on the outcome of a handful of ABs in that specific game every difference between an actual result and the expected result from a player to a team gets the "random variance" label. Many times a team which beats the "expected" result stays healthy and has good chemistry, but they weren't randomly lucky even though it's easy to say that from a distance.

 

It's no different than working in the real world, the most fun I've had working was when I was a part time supervisor just out of college. All of use were tight, we hung out together outside of work, we worked hard for/with each other at work, and we obtained and then eventually far exceeded our goals. As I've gotten older that's much harder to find as you run into people who are just riding out the final years of their career, are selfish(the what about me? kind), stubborn, or jealous of their coworkers, and so on... predictably the results aren't anywhere near as good. Far too many people are too worried about their themselves and could care less about the larger picture or what's happening around them. It's sad in a way, that many people end with a different attitude or perspective than they started out with.

 

There's simply more to life than physical or mental aptitude so when I look at the Brewers spending money I'm always going back to that player's ultimate value, which unfortunately isn't just as simple as how well they produce when they are healthy. Sports, life... nothing is that black and white. If he doesn't have a better than average chance to be healthy and productive every year of his contract why would I want him? Once he gets hurt and lands on the DL now that money is dead and I need to find a viable plan B. If he's not going to mentor and take an interest in his teammates why would I want him? Is it worth it having a guy like that around, someone like who K-Rod appeared to be? Ultimately couldn't we have done better for less money? That's the perspective/angle I take on this stuff... it's not just about the money... it's about age, health, production, health, longevity, and attitude for me. Generally I'm not a fan of "look at me" type of players or players who only seem to care about themselves... I can respect the value Morgan brought to the team in 2011 but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have rather replaced him with Schafer in July, he's just not my type of guy and never will be.

[Dollarbill13]

TC07, I'm curious what your thoughts are on the Rays seemingly making such a strong effort to maximize platoon advantages with their relievers, since you say RH specialists aren't worth a roster space and you don't value LOOGYs either...

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/taking-the-platoon-advantage/

(Note most of the stats in the article relate to 2011 - I don't really know how to pull these numbers for 2012)

 

Also, a quick note on the "random variance" comment... You are right that there is very little that is truly random in baseball, given that bat angles, ball speeds, etc. are simple physics. However, I think when folks use the term "random variance", it is more or less in terms of the large range of outcomes that are based on small differences in bat/ball contact location and also the imperfect communication between the human brain and muscles. If you ask Ryan Braun to hit a ball off a tee ten times and make initial contact with the exact same spot on the ball, I think it's pretty obvious that he wouldn't do it every single time. Likewise, if you take a home run and move the contact point of the bat a couple millimeters, the result could be completely different. Whether you consider that to be truly "random" or just "imperfection" is debatable, but what matters is that even the best athlete won't execute every action perfectly each time. Let's say Braun hits the ball perfectly 50% of the time on average. If you ask him to hit several balls in a row, there may be no rhyme or reason to the patterns. He might hit it perfectly a few times in a row, miss a few times in a row, or alternate back and forth. If you translate this to the field, and also factor in the wide degree of variety in situations, there's obviously a wide range of possibilities where the actual outcome will depend on the timing in which opportunities the player succeeds and in which they fail. If you are a super-neurologist, you might be able to trace the reason behind failure or success to the communication of neurons and receptors in the brain, but for all intents and purposes, it's random.

[HiAndTight]

The frustrating part about adding relievers is that it's such a crapshoot. Even guys with well-established careers can turn out to be busts (David Riske), so you just kind of roll the dice and hope for the best.

 

It's a very important area... I think people sometimes try to quantify the importance of a solid reliever and might say, "Well, the starter pitches 200 innings, the reliever only pitches 50"....I just don't think you can quantify the importance of a good bullpen that way. If we ever learned that the hard way, it was in 2012.

 

It's just hard to effectively address because you never really know what you're getting. The good news is that it's going to be hard NOT to improve from this year.

 

To expound on this: His first 46 IP this year, Yo's ERA was over 5.

 

Spending 10% of the teams budget on a guy who pitches 4% of the innings is just... well... stupid. Sadly, it's something the Brewers have done in 4 of the last 5 years.

 

First of all, who wants to spend 10 million dollars on a guy who's going to throw 4 pct of the innings? I missed where that was suggested. I'm using 10 million just as a round number and I think we can safely say the Brewers budget will be at least 100 million going into this off-season. I suspect you're referring to a closer, which isn't really being discussed, but I've thrown away the cliche's that I've heard on here about how invaluable a closer is. A great closer can make or break your bullpen. But I don't want to go too far off on the closer thing. I went along with the saber line of thinking in that the closers position is overrated back to the place where I think closers one of the most important area's on the team. To play 8 innings, squeeze out 2-3 runs vs a frontline pitcher, get a great start, defense...and then have a closer come in and blow it is a devastating blow to a team, and when it happens 8-9 times over a season, it ruins your season.

 

I think that's crazy to go into free agency with those types of restrictions. Especially when it appears we may have a starting rotation that will barely make 15 million dollars. I'm sure we'll sign someone, but YO, Estrada, Narveson, and the young guys in the mix(Some of who have spots close to locked down like Fiers and Peralta).

 

And Gallardo's first 62 innings he had a 4.22 ERA. Not that I agree with the premise of that argument in the least bit as your comparing apples to oranges.

 

I guess I didn't really understand that argument other than to point out that in a smaller number of innings, a guys ERA can fluctuate more. Which is obvious.

[HiAndTight]

It's hindsight to point out that the money spent in the pen in one particular year was wasted. I'd argue that spending 10% on Wolf was stupid too, but that's all hindsight too.

 

1 year? What high price bullpen solution has worked out well for the Brewers? In fact, how many high priced bullpen solutions have worked out well historically all around baseball?

 

The problem with the hasn't been that Melvin has gone cheap, the problem with the pen was and still is that bullpen arms by their very nature aren't very reliable.

 

FA pitching has been a horrible market for the Brewers, it's not any kind of long-term solution regardless of who's the GM.

 

If you want to fix the Brewers' pitching issues the answer is the same as it's always been, the farm system. If we aren't developing any quality starting pitching then we won't be developing any quality bullpen arms either. The 2 go hand in hand and that's the problem, the Brewers have historically been horrible at developing pitching.

 

I haven't read anyone who said that bullpen arms aren't important, but those roles aren't nearly as important as the starting pitching or position players. The failure of this year's bullpen was evidence that this whole notion of "proven players" is quite suspect regardless of cost or experience. This is especially true in the bullpen where the pitchers don't have the same opportunity to work on mechanics or their pitches in side bullpen sessions like a starting pitcher would. 1 or 2 horrible months for a reliever and their season is basically sunk because they'll never pitch enough innings to even the stats back out. The failure of the bullpen proved the volative nature of that kind of player, not how important their contribution is or isn't to the team.

 

The most important question is why relief pitchers end up in that role in the first place... in almost all cases it's because they weren't good enough to be starting pitchers. If they were consistent or had great stuff they'd still be starting, it's very difficult to find relievers who will be consistent performers from year to year. This is why the theory should be to minimize the number of innings the bullpen has to pitch in the first place.

 

 

 

Everyone agrees it'd be better to develop through the draft. I don't think anyone's EVER argued this point. I'd be absolutely giddy if we could go into every season and fill in our holes with unproven, but top talent from within rather than paying market value for free agents.

 

But that's not reality and it's not something that can be immediately rectified RIGHT NOW.

 

 

So...I obviously agree. I DON'T agree with your premise that relievers end up being relievers because they're not good enough to be starters. Some of them are just built better to be relievers, some don't have a 3rd pitch. But you don't have to search very hard to find teams chalk full of relievers who throw 95-97 or harder with a nasty secondary pitch.

[Raw Biz]

First of all, who wants to spend 10 million dollars on a guy who's going to throw 4 pct of the innings? I missed where that was suggested. I'm using 10 million just as a round number and I think we can safely say the Brewers budget will be at least 100 million going into this off-season.

 

I know you've mentioned multiple times how you think the Brewers payroll will exceed 100 million. I think you even basically guaranteed that it will be closer to 115 than 85 but I'm pretty sure Melvin has already stated the payroll will be less than it was this year. I'm guessing probably in 85-90 range.

[monty57]

In my humble opinion, the biggest problem with the Brewers recent bullpens is roster inflexibility. It seems our pen is always full of guys out of options, so we never have guys who can bounce between the majors and the minors. This means that if someone's having a rough stretch, we have to stick with him or risk burning out the rest of the bullpen if we give the struggling guy a couple of days off. Also, if we have a few games in a row where the 'pen has to carry a big workload, we can't bring in a fresh arm to help out.

 

This year was exceptionally bad, as it seemed everyone in the pen forgot how to pitch for extended periods, so I don't know what would have been the answer. Going into next season, I hope we have some middle relief spots filled with guys with options. If we offer arby to some of the guys from this year and sign free agents for the other roles, we will once again go in without flexibility, and I'd guess that will lead to periods where we're all very nervous whenever it's time to call in a reliever.

[MVP2110]

I would love Evan Meek. another guy who to me is a low risk high reward guy. If i was Melvin I'd be signing as many of those guys as possible and let them battle it out in ST with the best 7 making the team. or 5 as Rogers and Ax most likely have spots in the pen locked up