Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Needed right handed setup man...got nothing

OK, this speech is getting old,  I know.   But here is the Indians' bullpen

Closer: Cody Allen
Setup righty: Bryan Shaw (most used reliever in baseball the last 3 years)
Setup lefty: Andrew Miller (used very hard last year and playing in WBC, not a good combination)
6th inning righty: Dan Otero
LOOGY: Boone Logan
Long man: Zack McAllister
6th inning righty: Shawn Armstrong

Guys in the minors:

Non-roster invitees: Travis Barnwart, Steve Delabar, Tyler Olson, James Russell, Josh Martin, Chris Narveson

Perci Garner - potential flash in the pan candidate
Joseph Colon - came out of nowhere to play in the majors last year
Nick Goody - picked up on waivers
Kyle Crockett - not a lot of success in the big leagues
Hoby Milner - Rule 5 guy who we will probably lose now that we have Logan.

Minor league starters who might be used in the bullpen: Mike Clevinger, Carlos Frias.

Look, none of these other options is really anything more than an emergency, we need a warm body option.   If any of these guys pitch significant innings out of the Indians bullpen the bullpen is in trouble.   And, mark my words, 1-3 of these guys will pitch significant innings.

BOTTOM LINE: We have a very good bullpen that is among the most thin in baseball. One injury and we start dipping into guys who probably aren't good enough to be effective in the majors.  Heck, Armstrong is iffy, to me, and he has this team made.  After that....   We needed one more solid reliever, but we let all those guys get snatched up.   The worst loss was Joe Blanton, not only for his ability but for his price, who is signing with the Nationals.   He got a $4 million deal with $3 million of that deferred ($1 million in 2018 and $2 million in 2019).   Basically, this guy, the Nats got a $1 million reliever with a two years history of really good success as a setup guy.   Not a happy day for me and a day I am almost positive the Indians are going to regret. 


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