They were a top ten bullpen in both '22 and '23. Sure Bautista was a big part of that, but take the best reliever out of any pen and they'll look more middling.
I also don't get the lines in various places about Elias doing nothing about the bullpen. The team has six relievers who have been in 10+ games. Four of those guys were acquired by Elias within the last ~season and a half, and they happen to have the four best ERAs in the current pen.
I do think the pen is the biggest weakness of the current team. So hopefully Elias does more to address it, and I think he will. We have six or seven guys that are ok to good but a lack of real dominant guys you want for extra innings and the postseason.