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Would you bring Gregg back on the right contract?


Araqnid

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In his first three appearances this year (3.2 innings), Gregg gave up 7 hits, 3 walks, 2 HB, 1 HR, and 5 earned runs, a 12.27 ERA. Since then he's been in 13 games (14 innings), and given up 4 earned runs, 11 hits, 5 walks, 1 HB, 1 HR, holding teams scoreless in 11 of those 13 games, for a 2.57 ERA. (Last night's HR was only the second he's given up this year.) Basically, he's been pitching pretty well since mid-April. He's definitely better than "replacement value," though he is of course way overpaid. He'd fit right in to any "normal" bullpen.

The problem is that the Orioles bullpen isn't a "normal" bullpen; it's arguably the best bullpen in baseball. What makes Gregg look bad is 1) the comparison to the others in what is getting to be an extraordinary bullpen, and 2) that bad start that everyone remembers.

While Gregg is good enough to be in almost any bullpen, our bullpen features:

Johnson 1.26

Strop 1.48

O'Day 1.78

Ayala 1.82

Eveland 3.38

Patton 3.77

These six are clearly ahead of Gregg. And then there's Arrieta; Gonzalez and Pomeranz at Norfolk; and Lindstrom (1.29) when he returns. Even if we carry eight pitchers in the bullpen, I don't see how Gregg should make the cut, especially after Lindstrom returns. He will make his way into another bullpen pretty quickly.

Given the above, it seems that Gregg would have more value to other teams than to us, and we should be able to get someone for him, and/or dump all or most of his salary to a team in a pennant race that needs bullpen help.

Several people keep pointing out how Showalter isn't using Gregg in important situations. This probably has more to do with the alternatives Showalter has than Gregg himself. When you have Johnson, Strop, O'Day, and Ayala sitting in the bullpen, not to mention Eveland and Patton, why would you choose Gregg in an important situation?

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