TT: Taking a look at the bullpen now that Hall is gone

[TopGunnar]

Can’t wait to watch Baumann and Baker in big spots this season. 

[interloper]

3 hours ago, TopGunnar said:

Can’t wait to watch Baumann and Baker in big spots this season. 

We won 101 games with Baumann pitching 64 innings. Every team needs middle relievers. Baker I agree I could do without, but he has an option so... so be it. 

Team needs another reliever, for sure. Baumann either has a good spring and makes the team, or he gets traded at the end of spring in lieu of, or during, a DFA. 

Right now, the team is putting a lot of eggs in the Tate basket which makes me nervous. 

[Three Run Homer]

There are some lefty relievers coming back from injury that would be worth a workout, such as Drew Pomeranz and Justin Wilson.  I guess it depends on whether we think we need to replace Hall with another lefty or whether it's more important that we replace him with a hard thrower who can miss bats.  

[Jagwar]

I think Irvin is going to have a solid year for us in the pen. Nothing to back that up. Just an intuition

[Sports Guy]

Just now, Jagwar said:

I think Irvin is going to have a solid year for us in the pen. Nothing to back that up. Just an intuition

I think he will be fine…I would probably expect something around a 3.2-3.8 ERA. Usually reliable. Upside to be better but could be worse too.

[Tony-OH]

6 hours ago, interloper said:

We won 101 games with Baumann pitching 64 innings. Every team needs middle relievers. Baker I agree I could do without, but he has an option so... so be it. 

Team needs another reliever, for sure. Baumann either has a good spring and makes the team, or he gets traded at the end of spring in lieu of, or during, a DFA. 

Right now, the team is putting a lot of eggs in the Tate basket which makes me nervous. 

I don't know how much they are putting in the Tate basket, but what I do know is he was good, but not great in 2022. He was pretty dominant against righties, but lefties OPS'd  .265/.344/.470/.814 off him during his "breakout year." 

I don't want Tate anywhere close to the 8th inning in a one run lead with lefties coming up. Plus, he's coming off a season where he never was right and never had a surgery to correct anything. I'm going into this season thinking anything they get from him is a bonus vs he's a core guy. If he's a core guy that they are expecting to setup, then I do think the bullpen is going to be a problem in 2024.

[Jagwar]

7 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I think he will be fine…I would probably expect something around a 3.2-3.8 ERA. Usually reliable. Upside to be better but could be worse too.

I'll take that from a long man in the pen. Wouldn't you?

[Sports Guy]

9 minutes ago, Jagwar said:

I'll take that from a long man in the pen. Wouldn't you?

Absolutely. I liked what I saw out of him last year when he was in the pen.  I’m glad he’s here. A lot of teams don’t have 4 better starters than he is/can be, much less 5 or 6.

[Sports Guy]

15 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I don't know how much they are putting in the Tate basket, but what I do know is he was good, but not great in 2022. He was pretty dominant against righties, but lefties OPS'd  .265/.344/.470/.814 off him during his "breakout year." 

I don't want Tate anywhere close to the 8th inning in a one run lead with lefties coming up. Plus, he's coming off a season where he never was right and never had a surgery to correct anything. I'm going into this season thinking anything they get from him is a bonus vs he's a core guy. If he's a core guy that they are expecting to setup, then I do think the bullpen is going to be a problem in 2024.

Totally agree. Tate should have been traded after 2022 in case any team “believed in him”

Another key for him was that he threw more strikes than he ever had. Will that continue?  He is very meh imo.

[orioles22]

Not sure very many teams have eight bullpen spots locked in at this point, but ours seems solid with Kimbrel/Coulumbe/Cano/Perez in innings 7-9 with Irvin and Wells the potential long guys with Tate, Baker, Baumann, Akin, Vespi, Zimmerman also in the mix for middle/long roles. How many do we need?

I'd rather move Kremer for another lefty in the rotation.

[ThisIsBirdland]

No reason to expect this at all but this would be fascinating.

[CaptainRedbeard]

I don’t think I’d give up what the Guardians are certainly asking for to get Clase. 

[Jagwar]

14 minutes ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

I don’t think I’d give up what the Guardians are certainly asking for to get Clase. 

Maybe we can just ask @Tony-OH to change the huge thread title from "Cease" to "Clase"?

[wildbillhiccup]

36 minutes ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

I don’t think I’d give up what the Guardians are certainly asking for to get Clase. 

I wouldn't either, but they have several other intriguing bullpen arms who might be cheaper. It really depends on what they're looking for. We know money is an issue for them, but other than that I honestly don't know where the Guardians are looking to improve. Maybe in RF or at SS if they don't fully believe in either of their young players? I imagine they might have some interest in Mullins as an upgrade over Straw in CF as well. 

Santander +  la ow end prospect might get you Stephan

Mullins + a high prospect might get you Clase 

[wildbillhiccup]

1 hour ago, ThisIsBirdland said:

No reason to expect this at all but this would be fascinating.

This is an interesting read on Clase and his drop in velocity last season. 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-concatenated-case-of-emmanuel-clase/