I think the whole bullpen thing is either a smokescreen or a fallback if they can’t make anything else happen. There is absolutely no reason to make it a priority, especially if they are sure Garcia and/or Verlander I’m sorry to say that made me laugh, but good Lord man that is drastic.
More. Who’s going to pitch the 5th when Brown is at 100 pitches and they’re creating traffic? Or when you have those 3 middle games in a row without an off day, and Abreu’s arm is being held together by duct-tape and silly putty (presuming he gets used 100 more times even before the playoffs), you want at least one more plus arm to where Martinez/Dubin/King/Montero/or whatever current starter pushed to pen are not the only available options. LMJ is barely an option to pitch again ever… let alone this season… let alone high pressure/high leverage type situations. Its not an either or or zero-sum game. They need hitting… and unless Tucker’s leg is truly at risk for amputation, he’s more likely to be back and contributing more than any of those pitching options. But I’d take another OF options as well.
I mean- I said right now. I'm certainly open to the idea it will be like the xmas we got a dog and a cat after the terrible xmas where we got a fish tank.
I mean- some combination of Garcia and Arrighetti in the 5th inning for me seems fine in the situation you talked about. Would I rather have 5 prime Mariano Rivera's? Sure. But I'm way more worried about the back 4 in the order being Yainer, Pena, Meyers & Loperfido and having to hope we can basically do all our damage in the 1-4 spots. That's way more probable to kill us then a fantasy situation where having Arrighetti, Scott, Garcia, Abreu, Presley and Hader in the bullpen isn't enough.
Relax the hyperbole. There’s a middle ground between Arighetti and Rivera. Even guys with playoff experience/success would be an upgrade. Hell, Scott (as great as he’s been) may be due for a rough landing as the year goes on. Abreu may get overuse regression. Pressly may start acting his age again. Can never have too much.
All that is true man, but those upgrades cannot come at the expense of trotting out hammered dog **** offensively at the two easiest positions to find offense at. They just can't if you want to win it all.
I said they can improve everywhere. And again, I’m presuming Tucker is back. There also isn’t that many extra AB’s out there when Tucker is penciled in and Pena/Meyers are going to keep their jobs largely due to their defensive excellence. Any 1B upgrade will be marginal over the Singleton/Dubon platoon… hell, I’d take Cavan Biggio as an option there (who was available to all not that long ago). They had Mancini, Siri and Hensley getting AB’s in the 2022 playoffs/WS.
Saying a legit stick at 1B is only a marginal improvement over Singleton/Dubon is just not accurate and not arguing fairly. Acting like Arrozarena or Winker would only be a marginal improvement over loperfido or Cabbage and Chas is similarly not arguing in good faith. Jake and Pena get to play every day b/c they aren't inept with the bat and are very good with the glove at defense first postitions, they just need to hit 8th and 9th. I'd love to improve every area of the team. The point that I'm making that you jumped off on was me saying that bullpen should absolutely come last. Big bat, SP, above average bat, RP in that order and if one of them doesn't get filled it should be RP that doesn't happen.
Agree. You can never have enough quality high leverage arms in the pen. This is going to come down to the end of the season just make the playoffs. Who you left with if you go with Hader, Pressly + Abreu in back to back games? Don't want these three pitching three games in a row. No idea how Scott is going to hold up down the stretch. If they can swing another reliable arm I'd be all over it!!
We are dealing with relatively small sample sizes, so anything is possible. Having said that, I would rather finish the year with Yandy Diaz at 1st and another bat with upside if possible, even if it is someone like Yastremski or Conforto. Both are lefties and both can be used in match ups. In the case of Conforto, he is a lot better outside of SF. Tyler Rogers is an expiring contract as well - and he would help the Astros pen. Seems that the Astros should be able to extract Conforto and Rogers for not a lot of cost - both are expiring as well.
I’d love Yandy… but even then, on a game to game basis for the rest of the season, his WAR over the other two won’t be as dramatic as you think, but again I don’t think this is an either/or conversation. The other guys won’t play as much if Tucker there. If Tucker truly not ever coming back (which would be the bigger story), then they better be working hard to get hitters…. But the fact that they’re likely prioritizing pitching or a 1B makes me feel they know more about his true timetable.
