Early season bullpen thread

[Savin Hillbilly]

I tend to be skeptical of the "pick the best overall and forget about need" mantra, but even I think that spending what will hopefully be our last top 15 pick for a while on a setup man for the 2016 stretch run is flat-out nuts, though the fact that BA is recommending it does give me pause.

 

[Bigpupp]

Burdi is ranked #50 on Baseball America's top draft prospects with a ceiling of being not good enough to start. If he is picked #12 by the Red Sox then we're going to have serious issues with our farm system when all of Ben's prospects graduate or get traded.

 

[simplicio]

Burdi is ranked #50 on Baseball America's top draft prospects with a ceiling of being not good enough to start. If he is picked #12 by the Red Sox then we're going to have serious issues with our farm system when all of Ben's prospects graduate or get traded.

Not good enough to start? What does that even mean? How many of today's best relievers are failed starters? If they think he's good enough to set up for Kimbrel, starting this year, why wouldn't you want to do that?

 

[Bigpupp]

Not good enough to start? What does that even mean? How many of today's best relievers are failed starters? If they think he's good enough to set up for Kimbrel, starting this year, why wouldn't you want to do that?

It means that relievers aren't as good as starters. By definition, relief pitchers are missing tools that make them good enough to be starters. The best reliever in baseball last year was worth only 2.6 fWAR. There were 132 players (48 pitchers) who were better than that, and that's for the absolute best reliever in baseball.

So even if you could guarantee that Burdi is good enough to pitch this year in the majors (and you can't) I still wouldn't want to draft him, because he won't be the best player available and he won't give the Red Sox the best chance of winning beyond this year.

 

[MadStork]

Not good enough to start? What does that even mean? How many of today's best relievers are failed starters? If they think he's good enough to set up for Kimbrel, starting this year, why wouldn't you want to do that?

Because you don't draft for need. You take the best player you think will make to the show regardless of the position.

College baseball is equivalent to rookie league ball. The numbers are so inflated it does not translate into MLB production.


Young arm in Pawtucket KMartin 26IP 34K 3BB and zero home runs allowed. 92 94 tops out at 96. He needs a chance unlike Barnes with 18BB in 27IP.

 

[simplicio]

Young arm in Pawtucket KMartin 26IP 34K 3BB and zero home runs allowed. 92 94 tops out at 96. He needs a chance unlike Barnes with 18BB in 27IP.

Except for last night (from Cuz's wrap on the .com):
Kyle Martin went 1 2/3 innings, allowing four runs in the ninth, giving up four hits, four walks, a wild pitch, and a hit by pitch while striking out one

 

[Cesar Crespo]

When was the last time a MR who was supposed to be ready right after being drafted was actually ready and/or didn't end up having surgery? Don't MR's generally have a huge bust rate anyway? I know the Sox have taken MRs and converted them to starters in the past with some frequency.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Gammons on drafting relievers (it's after section break)

http://www.gammonsdaily.com/peter-gammons-state-of-the-royals-scouting-bullpen-prospects-and-the-2016-draft/

 

[Green (Tongued) Monster]

When was the last time a MR who was supposed to be ready right after being drafted was actually ready and/or didn't end up having surgery? Don't MR's generally have a huge bust rate anyway? I know the Sox have taken MRs and converted them to starters in the past with some frequency.

What about Brandon Finnegan? I agree that he is probably more of the exception, but he was the first one to come to mind. Drafted 17th overall in 2014 and pitched for KC in '14 & '15 before being part of the Cueto trade.

EDIT: or I could have read the link to the Gammons article above first.

 

[Bigpupp]

What about Brandon Finnegan? I agree that he is probably more of the exception, but he was the first one to come to mind. Drafted 17th overall in 2014 and pitched for KC in '14 & '15 before being part of the Cueto trade.

EDIT: or I could have read the link to the Gammons article above first.

But Finnegan wasn't a reliever in college. He started 33 games (with only one relief appearance) during his sophomore and junior seasons at TCU

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Anthony Varvaro has retired. "Varvaro, 31, had pitched very well this season with a 3-2 record, 2.83 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 28.2 innings. Boles said Varvaro told him he wanted to pursue a different professional opportunity."

Wish we had given him a chance in the majors this year to see if he could have helped us. One of the times Noe came up instead would have been a good time to give Varvaro a chance.