Quote:
Originally Posted by VAChief
When you add Holland to that list why would we have any confidence in seeking bullpen help through free agency? I would rather they don't spend a dime on these shitty multi-year reliever contracts than spending nothing. They rarely pay off and hampers you from making big moves on position players. The best free agent reliever deal we made was for frickin Bud Norris as basically a reclamation contract. Spend it on position players or proven innings eater starters.
I saw Bernie's column in some online rag and he basically repeated ad nauseam "it's the bullpen stupid." Well yeah, we need to do something there, but not with Harper type money. That is just idiotic thinking.
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Bernie's right and he's wrong.
Yes, the Cardinals need to fix the bullpen. No, the answer isn't paying big money on a multi-year deal for a veteran reliever. Reliever volatility isn't even a theory anymore - it's simply a fact of life. If you acquire a free agent reliever and give him a 3 year deal, you're
lucky to get 2 good seasons from him.
The Cardinals have a number of arms with plus stuff that could absolutely be bullpen assets. They simply have to find how to slot them and how best to use them. There's no shortage of 'stuff' in this system and if you can't find a way to come up with 6-7 guys that can get 3 outs/ballgame from this system, that's a misuse of assets problem.
Going into the FA market and dedicating 'dry powder' to !@#$ing relievers in an attempt to double down on a bad strategy is just asinine. It's especially asinine when the fact that you're in this mess to begin with is precisely BECAUSE of said bad strategy.
Oh - and a reminder: As the Cardinals owners have gotten wealthier and wealthier with record operating profits over the last 15 years, they've gotten cheaper and cheaper.
This team cares about one thing and one thing only - profit. They give zero ****s about winning a championship. They've realized that appearing to want to win is more profitable than actually wanting to win. So "our goal is 90 wins" carries the day.
Because 95 wins will cost a hell of a lot more.