you didn’t have set-up men and closers, what you had were guys trying to crack the rotation.

or starters on their way out of baseball, injured guys… but yeah, your point’s well-taken.

What the M’s are doing with Morrow is ridiculous. Any pitcher with any stuff growing through little league to the minors or college is a starter.

Period.

If you’ve been a starting pitcher for god knows how long, then why can’t you keep that mentality.

Nobody coaches closers in Junior High or High School ball. Get out there and Pitch!

There’s no one ready to join the pen who’s left handed at this time, and when the time comes where Johnson is ready in a few weeks tops, Wakamatsu will want him on the team no doubt, because he’s left- handed, and that is an important position in a bullpen. Loogies are like security blankets, they make you feel better knowing they’re out there screwin around in the pen, and you can call em up and make em throw junk to one lefty hitter for one AB and have a good shot of getting that guy out. Without a loogy, your pen looks weird and naked, especially when none of the righties are all that good at gettin out lefties. Think about it, I mean Mark Lowe’s changeup, Batista’s cutter and Aardsma’s splitter are the only 3 pitches in that pen that “might” neutralize a lefty. So in summation, we’ll be alright hopefully, with this ‘pen for a little while, but don’t go actin like rockin a righty bullpen all season long is a good idea. It ain’t.

The new regime is promising and all, but no one’s going to bench Junior on opening day unless he’s hurt.

If he goes to the bullpen we absolutely destroy his value. If someone was stupid enough to take his entire salary on last year, there’s a slight chance he can “rebound” with a great outfield defense and we’ll find another sucker this year.

I think the chance of shifting him, even for nothing in return, is worth shooting for. Plus, Washburn isn’t that bad of a starter, probably better than any of the other options we could put in his place.

In reality, we’re looking at ~10 PA where you’d consider bringing in a lefty to face those guys. The total run value difference is going to be in the fractions of a run.

Fractions of a run over the course of the month, but if you have a lefty with a slider or sinker in the pen and Giambi/Morneau is up with a runner on first and one out in the top of the eighth while the M’s are up one, fractions of a run don’t happen.

I love the stats and cybermatrics you guys provide on this site, but there are pure baseball situations where even if you have a guy on your roster you don’t use very often (usually end up being Rule V picks, but don’t have to be) when used in the right situations they can be a key piece of the club.

But then again, none of the left-handed options were really viable, so good move Wak.