Rounding Out the Bullpen

[Quake Griffin]

Making this thread for 2 reasons and I'm POSITIVE Ned and Ranma will have a good grasp on the big picture.

2 reasons:
1) See Joe Blanton is still a free agent.
2) I saw the Neftali Feliz rumors and I see he was signed by Milwaukee.


Friedman is on record saying he's cautious of signing guys after having a good year to his bullpen, particularly given if they are over worked. Joe Blanton seems like no exception and he seems like he might fit the bill of overuse for last year (not looking at his stats just remember feeling that way last year). Maybe he ran out of gas by the time the NLCS came around???


Anywho.
Do we need to do anything else to this pen? I'd imagine so. **** Pedro Baez.

[Neddy]

Making this thread for 2 reasons and I'm POSITIVE Ned and Ranma will have a good grasp on the big picture.

2 reasons:
1) See Joe Blanton is still a free agent.
2) I saw the Neftali Feliz rumors and I see he was signed by Milwaukee.


Friedman is on record saying he's cautious of signing guys after having a good year to his bullpen, particularly given if they are over worked. Joe Blanton seems like no exception and he seems like he might fit the bill of overuse for last year (not looking at his stats just remember feeling that way last year). Maybe he ran out of gas by the time the NLCS came around???


Anywho.
Do we need to do anything else to this pen? I'd imagine so. **** Pedro Baez.

our pen is overly crowded with slightly above to middle of the road guys outside of Jansen. hopefully that changes once we sign a one HEAHLTHY Greg Holland.

without Holland, as we stand now, assuming we have 7 relivers outside of the 5 starters, we have 1 sure thing in Jansen.

then the rest of the 6 are, as of now,

1. long man - Alex Wood : I can't imagine not having this guy on our 25 men roster on opening day, barring injury.
2. SU - Grant Dayton : somewhat overrated, but his track record from last season alone earned him a spot here.
3 SU - Pedro Baez - YES! despite Quake's disdain, I believe he is a safe bet to make the squad to start the season.
4 MR - Chris Hatcher : he is a somewhat of an enigma, but I say he gets his last chance with Freidman in 2017.
5 MR - VIdal Nunos / Luis Avilan : there is only enough room for one of them.... and if Greg Holland signs up, neither has a shot.
6 MR - Adam Liberatore ---- depends on his health, but as long as he is healthy, he has earned this spot for sure.

if we sign Holland, just imagine,

1. CP - Jansen
2. SU - Holland
3. SU - Dayton ( overrated and probably soon replaced by Wood)
4. LR - Wood ( once replace the lefty SU role, Brock or Ross will fill in this role)
5. MR- Baez
6. MR - Liberatore
7. MR - Hatcher.

I would think Hatcher would fail rather quickly and replaced by one of the lefty leftovers... barring any injury.

[Ranma]

Even though I was interested in Neftali Feliz, I'm a little relieved to not have his homer-susceptibility added to our relief corps. Likewise, I still don't want Joe Blanton back regardless of whatever fatigue issues he may have encountered as a Dodger. I'm fine with continuing to work with Pedro Baez in the bullpen as long as he is not the 8th-inning guy or used much in high-leverage situations until he figures things out.

We can't give up on Chris Hatcher just yet given his potential and the cost to acquire him, but we're nearing make-or-break for him to perform as a Dodger. I'd love to sign Greg Holland, but even he would not be a reliable option until he's proven it on the field for this upcoming season.

Alex Wood should be a very valuable arm for us in relief and I'd like to see Ross Stripling utilized in similar fashion. I do have belief that our coaching staff will get quality performances out of the likes of Grant Dayton, Adam Liberatore, Luis Avilan, Vidal Nuno, and whoever else is brought up or in.

However, I'm still advocating for the fast-tracking of both Jeff Sborz and Jordan Sheffield to be in our bullpen instead of continuing their respective development as starters. Sborz should be able to help us right away while Sheffield may still be dealing with control issues. Having either one of them as part of our relief corps would give me more confidence in our bullpen, overall.

[Ranma]

I'm hearing the Dodgers are settling on Josh Sborz being a reliever now, which I'm glad to hear, so I expect him to be a solid possibly to help the big club in 2017. Jordan Sheffield is still being worked as a starter, but he should be a closer. The re-signing of Kenley Jansen allows Sheffield more time to develop, but personally, I'd like to see Sheffield learn and apprentince behind KJ while being a contributing member of the Dodgers' bullpen.

Yimi Garcia could be also be a possibility later into the season. Also, with Yaisel Sierra focusing on being a reliever, it might just be possible for him to contribute in the major leagues this upcoming season if he limits himself to developing a pitch or two while working on his command.

Given all the surplus of arms we have, I'm not terribly concerned with our bullpen even if I feel that it is still in flux. If we have to sign a free-agent arm, I'd prefer it be a left-hander.

[Quake Griffin]

Sergio Romo?

[Neddy]

I'm hearing the Dodgers are settling on Josh Sborz being a reliever now, which I'm glad to hear, so I expect him to be a solid possibly to help the big club in 2017. Jordan Sheffield is still being worked as a starter, but he should be a closer. The re-signing of Kenley Jansen allows Sheffield more time to develop, but personally, I'd like to see Sheffield learn and apprentince behind KJ while being a contributing member of the Dodgers' bullpen.

Yimi Garcia could be also be a possibility later into the season. Also, with Yaisel Sierra focusing on being a reliever, it might just be possible for him to contribute in the major leagues this upcoming season if he limits himself to developing a pitch or two while working on his command.

Given all the surplus of arms we have, I'm not terribly concerned with our bullpen even if I feel that it is still in flux. If we have to sign a free-agent arm, I'd prefer it be a left-hander.

we already have Liberatore, Dayton, and ultimiatly, Wood for that role, I think.

Sergio Romo?

I like him too. he is not a closer or even a setup guy anymore, but a very reliable specialist as a guy off the bench to get outs out of right handed hitters with that slider of his.

[Ranma]

Sergio Romo?

I'm also fine with Romo. Supposedly, Blanton and Blevins were the other candidates under consideration and I'd rather have the ex-Giant than either of those two even though I know nothing about Jerry Blevins except that his strikeout/inning stat for last season looks impressive.

Speaking of former Bay Area residents, I'm more than fine with signing Sergio Romo to a 1-year contract to be a part of our bullpen as a candidate to be Jansen's set-up man unless he did something egregious against one of our players. I'm getting the sense that people are reluctant to welcome him with open arms given his previous affiliation. I get that, to an extent, but we were fine with Brian "the Beard" Wilson and he was deadweight during his last season for us.

Also, I heard that Romo is from LA growing up a Dodgers fan and his family still rooted for the Dodgers when he signed with the Giants. There's a story where he gave his family tickets to a Dodgers-Giants game only to get a hard time from his manager and teammates because they were all sporting Dodgers gear in San Francisco.

Playing in front of family and friends at Chavez Ravine for his boyhood favorite team on a prove-it deal seems like a great fit to me. Plus, I like his choice of political apparel (see tweet below). However, I'm hearing the mystery team we initially beat out has upped its offer, so Romo may be reconsidering/renegotiating.

we already have Liberatore, Dayton, and ultimiatly, Wood for that role, I think.

For some reason, I thought Grant Dayton was a right-hander, so yeah, we were better off signing the right-handed Romo.

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[Neddy]

^haha love that shirt. we all need to order them

[Ranma]

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[Neddy]

with possibly 3 out of the 4 potential starters in the bullpen ( that being Ryu/Kazmir/McCarthy/Wood) that only leaves 4 spots for true relievers. going in reverse order, that would be Jansen, Romo, Dayton, Liberatore with everyone else with options left back in AAA, and not sure if Dayton can repeat his performance from last season. Baez, Hatcher, Avilan, Fields, and everyone else got some tight competition going on now. with Ryu's lack of velocity, I don't see him being a good option out of the pen at all, but he does has an array of pitches in the mold of Moyer.

[Ranma]

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