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Trade idea. Obviously we have a glut of OFs. A team that needs an OF is the White Sox with Erstad and Pods on the DL. We can't get a ton for Mench but why not try to get some relievers say a Mike MacDougal and David Aardsma who were both sent down to AAA because they have been struggling.

Macdougal http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6666 has been lights out the 2 previous years but has an ERA over 6 this year. Aardsma started the year off well but got shelled in a few outings http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7307

They might not be saviors but bringing guys who have had some troubles in the AL to the NL (ie Coco) might do the trick. I'm not sure where else (other than a trade) we are going to bolster the bullpen unless we bring up Gallardo and move Bush to a reliever.

ajb905 wrote:Trade idea. Obviously we have a glut of OFs. A team that needs an OF is the White Sox with Erstad and Pods on the DL. We can't get a ton for Mench but why not try to get some relievers say a Mike MacDougal and David Aardsma who were both sent down to AAA because they have been struggling.

Macdougal http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6666 has been lights out the 2 previous years but has an ERA over 6 this year. Aardsma started the year off well but got shelled in a few outings http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7307

They might not be saviors but bringing guys who have had some troubles in the AL to the NL (ie Coco) might do the trick. I'm not sure where else (other than a trade) we are going to bolster the bullpen unless we bring up Gallardo and move Bush to a reliever.

Some good points and your trade idea is not bad. Maddox has done a good job with Pitchers who have struggled in other places.

I really see both Bush and Vargas as more of middle relievers. They hit 6 innings and it's over. They both would be better giving you 3 innings. Shouse, Dessenz, and Cappelan all pretty much stink.

Bush (and Vargas) have been unlucky with a high BABIP see below (not sure how to format) and actually should be a pretty solid # 4 guy. Yeah he seems to struggle late but we need to have a bullpen that can carry us from the starter to the closer in close games.



Once a week, RotoAuthority looks at pitchers with unusually high or low BABIPs, meaning their hits allowed, and therefore WHIPs, are likely to change quite a bit over the balance of the season. A normal BABIP is between .290 and .310.

BABIP above .330, minimum 50 innings pitched

NAME TEAM BABIP ERA K/BB
Jae Seo TBA 0.390 8.13 1.75
Adam Wainwright SLN 0.387 5.59 1.65
Zach Duke PIT 0.359 5.55 1.38
Miguel Batista SEA 0.354 5.72 1.75
David Wells SDN 0.354 4.74 2.36
Casey Fossum TBA 0.352 7.89 1.87
Doug Davis ARI 0.345 3.27 1.53
Dave Bush MIL 0.341 5.64 4.34
Freddy Garcia PHI 0.340 4.59 2.93
Claudio Vargas MIL 0.340 3.90 2.32
Kyle Lohse CIN 0.339 4.59 3.50
C.C. Sabathia CLE 0.335 3.78 5.34
Curt Schilling BOS 0.333 3.68 4.01
Matt Belisle CIN 0.333 4.26 4.00

I like the idea but the only thing that would concern me is we don't have anybody who could play left field against left handed pitchers. This would leave us with Gross, Jenkins and Gwynn...unless you want to send down Gwynn and call up Rottino.

yeah Gross and Jenkins are terrible against lefties. Gwynn's done pretty well in limited time 5 hits in 14 ABs. But if needed getting a right handed OF off the bench is probably easier and less of a priority than getting some relievers. Mench should have some value and the team is serious about contending this year, the bullpen needs to improve.

One year wonder boy Billy Hall would be fine with me. Rather keep Tony Jr.

I like the original trade idea. The combination of moving from the AL to the NL along with learning from Maddox would probably make those guys a lot better.

Sooner or later, this team has to bring up Gallardo. I think Bush can be a lights out bullpen pitcher, personally. That'd be ideal.

msiris wrote:One year wonder boy Billy Hall would be fine with me. Rather keep Tony Jr.

Because Gwynn has such a high ceiling right?

In case you haven't noticed he's come crashing back to earth.

I can see why people are hard on Billy since he signed a big contract and his numbers are subpar. He probably won't match his totals from last year but hopefully he can be a 85-90 run, 25 HR, 85-90 RBI, .270. Bill has improved every year from 2004 when he first got major playing time. And with the fact that everyone says he's working really hard to be a CF, I have faith that he's not a contract year guy and will bounce back.