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Santos had a 7.50 ERA at Buffalo and is about the fourth or fifth best reliever on the Bison right now (Wagner, Lincoln, Stilson certainly more reliable for Buffalo). Someone is going to walk the plank to make room for him? Redmond? Bonifacio? And yes, Santos has options left. Like the McGowan promotion (I didn't think he was ready either), there is a strong whiff of fulfilling a narrative here rather than going with the best player.

With Santos, I presume that the intent is to give him a large enough chunk of innings to determine whether he can be relied upon next year. That's very useful information, though it's rather odd that we didn't find a means to open up space on the roster for him, even if it was literally a case of giving Oliver away for a one-armed kid in the Sally League.

dagger wrote:Santos had a 7.50 ERA at Buffalo and is about the fourth or fifth best reliever on the Bison right now (Wagner, Lincoln, Stilson certainly more reliable for Buffalo). Someone is going to walk the plank to make room for him? Redmond? Bonifacio? And yes, Santos has options left. Like the McGowan promotion (I didn't think he was ready either), there is a strong whiff of fulfilling a narrative here rather than going with the best player.

Just from following boxscore along his rehab, it seems that he struggles when he has to pitch on anything less than 3 days rest. Could be wrong just seem to recall this.

Schadenfreude wrote:With Santos, I presume that the intent is to give him a large enough chunk of innings to determine whether he can be relied upon next year. That's very useful information, though it's rather odd that we didn't find a means to open up space on the roster for him, even if it was literally a case of giving Oliver away for a one-armed kid in the Sally League.

This.

Besides, he wasn't in Buffalo to prove anything... It was a rehab assignment.

Maybe they'll have him back up Reyes at SS...

d-mac to the DL with a "tweaked side"

as per Davidi, Santos rehab would hit 30 days on Saturday and they needed to make a move with him.

Strav wrote:as per Davidi, Santos rehab would hit 30 days on Saturday and they needed to make a move with him.

Yes, but he has minor league options and could have been left in Buffalo to build up his innings at that level.

Also, Morrow has been moved to the 60-day DL. It's not clear from the release whether this is retroactive. If it isn't, that pretty much rules out a return this season.

My beef with the relief strategy is that we are stock-piling guys at Buffalo who are pitching better than ones we are promoting. McGowan wasn't ready, but his rehab was coming to an end. (It was a lead-pipe cinch he would have cleared waivers at that point, and could have stayed in BUF). Santos isn't ready, but unlike McGowan, Santos has options. Right now, three guys in Buffalo - Wagner, Lincoln and Stilson - are pitching better than Santos. What Marty Brown and Bob Stanley have done is give them very defined roles with repeatability. Wagner always closes, and if he's not rested, then Lincoln closes. Wagner hasn't given up a run since being demoted and is 3-3 in save opportunities. With defined roles, Wagner and Lincoln are responding with great consistency. It's done both a world of good. Lincoln in particular looked like a mediocre AAA pitcher at first, but since getting to close some games, seems to be more confident and effect. That's why I thought we might move a reliever or two, even Janssen whose value would be reasonably high, because it wouldn't be a huge downgrade for the relief staff but it might yield a decent return in terms of a prospect or a major league 2B. It's something to watch for the winter, but I am a bit uneasy about roster management by narrative rather than by merit. Those Buffalo options I am talking about are also dirt-cheap salary options for next season when we are going to need some of those to avoid a $140 million payroll.

Is McGowan really hurt? Or is this just a move to buy them some time to see Santos pitch?

I think we'll see a couple arms move in the winter. Our bullpen is a strength with more arms in the minors. I like Wagner a lot and would love to see them move Santos(if he has any value).

Time to get my old signature back up