Bullpen Rankings - Lets Discuss

[reNew Orleans]

A largely overlooked factor is the bullpens and throughout the past couple of months this has been discussed. Many of us took some tough losses because of incompetent bullpens getting lit up after a great performance from the starters.

Lets get some early rankings going here so we can get a feel of where the pens rank.

 

[reNew Orleans]

AL East
1) Boston Red Sox
2) Toronto Blue Jays - deep, gives them a chance to compete. But it seems like they're always mentioned as possible competitors to the Yanks/Sox in the division and they always fall short.
3) New York Yankees
4) Baltimore Orioles
5) Tampa Bay Rays

AL Central
1) Minnesota Twins
2) Cleveland Indians - Borowski is always an adventure but they have Betancourt waiting to take over if necessary. Otherwise the pen is good.
3) Kansas City Royals - very underrated pen
4) Chicago White Sox
5) Detriot Tigers - not like it matters

AL West
1) Los Angeles Angels
2) Texas Rangers - starters are the issue so these guys can't shine
3) Seattle Mariners
4) Oakland Athletics


I put teams that I though should be considered elite in italics, deep/underrated underlined

 

[Houghton Chemical]

It would be really tough for me to rank them, so I'll just go division by division and rate them. If someone with more expertise wants to debate or even edit, please feel free.

AL East

Boston-solid
New York-solid
Baltimore-weak
Toronto-weak
Tampa Bay-very weak


AL Central

Minnesota-Solid
Chicago-Good
Cleveland-Good
Detroit-Average
Kansas City-Average

AL WEST

Anaheim-Solid
Seattle-Good
Texas-Average
Oakland-Average

NL East

Atlanta-Solid
Florida-Good
New York-Good
Washington-Average
Philadelphia-Average

NL Central

St. Louis-Good, but makes early appearances
Houston-Good
Chicago-Average
Cincinnati-Very Weak 07, should improve 08
Pittsburgh-Weak
Milwaukee-Weak

NL West

Los Angeles-Solid
San Diego-Solid
San Francisco-Average
Colorado-Weak
Arizona-Weak

 

[Houghton Chemical]

Agree with the post renew, except Toronto. There were too many times last year when that pen let me down. Ryan is good, but when he went down, so did the team. They really need to go into the stretch with a nice cushion for me to feel safe with that pen.

Kansas City has the goods this year, they just need the run support

and you're right on with Texas. It's a good bunch, but they make appearances way too early.

Look forward to talking bases with ya this year.

 

[reNew Orleans]

thanks for ranking em HC. had the same problem with ranking them 1-30 so I took the same road as you. I'll get to the NL later so I can discuss that with ya tomorrow and compare rankings.

Toronto/New York - reason I ranked them like this was because of Ryan coming back. Their guys got some good experience and feel like they could surpass the Yanks by the end of the year (just bullpen, not in record). Ryan obviously has to stay healthy and if Brandon League breaks out this year, watch out. Not a fan of Hawkins/Farnsworth even though they've done well in the past, yet again they've failed in the past. Just the Yanks spending some money past their prime but you can't complain about Joba and Mariano... I kind of looked at it from a whole perspective but again I was biased a bit.

KC - I am hoping some of their players break out this year because I'll be betting this team often. They have a solid pen and their starters should continue to improve minus Meche, don't know if he can duplicate last year. They may not contend but they should make some noise.

 

[RetroVK]

Not going to rank them but if you are looking for a HUGE turnaround from last year to this year the answer is the REDS. This is the main reason i bet a dime on this team to win over 77 games. Cordero now takes over the closer role so they have a true top of the line guy there. And the one decent performer from last year ( other than coutalangous or however he spells his name ) was weathers and he will now take over the setup role. Just think of the number of times that weathers never made an appearance do to the bullpen blowing leads in the seventh and eighth innings. Reds also loaded with pitching talent in the minors that may end up with stints in the bullpen. far and away the biggest improvement of any team in the bullpen department.

beware of some of the aging guys that may be losing some of their stuff.

ny yankees , sd padres come to mind. Look very solid on paper but always have to be leery of the older guys..... at some point ..... they lose it.

 

[Shortline]

Great post Renew & HC...very tough to incorporate the Pig Pens in the daily grind of capping MLB. Tracking the availability of the primary closer on a daily basis is a pain in the ass too. Some cappers try to avoid this by playing the 5 Inn totals. Me, I just cross my fingers and drink heavily late in the games.

 

[Santacapper]

its tough, alot of the Jays pen right now has no defined roles... with Janssen going down etc.

Think we'll need to wait until roles are clearly defined to see how good they will be

 

[JumpOnBoard]

The Reds pen should be better but still won't be a strength I don't think...will take them from the worst in NL to middle of the NL as far as bullpen is concerned...

They are still going to be bad from left side unless Bill Bray stays healthy all year..

Burton is having a tough spring but improved and Coffey is down 35lbs which is great as he was awful last year and they need him...

Weathers is Weathers so u know prolly 3.60-4.00 ERA and 1.35-1.40 WHIP..it is what it is...Cordero they overpayed for but I'm glad they did...he was much needed...

No dominant, conistent lefty is still major issue, esp in GAB.

 

[SportsNut]

The problem with a discussion like this is all we are doing is talking about who has the best bullpen on paper tweaked by our own personal opinions. This is something that will fluctuate for most teams throughout the season and as capper you have to be aware of. I dont think its something you can decide on in March and use throughout the season.

I think a better discussion thread would be to look for bullpens who may excel , underacheive or simply perform badly out of the gates. Teams relying on unproven young arms in key spots , teams relying on injured arms , players for key roles , players who may have come out of nowhere last year and now depend on heavily based on a small sample size , guys who were ineffective in spring or maybe didnt get enough work , etc...

Also a good pen IMO is largely about your manager. Some managers have no idea how to designate roles which leaves alot of guys unsure of how to prepare. Then you have some managers who will lean on the worst statement...he is our guy and we are gonna keep going to him...you never want to hear that when a dude gets rocked a few time in arow. You want to know your manager is gonna do more then "HOPE' for the best.

A good bullpen is more then the names on the jerseys and stats they accumulate...its the Special Teams of MLB...

:shake:

 

[tee*dub]

good thread:

Add a few thoughts on the teams I am focusing on..

Selling the Cardinals bullpen versus strong lefthanded hitting teams.. They will break camp with questions marks as primary lefty Tyler Johnson appears headed to the DL... Flores will be thrust into the role and it is not a good fit..

 

[cubsker]

If Wood fills the closer role well, the Cubs will be well above avg. Wuertz, Howry, and Hart should all be good. Lieber is the long man and would be in a lot of teams' rotations. Marmol is a sick individual and may be the best setup man in the league. If the Cubs can find a lefty to get the key outs against left handed batters, then this will be a very good bullpen.

 

[reNew Orleans]

thanks for the input guys. keep it coming if you got anything to say.

 

[Seabass]

The problem with a discussion like this is all we are doing is talking about who has the best bullpen on paper tweaked by our own personal opinions. This is something that will fluctuate for most teams throughout the season and as capper you have to be aware of. I dont think its something you can decide on in March and use throughout the season.

I think a better discussion thread would be to look for bullpens who may excel , underacheive or simply perform badly out of the gates. Teams relying on unproven young arms in key spots , teams relying on injured arms , players for key roles , players who may have come out of nowhere last year and now depend on heavily based on a small sample size , guys who were ineffective in spring or maybe didnt get enough work , etc...

Also a good pen IMO is largely about your manager. Some managers have no idea how to designate roles which leaves alot of guys unsure of how to prepare. Then you have some managers who will lean on the worst statement...he is our guy and we are gonna keep going to him...you never want to hear that when a dude gets rocked a few time in arow. You want to know your manager is gonna do more then "HOPE' for the best.

A good bullpen is more then the names on the jerseys and stats they accumulate...its the Special Teams of MLB...

:shake:

Agreed 100%. Far too little attention is paid to the pens...but its one area where riding the hot hand makes a lot of sense.

 

[Houghton Chemical]

Just wanted to bump this up and update two weeks into the season.

The biggest surprise so far for me is San Diego. Trevor Hoffman has lost two games for me. I knew San Francisco had a chance to win this when the Padres pen entered the game.

Seattle has had a rough outing so far this season, mainly because of the Putz injury.

I'm still a little gunshy about Atlanta. I am very surprised with Baltimore, but I suppose Baltimore as a whole is kinda surprising thus far.

 

[reNew Orleans]

baltimore's pen has the lowest ERA? lol