Buster Olney on the Cubs

[bmkhawk]

Yeah, but as far as stability goes, there are probably only 10-15 relievers in the whole game from whom you know exactly what you are going to get.

 

What Howry and Eyre give the Cubs isn't guaranteed, no. But they do give the Cubs a higher liklihood of better bullpen production than what the team had last year.

[BigbadB]

Yeah, but as far as stability goes, there are probably only 10-15 relievers in the whole game from whom you know exactly what you are going to get.

 

What Howry and Eyre give the Cubs isn't guaranteed, no. But they do give the Cubs a higher liklihood of better bullpen production than what the team had last year.

 

Which to me says you don't trade anyone out of the current bullpen. With Dempster, Howry, Eyre, Williamson, Wuertz, Ohman and Novoa, you should be able to put a strong bullpen together. Removing any of them (at least prior to the all star break, ie Williamson rumors), IMO, could turn a strong pen into a weak one.

 

At the trade deadline, Williamson would have much more value than the value he has entering ST.

 

With the way this team is assembled as of now, you go with what you have and evaluate the situation at the deadline. The starting rotation will determine whether they are playoff contenders or pretenders.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Which to me says you don't trade anyone out of the current bullpen.

 

This is my biggest fear going into the 2006 season -- weakening one of our remaining strenghts.

[goonys evil twin]

What Howry and Eyre give the Cubs isn't guaranteed, no. But they do give the Cubs a higher liklihood of better bullpen production than what the team had last year.

 

I agree.

[BigbadB]

Which to me says you don't trade anyone out of the current bullpen.

 

This is my biggest fear going into the 2006 season -- weakening one of our remaining strenghts.

 

If the starting rotation is healthy and performing at expected levels and then the bullpen is holding leads consistently, the Cubs can win the division or at least make the playoffs with a mediocre offense, just like Houston and the White Sox did last year.

 

If Dusty trots out a line up that best fits the strengths of this team day in and day out, the offense could make life a bit easier on the pitching staff. For example, if Dusty goes:

 

Pierre

Walker

Lee

Ramirez

Jones

Murton

Barrett

Cedeno

 

If Walker is getting a day off in favor of Neifi (might seem like a good idea in games that Zambrano starts), then going with Murton or Cedeno in the 2 hole with Neifi hitting 8th would still be a better option than hitting Neifi anywhere near the top of the order. Basically, we have several top of the order options this year with Walker, Hairston, Pierre, Murton and possibly Cedeno in no particular order. Dusty needs to grasp the importance of getting on base in front of Lee and Ramirez and fill his line up card based on who playing that day gets on base at a better rate. Jones, Perez, Grissom and Mabry should not receive any consideration in the top spots in the order, since they have either never had any success there or they have aged to the point where they cannot provide success there.

 

I'm not happy with the offseason, but I'm willing to sit and watch Cub games this year and cheer them on IF Dusty isn't sending craptacular Neifi out there in the 2 hole. It won't take long for me to start chanting for the removal of Dusty if he can't improve this team from last year.

[bmkhawk]

Yeah, but as far as stability goes, there are probably only 10-15 relievers in the whole game from whom you know exactly what you are going to get.

 

What Howry and Eyre give the Cubs isn't guaranteed, no. But they do give the Cubs a higher liklihood of better bullpen production than what the team had last year.

 

Which to me says you don't trade anyone out of the current bullpen. With Dempster, Howry, Eyre, Williamson, Wuertz, Ohman and Novoa, you should be able to put a strong bullpen together. Removing any of them (at least prior to the all star break, ie Williamson rumors), IMO, could turn a strong pen into a weak one.

 

At the trade deadline, Williamson would have much more value than the value he has entering ST.

 

Honestly, I don't see the rumors of a Williamson trade as anything other than just rumors. Maybe someone in the media is reporting something just to report something. It seems rather baseless to me. I'll believe it when I see it. Especially when Williamson might end up being the best arm in what appears to be a talented bullpen. And I agree...no moves should be made from the bullpen at this time...aside from maybe moving Welly.

[BigbadB]

Agreed. Note that I didn't include Welly in my list above, mainly because I rate all the other guys ahead of him, and you still have to make room for a long man in there (Rusch, Williams, Hill).

 

I agree that Welly will probably be traded, but I don't think he nets anything of value, unless packaged. And, to be honest, I don't see a package deal at this juncture. I could create a few that would make sense for all teams involved, but realistically, I don't see any deals happening.

[Bull]

Agreed. Note that I didn't include Welly in my list above, mainly because I rate all the other guys ahead of him, and you still have to make room for a long man in there (Rusch, Williams, Hill).

 

I agree that Welly will probably be traded, but I don't think he nets anything of value, unless packaged. And, to be honest, I don't see a package deal at this juncture. I could create a few that would make sense for all teams involved, but realistically, I don't see any deals happening.

 

Welly has no options left, right?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Agreed. Note that I didn't include Welly in my list above, mainly because I rate all the other guys ahead of him, and you still have to make room for a long man in there (Rusch, Williams, Hill).

 

I agree that Welly will probably be traded, but I don't think he nets anything of value, unless packaged. And, to be honest, I don't see a package deal at this juncture. I could create a few that would make sense for all teams involved, but realistically, I don't see any deals happening.

 

Welly has no options left, right?

 

Correct.

[gflore34]

Olney is far more impressed with Eyre and Howry than I am.

 

How can you not like them as players? You might not like their price tag, but they certainly help the bullpen.

 

They don't certainly do anything. They're journeymen relievers, and journeyman relievers are not consistent, and guarantee you nothing.

 

They should make the bullpen better, but neither is a lockdown reliever, or anything special, or a right fielder with solid production numbers (the Cubs real #1 need this offseason).

 

Seems to me that the bullpen is crap shoot, look at Cardinals the last two seasons. They've had the NL's best bullpen and what wasn't journeymen about King, Taverez, Calero, Flores, et al? Sometimes it just works, let's hope it works for the Cubs this season.

[soccer10k]

Olney is far more impressed with Eyre and Howry than I am.

 

How can you not like them as players? You might not like their price tag, but they certainly help the bullpen.

 

They don't certainly do anything. They're journeymen relievers, and journeyman relievers are not consistent, and guarantee you nothing.

 

They should make the bullpen better, but neither is a lockdown reliever, or anything special, or a right fielder with solid production numbers (the Cubs real #1 need this offseason).

 

Seems to me that the bullpen is crap shoot, look at Cardinals the last two seasons. They've had the NL's best bullpen and what wasn't journeymen about King, Taverez, Calero, Flores, et al? Sometimes it just works, let's hope it works for the Cubs this season.

 

Sometimes a couple of your relievers happen to have career year one year and then all of a sudden you have the best bullpen in the league. After the closer (and even that can be unpredictable) I agree that setting up a good bullpen is mostly luck.