Smizik: No bullpen save for the Pirates
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It's pretty much standard practice in Major League Baseball that when a team suffers significant losses in a certain area, it explores all possible ways of replenishing that area. The Pirates, of course, don't run a standard baseball operation. They run a substandard baseball operation. There's no better example of that than the way the team's bullpen was handled from last season to this one.
The Pirates had a good bullpen in 2006. It was fourth in earned run average in the National League. From that bullpen they lost closer Mike Gonzalez and right-handed setup man Roberto Hernandez. Gonzalez was traded in the offseason to Atlanta for first baseman Adam LaRoche. Hernandez was traded July 31 to the New York Mets, in the deal that brought Xavier Nady to the Pirates.
Gonzalez had been the team's closer, converting all 24 of his save opportunities. His earned run average was 2.17. Hernandez shared the right-handed setup role with Solomon Torres. His ERA was 2.93, second best on the team.
Those were considerable losses to a bullpen that also included right-hander Matt Capps and left-handers John Grabow and Damaso Marte. Most teams with such a bullpen shortfall go outside the organization for replacements as the Braves did with Gonzalez.
The Pirates did not. Their decision to use an inexperienced and untested cast of minor-leaguers to replace Gonzalez and Hernandez is one of the major reasons the team is headed for a 15th consecutive losing season. This failure to act in such a crucial area -- to allow a strength to become a weakness without doing anything about it -- highlights the improper way the Pirates do things.
There were dozens of middle reliever/setup men on the free-agent market in the winter. The Pirates did nothing. It's true that many of these relievers were signed before the Gonzalez trade, but that deal had been in the works for months. The Pirates should have been better prepared for his departure, along with that of Hernandez. The result of the Pirates' inaction is this:
They have gone from fourth in bullpen ERA to 13th, entering the weekend.
They have gone from third in opponents' slugging percentage to 15th.
They have gone from 15th in home runs allowed to first.
Beefing up the bullpen would not have require tens of millions, but it would have required millions. The Pirates, instead, preferred to spend hundreds of thousands.
Manager Jim Tracy had spoken too many times about the team's need for relief help. It's easy to see why Tracy feels unarmed in the bullpen.
Last season, from the right-handed side, he had Capps, Torres and Hernandez setting up for Gonzalez. This season, he has Torres setting up for Capps. In 2006 he had the luxury of using Capps in the sixth, Torres in the seventh and Hernandez in the eighth. Now, he has no one of consequence to pitch the sixth or seventh.
It is possible, general manager Dave Littlefield and his staff thought they had the necessary replacements already in the organization. Wrong again.
The Pirates have run out the following right-handed relievers this season to back up Torres and Capps: Shawn Chacon, John Wasdin, Jonah Bayliss, Brian Rogers, Josh Sharpless and Tony Armas. Their ERAs are Chacon, 3.48 (before joining the rotation); Wasdin, 6.92; Bayliss, 6.75; Rogers, 13.50; Sharpless, 12.27, Armas 3.38 (in three games after being removed from the rotation),
To compound the problem, Bayliss had an ERA of 10.13 in May, when the team was 11-19. Sharpless, who did not start the season with the team, had a 21.60 ERA in the three games he pitched in May.
Yet, until this weekend, the Pirates pretty much stood pat with their awful bullpen. They were forced to make a move yesterday when Torres was placed on the disabled list. He is being replaced by Masumi Kuwata. A legend in Japan, Kuwata, 39, is well past his prime, but he has pitched effectively for Indianapolis this month after spending more than two months rehabilitating a sprained ankle. In 4 1/3 innings, Kuwata has been near-flawless, allowing no runs and three hits while striking out three and walking none.
The Pirates also might consider Dan Kolb, 32, who, as recently as 2004, was a premier closer with the Milwaukee Brewers and an All-Star. Kolb is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA at Indianapolis in 17 1/3 innings.
The Pirates' reluctance to make such moves is perplexing. Their stand-pat attitude with what is probably the worst bench in MLB is typical of their failure to be proactive in fixing their problems.
That's why they're the Pirates.
First Published June 9, 2007 11:54 pm
