If you are in the camp that the Ricketts ownership is trending towards being "cheap" or "cost effective" in running a major league franchise, then Paul Sullivan's recent column should add wood to your hot stove position.
Sullivan extracts from the last World Series a new vision for how a team can be a contender without an All-Star starting rotation: have a "shut down" bullpen.
Sullivan wrote that the Giants won the World Series this year with a
rotation that ranked 16th in the majors, while the runner up Royals
team's rotation finished 11th overall.
Sullivan asks this miserly question: So why spend over $100
million on a free-agent starter when an average rotation combined with a
few shutdown relievers in the seventh, eighth and ninth seemingly works
just as well?
That is the type of "out of the box" thinking that an owner with cash flow problems and large looming construction bills would pounce on.
With relievers David
Robertson, Andrew Miller and Sergio Romo are among the free agent
relievers in demand this winter, the all project
far less in contract costs than a Jon Lester or a Max Scherzer.
Cubs president Theo
Epstein believes the Cub already have a strong bullpen with Justin
Grimm, Neil Ramirez and closer Hector Rondon in the late innings, making
that area less of a priority this off-season.
“One
thing I always worry about is looking at the postseason and trying to
draw broader conclusions about those teams,” Epstein said. “In the
postseason, a lock down bullpen becomes more important because with the
off days those guys are available to pitch every day and pitch more than
they would during the regular season. And it’s a lower run-scoring
environment in the postseason.
“So certain things become more
important. But also, if you want to have a good back end of the bullpen,
getting a lot of innings out of starting pitching takes the burden off
those relievers, and means your best relievers are available to pitch
more often and stay healthy.
“I
think this was a postseason where maybe the bullpens took center stage
more than the starting pitchers, but if you look at what (Madison)
Bumgarner did, it also emphasizes just how impactful a true No. 1 on a
roll can be in October.
“I just think next year, a (World Series)
team may not generate much offense except hit a bunch of home runs, and
everyone will say, ‘The long ball is king these days because no one has
power.’ You have to be a little careful.”
But the Cubs may not have to go outside the organization to bolster the bullpen. RHP Armando Rivero, who posted a combined 2.22 earned-run
average and 1.09 WHIP at Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa, should be
one of the first call-ups if he continues to pitch well.
