Seems everybody has done a 180 on the value of relievers after watching the Royals in the Series the last two years.

 

There was much anger and angst on these very boards when the Twins went over the top with relievers in the draft a couple years ago (failed starters, limited upside, etc.)

 

Now, they are the flavor du jour. What happened?

 

What the Royals did was not without precedent.

 

Remember the nasty boys of Reds fame?

Cincinnati won the Series in 90, and their pen was the talk of the town.

91, with all three still there, Randy Myers, Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton, the finished 74-88, 5th in the NL West, 20 GB. Many ways to win a game.

 

I’ve seen lots of snipes at Ryan for not spending money on relievers, but he has addressed other needs, catcher, replacing Hunter (his power numbers were decent - admit it), and frankly, the organization has been investing picks into this area for a while now(Billy Bullock anyone?).

 

I’m hopeful that the Twins will actually give some young arms like Burdi and Meyer a chance next season, which to me is better than spending silly money on relief pitching.

 

Developing a solid offense and starting rotation will alway trump the pen IMO. Plus as I posted in the day 2 thread, a fit Perkins, Jepsen, May and a healthy Fien isn't exactly a train wreck.

 

Not that I wouldn’t mind Tony Sipp. ;-)

Edited December 10, 201510 yr by Monkeypaws

I generally agree, but they need to get at least one LH, there just aren't enough internal options. I wouldn't mind them taking a flier on a nonroster reclamation guy or two as well.

 

Looks like they'll roll with Perkins, Jepsen, May, Fien for sure - so hopefully a LH fa reliever, likely Nolasco as the depth guy and a whole bunch of guys that can battle for the last spot or two.

 

Developing a solid offense and starting rotation will alway trump the pen IMO.

 

Rewind to 1987.   Do you know what was the biggest difference in the 1987 team compared to the 1986 team?  (Matter of fact the team had an 103 OPS+ in 1986 and 97 OPS+ in 1987;  and a 4.52 SP ERA in 86 vs a 4.47  in 87.)

 

 

Guess what changed?

 

Rewind to 1987.   Do you know what was the biggest difference in the 1987 team compared to the 1986 team?  (Matter of fact the team had an 103 OPS+ in 1986 and 97 OPS+ in 1987;  and a 4.52 SP ERA in 86 vs a 4.47  in 87.)

 

 

Guess what changed?

46 ip or%^ spinx 45/wtf?

Well, they had the same BA and home runs - pretty incredible given the results, last to first.

Reardon? Just a guess. Berengeur?If so, they had enough to win with just that extremely modest pen.

Neither were really that elite, at least no more so than what the Twins have today.

I think there are many different formulas for success and each team needs to figure it out for themselves. No need to copy anybody in particular especially if you don't have those resources / parts available.