ie..for the 6th or 7th innings, we didn’t do enough in the offseason. i think Mathis should have the inside track among those Durrett mentions although Mathis and Eyre were both mentioned in his article regarding long relievers. I’m just not a fan of Eyre. The only difference betwen the two articles was Strop in place of Nippert.

The bullpen without any acquisitions as of now may be Nippert, Mathis, Strop, O’Day, CJ, FX2 and a lefty that we need to sign or use AJ Murray/Harrison in the role. Of course, alot of this depends on whether Feliz/McCarthy are in the rotation or not. I think we need to sign a couple arms for the bullpen, possibly the lefty and a low-risk NRI like Benoit etc..

Bullpens are probably the most unpredictable position, and I think we need to make at least a couple signings when the market starts to play itself out. I know some don’t think we should spend money on relievers because they can’t be counted on year in and year out, but that’s the point. Can we count on CJ, O’Day and FX2 being as good as they were last year? We need quality depth in ‘pen for this reason. FX2 battled injuries last year, CJ is inconsistent from year to year and is going to prepare as a starter (which I do not like – it is better to prepare for the ’pen as that is where he is best suited to be), and I’m not a fan banking on sidearm pitchers like O’Day repeating their success— see Ziegler.

The ’pen was looked on as a weakness to start last year, and it ended up being a strength with the performances of the main 3 anchoring it, but there are holes that need to be filled and possible contingencies for which we should prepare. The waiver wire is probably not the best place to find it this year.

the Yankees representative. Teagarden was scheduled to go to winter ball and decided to get a head start with this AFL gig.