4 replies to this topic

[MattKory]

BSL: Thoughts On Valdez, Fry, and Sulser

https://baltimorespo...fry-and-sulser/

[Mackus]

I'll enjoy watching these guys get people out while they do, but I'll be surprised if any of them finish with sub-4 ERAs (ignoring how poor of a stat as ERA is for RP).  Fry's the safest bet, but still wouldn't predict him to do it.  I don't think any have a future as assets out of the pen.  Sure, even good teams with good bullpens sometimes carry a guy or two like this while they're riding hot, but that's it, I don't think anyone would be happy to have them as one of their 3 most vital bullpen arms.  Not completely embarrassing to be on the roster is roughly best case for each, IMO.

 

If they pitch well enough for the first half I'm sure we could give them away, but we're not getting any prospects of note for any of them.  Even if Valdez ends up pitching really well and is our All-Star rep, we won't get a top-10 guy for him.  These guys are Richard Bleier level trade chips or worse, not Mychal Givens.  Cash them in if you can as soon as you can, taking as high-risk/high-reward guys as you can get.

[BaltBird 24]

I'd say Fry has the best chance of any arm in the BP to stick long-term. Not like that's saying much, however.

[BSLRoseKatz]

I'll enjoy watching these guys get people out while they do, but I'll be surprised if any of them finish with sub-4 ERAs (ignoring how poor of a stat as ERA is for RP).  Fry's the safest bet, but still wouldn't predict him to do it.  I don't think any have a future as assets out of the pen.  Sure, even good teams with good bullpens sometimes carry a guy or two like this while they're riding hot, but that's it, I don't think anyone would be happy to have them as one of their 3 most vital bullpen arms.  Not completely embarrassing to be on the roster is roughly best case for each, IMO.

 

If they pitch well enough for the first half I'm sure we could give them away, but we're not getting any prospects of note for any of them.  Even if Valdez ends up pitching really well and is our All-Star rep, we won't get a top-10 guy for him.  These guys are Richard Bleier level trade chips or worse, not Mychal Givens.  Cash them in if you can as soon as you can, taking as high-risk/high-reward guys as you can get.

Yeah if a 36-year-old closer gets anything better than some random Dominican teenagers I'd be ready to call Elias the best GM in baseball 

[BSLRoseKatz]

And for Valdez, I kinda feel like he's gonna be able to keep this up because if hitters were gonna start clobbering his pitches, I think it would've already happened.

 

His scouting report is pretty simple and there isn't exactly an element of surprise facing him. I also think the unique schedule of last year means lots of AL teams are gonna be thrown off seeing him for the first time, which will help him continue to be successful if he needs to get two saves in three days vs. the Twins, Astros, etc.