![]() ![]() Strikeouts have been increasing for more or less the entirety of baseball history. And yet, they occupy about 25 percent of roster slots.Īnd to a larger degree than you probably realize, these OMGs bear responsibility for the ever-increasing rate of strikeouts in baseball - something that was easier to shrug off until MLB attendance started to decline. According to FanGraphs, relief pitchers accounted for only about 9 percent of the value (in wins above replacement) that all position players and pitchers created last year. It also yields rosters that are grossly imbalanced relative to the amount of value that these relievers generate. Teams can take failed starters with two decent pitches and, after some weeding out, turn them into OMGs who will strike out 25 or 30 percent of the batters they face, provided they only have to throw one inning every second or third day. In fact, the whole problem is that OMGs are a renewable resource, with no real constraints on supply. They can be incredibly, game-changingly effective, but they aren’t necessarily all that skilled. (The Yankee bullpen is a prime example.) You might call these pitchers OMGs: One-inning Max-effort Guys. Instead, the problem concerns teams that use a parade of relievers who enter the game from the sixth inning onward and throw the hell out of the ball, knowing they’ll probably max out at one inning at a time. In fact, LOOGYs - Left-handed One-Out Guys - are already fading in popularity as teams realize that if a pitcher isn’t good enough to face multiple hitters in a row, he may not belong in the bullpen pecking order at all. The issue isn’t really with relievers who face just one hitter at a time. ![]() But I think the MLB proposal misses the real problem. I don’t hate this I’ve always been a fan of relief pitchers working longer outings. After all the moves, I decided to promote Cole Sands to work out of the bullpen, a job he earned in OOTP baseball’s spring training.Earlier this month, Major League Baseball said it was considering a rule change to require pitchers to face at least three batters per appearance - or finish an inning - as part of a series of initiatives to improve the pace of play. I offered him more than he asked for 1 yr plus an option year and he signed in time for the season opener. I ended up cutting it off but after a decent period of time passed, he came back and I was able to sign him at a bargain $15M yr for 5 yrs.Īfter spring training had ended, Johnny Cueto, having cut off negotiations, came back to me on the eve of the season opener and said he’d like to try again. I think he had me up to $173M and strung me along, then said the Cubs had a better offer. The toughest one was attempting to sign Kris Bryant. Signing Ken Giles was exciting, knowing how it would solidify the bullpen. Signing Carlos Rodon, which went surprisingly smoothly. Signing Billy Hamilton to a very reasonable deal to be insurance for Byron Buxton. Trading Bailey Ober and Luis Arraez for Chris Bassit. Signing Jose Iglesias, attempting to sign Michael Pineda and Danny Duffy over extended negotiations (especially with Pineda) only to be spurned by both. Some of the trades and signings saw me moving Max Kepler for Taijuan Walker. He must have seen quickly that I was going to be very aggressive striving to build a 2022 contender. At a budget of $203, the player payroll was $160M but he raised the budget to $210M and a player payroll of $170M. ![]() I got messages along the way from Jim Pohlad and at one point, he said that I was having such a good offseason that he was raising my allowance from $203M budget (all expenses, not just payroll). When trying for free agents or making trades, I eschewed any player that I knew had been signed in real life or traded to a new team. He was so tough that to get him signed, I had to average over 20M yr. Prime example: I offered Byron Buxton basically the same deal the Twins signed him for and he came back and said, "I’m only entertaining serious offers"! It seemed he ignored the $8M per year for an MVP award and AB bonuses. It seemed to carry over to free agent negotiations but I’m not sure. I set the trade slider a little more to the hard side the the easy side. Frustrated by Falvey and Levine’s approach the last two offseason and with the lockout in effect, I bought OOTP baseball for $4.99 in order to build the Twins my way using trades, free agent signings and keeping the up and coming pitching. ![]()
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