Ed Wade, previously with the Phillies, is known to be a master at assembling a strong bullpen. Wade, presently GM for the Astros, has attempted to do the same in Houston. As soon as he took on the job, relievers like Brad Lidge and Chad Qualls were shipped out, and guys like Valverde, Brocail, LaTroy Hawkins and others came in.
Wade believes in keeping your friends close and your bullpen closer. Early on, you could see his strategy: Have more relief pitching than you need because you never know which guys are going to tank on you from year to year. In 2008, it was Villarreal who suddenly lost it. In 2009, it's been a bad year for Geary and Brocail. Generally, the philosophy has served Ed well but, in 2009, it has been a bit pricey. According to ESPN.com, the Astros are ninth in major league payroll at just under $103 million. After deadline trades, they may have slid to 11th but that evades my point.
By my fuzzy math, the Astros' bullpen salary comes out to $18.424 million. That's in the same ballpark as what the World Champion Phillies spend, the team closest in overall market size to what the Astros are. Yet, if you look at some of the other contending National League teams, the bullpen cost appears to be above average. The Dodgers, even with George Sherrill recently added from the Orioles, has a bullpen costing around $7.2 million. St. Louis is spending around $6.2 million. The Braves spend about $12 million. The Giants about $13 million. Looking at that, you can understand why the Dodgers could afford to add Randy Wolf while the Astros couldn't.
In Wade's defense, the entire problem isn't his responsibility. The Astros signed closer Jose Valverde to a large contract and the team had planned to ship him out during the off-season. Due to the economic difficulties of the past year, teams will no longer take on such a high salary unless they're fully confident in the player, and Valverde doesn't fit the bill.
You would think with an $18 million dollar bullpen, they would pitch like gangbusters, but that hasn't exactly been the case. Through Wednesday, the Astros' relief corps has a 4.28 ERA. They are ninth in saves and next-to-last in blown saves and save percentage (only Washington is worse). All the key members have spent at least part of the season on the disabled list. Part of the problem traces to Cecil Cooper, who seems to treat his bullpen pitchers like a drunk treats whiskey bottles. He goes to them early and often until they are all used up and, even then, he checks them periodically to see if he can coax one more drop from them.
Cooper has irresponsibly used many of the team's relievers, most notably LaTroy Hawkins and Chris Sampson. During the first three months of the season, Cooper showed little regard for their potential fatigue, and this resulted in injuries on the part of both players last month.
Good minds can disagree on whether it makes more sense to have four bullpen pitchers averaging $2 million a year or one starting pitcher making $8 million a year. Mistakes can be made either way (see Jason Jennings and Woody Williams as recent examples where spending on starting pitching didn't work out well). Given the Astros' budgetary constraints, Wade needs to decide whether relief pitching counts more than starting pitching and spend accordingly. There doesn't seem to be enough in the till to feed the need of both the rotation and the bullpen.
So many names in Houston (and talented ones) are on the verge of seeing increased salaries or expiring contracts. Wandy Rodriguez, Michael Bourne, Hunter Pence, and Miguel Tejada are just a few of these names. There's no way the Astros can maintain their bullpen and sign all of these names too.
Seeing Ed Wade's track record, he may very well opt to continue focusing on the bullpen. - 31492
Wade believes in keeping your friends close and your bullpen closer. Early on, you could see his strategy: Have more relief pitching than you need because you never know which guys are going to tank on you from year to year. In 2008, it was Villarreal who suddenly lost it. In 2009, it's been a bad year for Geary and Brocail. Generally, the philosophy has served Ed well but, in 2009, it has been a bit pricey. According to ESPN.com, the Astros are ninth in major league payroll at just under $103 million. After deadline trades, they may have slid to 11th but that evades my point.
By my fuzzy math, the Astros' bullpen salary comes out to $18.424 million. That's in the same ballpark as what the World Champion Phillies spend, the team closest in overall market size to what the Astros are. Yet, if you look at some of the other contending National League teams, the bullpen cost appears to be above average. The Dodgers, even with George Sherrill recently added from the Orioles, has a bullpen costing around $7.2 million. St. Louis is spending around $6.2 million. The Braves spend about $12 million. The Giants about $13 million. Looking at that, you can understand why the Dodgers could afford to add Randy Wolf while the Astros couldn't.
In Wade's defense, the entire problem isn't his responsibility. The Astros signed closer Jose Valverde to a large contract and the team had planned to ship him out during the off-season. Due to the economic difficulties of the past year, teams will no longer take on such a high salary unless they're fully confident in the player, and Valverde doesn't fit the bill.
You would think with an $18 million dollar bullpen, they would pitch like gangbusters, but that hasn't exactly been the case. Through Wednesday, the Astros' relief corps has a 4.28 ERA. They are ninth in saves and next-to-last in blown saves and save percentage (only Washington is worse). All the key members have spent at least part of the season on the disabled list. Part of the problem traces to Cecil Cooper, who seems to treat his bullpen pitchers like a drunk treats whiskey bottles. He goes to them early and often until they are all used up and, even then, he checks them periodically to see if he can coax one more drop from them.
Cooper has irresponsibly used many of the team's relievers, most notably LaTroy Hawkins and Chris Sampson. During the first three months of the season, Cooper showed little regard for their potential fatigue, and this resulted in injuries on the part of both players last month.
Good minds can disagree on whether it makes more sense to have four bullpen pitchers averaging $2 million a year or one starting pitcher making $8 million a year. Mistakes can be made either way (see Jason Jennings and Woody Williams as recent examples where spending on starting pitching didn't work out well). Given the Astros' budgetary constraints, Wade needs to decide whether relief pitching counts more than starting pitching and spend accordingly. There doesn't seem to be enough in the till to feed the need of both the rotation and the bullpen.
So many names in Houston (and talented ones) are on the verge of seeing increased salaries or expiring contracts. Wandy Rodriguez, Michael Bourne, Hunter Pence, and Miguel Tejada are just a few of these names. There's no way the Astros can maintain their bullpen and sign all of these names too.
Seeing Ed Wade's track record, he may very well opt to continue focusing on the bullpen. - 31492
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