Danchat

Agreed, I'm not mad with Rocco about it - you can't trade Rogers and have Joe Smith be the biggest pen addition over the offseason and expect to have a good bullpen.

Romero is the guy to go out there with the bases loaded and no outs?! The waiver claim who should probably be in AAA right now? Yeesh, this gives me vibes of JR Graham vs A-Rod with the bases juiced. Please prove me wrong here...

The margin for pitching is going to be thin when your hitters go 0 for 10 with RISP...

Yeah... I just don't see the value in waiting two months until he breaks out (assuming this is going like the 2021 version of himself) where he's a -1.0 WAR player during the slump and then he hits well enough to make it appear like it was a successful season. The early games count too!

Well, that should have been a double play... isn't Trea Turner a gold glove winner? Apparently he isn't... but still, surprising for the Dodgers.

Yeah, don't get why Winder is used in a 0-0 game vs a stacked Dodgers lineup rather than using him yesterday with a 4 run lead. The rookie jitters were strong and Jeffers wasn't helping.

Looks like Duffey is coming out next... I guess I can't blame Rocco for treating a 4 run lead so lightly with this bullpen. I'd like to see Winder too, but not at the cost of letting the Mariners back in the game.

Turns out Correa scored, so the out at home no longer means anything. So much for a rally killer, these hitters smell blood in the water!

Looks like we’re getting another year of questionable decisions from the 3rd base coach…

Contreras is at best a bench player so I wouldn't consider him to be much of a prospect either, but what really hurts him is that he's a LH hitter just like Kepler, Kirilloff, and Larnach. I would consider Yennier Cano, who is also 27, to be a prospect - he started very late in the MILB system and I think he still has very high upside as a reliever.

Wow, what a day for AAA! Gotta wonder if Contreras is going to get a shot in the majors at some point, problem is he's yet another lefty OF and we already have too many of those. I thought they'd have Vallimont in the bullpen, as I don't think he has what it takes as a starter. A few more bad starts and maybe they can sneak him off the 40 man roster.

3. He’d be getting slammed for using guys that don’t have experience closing - there’s only so much he can do with the pen he has been given. Not to mention that Duffey’s save/bust rate is not as bad as it looks because it includes blown holds…

They have a guy who can throw 100, but doesn't the "closer's mentality" rule out Duran? Wouldn't it be unwise to give a guy who's never been a reliever and never throw at the major league level save situations so early on? Don't get me wrong, I think Alcala should be getting save chances, but throwing a rookie to the sharks seems like a bad idea. Would a manager with a "winning feel" have done considerably better in 2021 and these 2 games in 2022? I dunno, I think a manager can only do so much with the roster given, especially with the bullpen losing Rogers. I'm not a big fan of Baldelli, but it's not like they're going to find a different manager who can immediately win more games because of his "feel".

Agreed, I don’t see using Duffey as an egregious move. Pagan and Smith haven’t been great recently and haven’t closed in years, and Baldelli has never trusted the younger guys to save. He’ll have to work in Alcala and Duran, but that’s not something he’s going to do right away.

Feels like more of 2021... can't wait for Sano to start hitting in June, and Kepler looks like he did last year - a replacement level hitter. There is plenty of time for improvement... but if things continue like this we'd be better off getting Miranda and Larnach in the lineup over those two.

Yeah... it may be a 'captain obvious' post, but this is why you don't trade your closer who is a top 10 reliever in the whole league when you don't have the horses to replace him. Duffey took a big step back last year and probably isn't going to be his 2019-20 self anymore. This is what you get when you trade away the linchpin of the bullpen.

I'll eat my humble pie when the season ends and Duran's season is officially better than Rogers'. ?

Winder and Duran have been getting the headlines lately, but I have been high on Sands for some time now.

That's a hot take... Duran has never faced MLB hitting and has only 16 not very good innings at AAA under his belt, and has also never been a reliever at the MILB level. Rogers is a top 10 reliever in the league and looked healthy and sharp in spring training... so I wouldn't bet on it, but I'll sing the Twins' praises if this happens. Methinks we need to lower our expectations down a little bit - the Padres were willing to pay a high price for Rogers for a good reason.

I don't think anyone had Winder and Duran making the Opening Day roster... but I suppose with expanded rosters, it was inevitable that they had to carry some 40 man guys. It looks like Jhon Romero made the team over Jax. I imagine he'll have a pretty tight leash, and could easily be the guy to be DFA'd when we need another 40 man spot open.

I am torn on this trade - I really like acquiring Paddack with the upside he has, but I am somewhat worried about his health. Apparently that was a deciding factor for the Mets not acquiring him. Still, 3 cheap years of Paddack is a good get for Rogers and Rooker, especially since our FO doesn't believe in making big investments in starting pitching on the FA market. I like the Pagan inclusion - his numbers are kinda ugly the past two years, but he was having a good 2021 until he had a bad September. I could see him starting out as the setup reliever. I don't like the attempts being made to undermine Rogers' value - there's a reason why the Padres wanted him so much. He's a top tier reliever that I don't see regressing anytime soon, and I can see them getting an extension done with him in the next few months. I don't like how Falvine has let Pressly, Rogers, and May go and hasn't replaced them despite the idea that we are going to be a playoff contender this year. It'd be cool if Alcala and Duran could immediately step in, but I think that's wishful thinking and Rocco has always relied on veteran relievers to hold down the high leverage innings. I just don't like relying on Smith/Cotton/Coulombe to hold down important innings while we're also crossing our fingers hoping Duffey can work as a closer and Thielbar keeps crushing it. Rooker going is absolutely fine, we didn't need him with all the 1B/DH bats we have and he does not belong in the OF. Keeping Larnach is a plus for me. As for the rotation, I don't move Ober out. Archer has barely pitched in Spring Training and probably won't last long in the regular season and Bundy probably is going to be a 5+ ERA starter. They could roll with a 6 man rotation, but it's going to last 2 weeks at most with how frequent injuries are with MLB pitchers. Well, I certainly don't fear a repeat of 2021 with all of the zany moves the FO has made. We're not as reliant on the prospects as we were a month or two ago, but we still need the likes of Miranda/Winder/Larnach to make strides and cement themselves as major leaguers. I am feeling something around a .500 season with the potential for more if the young'uns step up and contribute more than we anticipate.

Urshela did follow up his the 2019 season with an even better one in 2020 according to OPS+ - he improved from 133 to 137 even though the actual numbers look a little worse, but that was because of how the rest of the league regressed after the 2019 juiced ball.

I do hope Alcala gets some save opportunities, but Baldelli does not have a history of giving the young relievers chances at saves... heck, it took until the final game of the year for Alcala to get his first and only shot. Duran will have to pitch really well to even warrant consideration.

Is Strotman moving to the bullpen an official move, or just happening because there's too many other starters? I have been wondering if he may end up in the pen with how rough he looked last year.

Contreras is reportedly a very good defender in the corner OF - I’d give him a shot over the likes of Cave if we have OF injuries. He’s worth a shot.