Two cows were standing in a pasture, contentedly discussing world events.
"Say," said one, "have you heard about the mad cow disease making the rounds?"
"Yeah," said the other. "Scary stuff. Makes me glad I'm a penguin."
I disagree with much of the premise of this article.
There really aren't low leverage guys in a bullpen. Everyone is going to pitch in close games. That's the nature of baseball, a low scoring game, and the long term trend of fewer and fewer innings provided by starters.
The problem isn't which inning a weak reliever gives up runs. The problem is too many weak relievers.
Adding a good arm surely helps, but it won't mean Cotton won't have a chance to pitch in a 1 run game.
And regularly giving up too many baserunners hurts in the 6th as well as the 8th.