January 27, 2009
Phillies finish bullpen puzzle; add two arms
Last year, the Phillies finished the season with a bullpen ERA of 5.27, which ranked 13th in the National League. This coming season should be very different, as the Phillies introduced two new relief pitchers who they hope can fix the problems the bullpen had last season.
"We are very pleased to welcome John Bale and Joakim Soria to the Phillies," general manager David Hurka said today at the introductory press conference. "Both these guys were solid pitchers last year, and we're thrilled to bring them into the Philadelphia family."
Last season, Bale went 8-1 with two saves and a 4.90 ERA for Kansas City, while Soria saved 36 games in the closer role for the Tampa Bay Rays.
"I'm happy to be a Phillie," Bale said. "I'm looking at this team, and I can tell that they are going places very quickly. I'm ready to be a part of that."
Soria also added his own encouraging words today, saying that the Phillies are clearly a team on the rise, and that he hopes his playoff experience in Tampa can carry over to Philadelphia.
"I may be young, but I know that I can help this team," Soria said. "I just can't wait for Spring Training to get here, so I can show everyone in the National League what I've got."
For now anyway, this seems to solve the puzzle of the Phillie bullpen. Last year, it was plagued by blown leads late in ball games and pitchers not being able to get out of key spots. Now, with two solid arms in the back end of the 'pen, the expectations are going to be through the roof.
It's up to the new players whether or not they can actually reach those expectations.
I was afraid this was going to happen.
It wasn't that I wasn't happy about bringing in two good pitchers to help bolster the bullpen. It was the fact that now, just about everybody and their brother in Philadelphia was expecting us to bring home a championship this year. I feel confident that we can make the playoffs, but we still might be a year or two off from the World Series. Of course, I'm not going to tell anyone that, but it's still going to be in the back of my head for a while.
Of course, I'm not downplaying signing Bale and Soria by any means. Bale actually came into the fold first, but with Soria basically telling me he was going to sign a few days later, I decided to hold off on spreading the news around until the ink was dry on both deals. If you're basing things strictly on records, then Bale was a great signing. He went 8-1 last year in Kansas City, and I managed to bring him in for three mil a year for the next two seasons. There are a few things that concern me about him, like his ERA rising the past two seasons, but then again, the Royals have gotten worse the past two seasons, too. I've got to keep an eye on that still, though.
As for Soria, that young man is my new closer, no questions asked. He's just 24 years old, and he made his way up through the Colorado system before heading to Tampa two years ago. Even in Colorado, he only gave up six home runs his last year there as a closer, and last year, he helped get the Rays all the way to the World Series. You can't ask for more than that from a youngster. Of course, Bootcheck wasn't thrilled when I told him he was being moved in the bullpen. I also told him we would try and move him, to see if any other team wanted him as a closer, but so far, the lines haven't been ringing.
I think I'm starting to scare some of the other GMs. Sometimes, fear can be a good thing, and since I'm done making moves in free agency, it's not too bad right now. I'm just going to sit back and see if that phone rings once or twice. If not, it's just time to sit back and wait for Spring Training to start. It's not that much longer until pitchers and catchers report, and then the real game begins.
I just hope we don't crash and burn on takeoff.