Quote:
Originally Posted by O.city
So, can they just DFA choate?
|
Yeah.
They'd have to pay him, but sunk costs are sunk costs.
If Matheny insists on a second lefty, bring Cooney back. He's at 89 as a starter but would probably be 91 as a reliever with a lot more snap on his breaking ball if he's not trying to pace himself as much. As a starter, he's worked on getting out righthanders as well and his arsenal (notably his sinking fastball) would allow him to work to a RH here and there to stay in the game to face another couple of lefties, depending on the batting order. He's can be sensibly deployed - Choate cannot.
Or if/when Garcia/Gonzalez are ready, put Lyons in that role. I think his stuff plays extremely well as a lefty reliever.
Ultimately I don't see a 2nd lefty as that critical, at least not during the regular season. They'd be better served carrying another versatile righty (like Harris) and putting an additional bench bat back on the team. With sinkerballers like Maness and Belisle, not to mention that cutter from Harris, you have guys that can deal with most rank and file lefties. With Siegrist you can get through the nasty lefties on the team once in the 7th or 8th and set it up for Rosenthal.
On Sunday when we were rolling Pete Kozma up there in a key situation in the 9th to try to tie it, I feel like the book was closed on how Matheny's managing this bench/bullpen right now. You just can't carry 13 relievers and you damn sure can't do it if your bench includes 2 injured guys, a backup catcher you won't use and Pete Kozma, who just blows.