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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Brett Myers: Revisited

OK. Now that I'm calmer and I've gotten some work out of the way, I'll discuss the Brett Myers situation. I, along with anyone else who follows Sabermetrics and probably most people who follow baseball, realize that this was one of the worst decisions the Phillies could make. The fact is, though, that there is nothing we - as fans or fantasy players - can do to change it. So what do we do?

Hold onto Brett Myers. Do not drop him. If someone in your league does, grab him quickly. Myers has too much talent for Philadelphia to waste in the bullpen. It could be argued that if Philly realized this they wouldn't have put him there in the first place, but that is besides the point.

Then, hope for one of two situations to occur.
1. Best Case - Philly realizes next week that they made a huge mistake and put him back in the rotation. Hopefully this will take place sooner rather than later, but for now we need to wait it out.
2. Not as Good but Better than Setup Man Case - Tom Gordon gets hurt (I know, it's awful to wish harm on another human being) and Myers steps in to close. If this happens, you should look to trade him for a good Starting Pitcher (preferably one whose GM is not Pat Gillick).

So there you have it. Hang onto him for at least a couple of weeks and see what happens. Do not sell low, and do not drop him.

Expect a quite a few posts either tomorrow or Friday in addition to a statement about the current status of the Saberoticians.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You really love you some Brett Myers, huh? While I don't share your opinion of him (I think he's a nice 2-3 starter at best with an upside of 15 wins at most), I think he is one of the better pitchers the Phillies have. And that said, wouldn't you want him available 3 times a week rather than 1? The Phils pen is atrocious, and apparently they haven't gotten the memo that bullpens are more important than rotations these days. Moving Myers to a relief role potentially lands them a guy who might do what Aaron Heilman has done for the Mets. And if that's the case it might translate into a good deal of wins, and a more prominent role for Myers.

Derek Carty said...

Thank you for your opinion, but I have to disagree. 8.5 K/9 | 2.75 BB/9 | 47% GB in Starters innings does not belong in the Bullpen.
As a Mets fan, if I had the opportunity to move Aaron Heilman for a Top 10-15 SP in baseball, I would do it without a second's notice.
As a fantasy player, I would much rather have Myers pitch 7 or 8 innings per week (and twice that every other week) than 5 innings per week as a reliever, especially considering it is the Starter who will pick up the Win most of the time.
Bullpen's are important, but I believe their importance has been a bit overblown. 7 or 8 quality IP out of a Starter is much more valuable than 2 or 3 out of a Bullpen.
There are plenty of capable minor leaguers who could help a bullpen that just haven't gotten a chance yet. To waste a talent like Myers there is inexcusable.

Ken said...

Well, I'd have to say this season so far is bearing me out. The Phillies are nowhere to be found, while the Mets bullpen has given them the opportunity to come from behind 15 times now this season.

Take a look at the teams with terrible pens (i.e. the Yankees) ad I bet you'll be looking at the bottom of the standings. But there are some good teams out there with less than average starting pitching who are playing pretty well (the Angels come to mind).