Denny Bautista is odd man out of the bullpen with the return of Joel Zumaya. I’d offer up my feelings, but instead I’ll point you to Detroit Tigers Thoughts who already has it covered.
UPDATE: It appears that the Tigers tried to move Bautista prior to DFA’ing him. Regardless I think it’s a bad move. Bautista hasn’t been bad. Rodney is a long shot to make it through the rest of the season. And while the rehab stint was good for Zumaya can he be counted on holding up? If it’s me I’m hording talent and sending down Dolsi or Miner – and I’m a Dolsi fan.
But instead they are keeping 3 guys with options and losing a guy who hasn’t pitched that bad.
I really sort of expected it to be Fossum myself – unless, for some reason, they are planning on having him stretch out to start if Bonine gets hammered again.
I find this somewhat vexing also. Maybe we should start calling Fossum ‘Castro’, since he apparently overthrew Bautista…
That was awesome, Chris. Fossum is henceforth “Castro,” “Fidel,” or, my preference: “El Maximo Lider.”
Dolsi survived the cuts this week. I really like that.
Do the Tigers realize that if you bring back two good right handed pitchers, you don’t have to demote two good right handed pitchers to balance things? Lopez and Bautista were arguably our best bullpen arms during the beginning of the season. Lopez had a couple bad outings, which was bound to happen, and he gets shelved. Bautista suffers an injury, and he doesn’t get a chance after returning.
I guarantee the only reason Fossum is still on the team is Leyland’s quirk of having two lefties in the pen. Ugh.
I think they look at upside more than the stats.
Fossum might be needed for emergency starts or be used for long relief. They are being proactive, that’s why Lopez went to the minors to get in conditioning to start games. They are Just covering their butts.
Seay is very durable. I’d rather keep a durable pitcher like Seay, than a not so durable one, like Batista. Batista was walking too many guys also.
As poor as Minor looks sometimes, other times he looks unhittable. He’s been durable too.
Dolsi has bailed us out a few times when other guys couldn’t. I think everyone likes him. So he stays.
Fossum is HORRIBLE.
I have a buddy who is a Rays fan, he can’t believe that a Rays reject as bad as Fossum can actually make the Tigers. Fossum will not last through July with the Tigers.
-Sam
J Walker has allowed 11 runs in 35 games for Baltimore and “fossil fuel” has allowed 8 runs in 3 games…and Walker wasn’t worth $3 mil……that 3mil isn’t looking too bad to me right now….
If I had to guess, and I do, I’d say Bautista had to go because he has control problems that can’t be overcome, in the eyes of those making the decision. He’s also the type of pitcher made most redundant by the return of Rodney and Zumaya.
I don’t think it was a bad move at all. I’m surprised he took up a roster spot as long as he did. The reason a trade didn’t materialize may be due to the fact that a hard-throwing but wild righty RP who can’t get RHB out isn’t a hot commodity.
I had no idea why Fossum was on the team and Rapada was not before the first Padres game. In the aftermath of that first Padres game, I have no idea why Fossum is on the team and Rapada is not.