Bullpens, Burgers & More

BY KEVIN KERNAN

Baseball thoughts while shopping at the Wednesday Pier Marke- t…

There is no truth to the rumor that Brian Cashman and Andrew Friedman got together after the Dodgers vanquished the Yankees in the World Series in five games last year and made a pact to see how much money they could both spend and still not have a successful bullpen in 2025.

The Dodgers bullpen sits at a 4.21 ERA, 21st overall, while the Yankees are right behind them at No. 22 with a 4.22 ERA. The Dodgers payroll is $341 million while the Yankees are sitting at $300 million. You would think with that kind of money, you could put together a bullpen with an ERA under 4.00.

The Padres and A.J. Preller have the best bullpen in the game with a 2.99 ERA and they added Mason Miller at the trade deadline. Since baseball now is all about bullpens, that is a significant number.

“Nothing rips the heart out of a team than having a closer blow games,’’ one top talent evaluator told BallNine on Wednesday.

He’s right about that. The Devin Williams trade was a disaster for the Yankees and Cashman. Many of the bullpen arms Friedman acquired are hurt, the latest being Brock Stewart (shoulder inflammation).

Cashman and Friedman do possess expensive mulligans other baseball bosses don’t have because they have money to burn. Cashman rebuilt his bullpen at the trade deadline with the biggest acquisition being David Bednar, who has the makeup to succeed in New York as a closer – but will his stuff hold up?

Friedman’s mulligan – he will be getting a lot of injured pitchers back in the fold, arms like lefty Tanner Scott, who was signed to a four-year, $72 million deal by Friedman. When Scott returns from his elbow issues he will be bringing a 4.18 ERA along for the ride.

We will see if the Mulligan Brothers make it back to the World Series, they have $641 million riding on the outcome. 

Compounding the Dodgers’ bullpen woes is the fact that the Dodgers high-priced starters are basically five inning pitchers so there is more work and pressure on the bullpen. Maybe Shohei Ohtani will close games in October.

The Dodgers are dead last in starters’ innings pitched at 555 innings, worse than even the White Sox (565 innings) and the Rockies (582 innings). The Phillies are the best with 681 innings from starters and now they have a closer, too, in Jhoan Duran.

Yep, $341 million doesn’t buy what it used to buy. Dodger relievers have blown 19 of 54 save opportunities.

The latest bullpen meltdown by the Dodgers came Tuesday night against the Angels as they allowed the Padres to even up the NL West race. Lefty Alex Vesia loves to go 3-2 on hitters and blew the save in the ninth – and righty Ben Casparius finished the job in the 10th.

Friedman’s confidence in his bullpen and entire pitching staff remains as high as the Dodgers payroll.

On Tuesday the Dodgers’ POBO told reporters, “First we have to qualify for October. If we’re fortunate enough to do that, I think we will have arguably our most talented pitching staff that we’ve ever had with some really good pitchers left off. It’s what I’m anticipating.’’

We will see if the Mulligan Brothers make it back to the World Series, they have $641 million riding on the outcome. By the way, Game 7 will be played November 1.

Pet Peeve: With his quote, Friedman annoyed me and it’s not just him. Many who work in MLB, especially those at MLB Network, talk about the playoffs in March Madness terms.

They say such things as “Have to win games to get into the tournament.’’

That remains one of the problems with the Yankees, lowered expectations and using language to lower those expectations. Brian Cashman talks about the tournament and not the World Series.

Team goals used to be to winning the pennant, but the playoffs have been watered down so much by Rob (Waterboy) Manfred that it is now about qualifying for “the tournament.’’ In all my years of being around George Steinbrenner, I don’t think I ever heard him say, “It’s all about getting into the tournament.’’

It is no surprise that MLB has not had the same World Series champions in back-to-back years since the Boss’ Yankees won three in a row 1998, ’99 and 2000.

Let’s Go Burgers: With their 12th straight win Wednesday, a 12-5 shellacking of the pitiful Pirates, the Brewer Burgers earned free burgers from George Webb Restaurants for fans across the state of Wisconsin. A giveaway date will be announced Thursday by George Webb. You need a little time to feed Brewer Nation.  Free burgers were handed out throughout the state back in 2018: around 190,000. After the win Wednesday before 40,123 hungry for burgers and wins fans, Christian Yelich proclaimed, “You’ve got to give the fans what they want.’’

The Brewers continue to be the best story in baseball and on Monday at BallNine I wrote about their manager Pat Murphy and what makes him so special. The Brewers also have a tremendous working coaching staff with the likes of pitching coach Chris Hook and associate manager Rickie Weeks Jr. As a player, Weeks was known for his toughness and he has brought that attitude to these Brewers.

Ranting Russo: I did find Mad Dog Chris Russo’s rant about the Mets and Gary Cohen being a bit too excited for Pete Alonso setting the Mets all-time home run record with his 253rd home run (and later 254) on Tuesday night entertaining, but Russo is probably upset because his San Francisco Giants stink and they don’t hit many home runs. So this is a transference of anger by Mad Dog. The Giants were pulverized 11-1 by the Padres on Wednesday at Oracle Park. The Giants only have 113 home runs as a team, 27^th in baseball – only the Royals, Padres, Pirates have hit fewer home runs than the Giants – a team that once had Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in a season. The how low can you go Pirates under terrible owner Bob Nutting have only 87 home runs, the only MLB team not to crack 100.

Starting to Show: First the Nerds devalued batting average, they then devalued experienced baseball men, and now they have devalued starting pitching with disastrous consequences to the game. They devalued it by not teaching it in the minor leagues, not teaching pitchers how to navigate through innings and trouble, because those in charge now don’t know how to do that.

Former MLB infielder and master baseball technician Ted Kubiak, who spent 10 years in the majors, mostly with Oakland A’s and their sweet uniforms, wrote a post entitled: “Help me someone!’’

In it he listed a full lineup of problems with today’s game, including pitching: “Why am I having to watch pitchers who have no idea where the strike zone is? Why doesn’t someone teach them what it means to use their legs and lower half, and to follow through when they release a pitch instead of ‘pirouetting’ as so many of them do? And where have all the crazy ‘set positions’ come from? It’s a wonder they could throw anything close to a strike starting their deliveries as they do and landing on one foot like a stork?’’

Twin Killing: The Pirates are embarrassing but the Twins are a tragedy. It was announced this week that they are no longer for sale by the Pohlad family, which basically means there were no takers at such an inflated price for a team with deep financial problems – as well as on the field problems – and, just as important, a team fans have lost trust in to go to games.

The Twins had a fire-sale at the trade deadline to save money for Joe Pohlad and family and lopped off about $26 million of their $142 million payroll. They are on their way to their lowest attendance in 16 seasons, and that is well deserved, but that does not begin to tell the trouble the Twins have with their fans. Joe Pohlad told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the fire-sale “certainly set us up for more flexibility.’’  Nothing like being a more flexible, garbage team. The Twins have continued to get rid of good baseball people and are paying the price. Good luck, Twins fans. In 2019, the Twins drew 2.3 million fans. A lot has changed since them and attendance steadily decreased and this season the Twins have only drawn $1.2 million fans to downtown Minneapolis and Target Field. Go Vikings. Go Timberwolves.

For Pete’s Sake: Pete Alonso is one of my favorite players to be around because he wears his heart on his sleeve. I always said he plays baseball like a chocolate lab running around the backyard. I wrote in the off-season that the Mets would be making a huge mistake letting Alonso go, and they still almost lost Pete – and may lose him after this season. Think of this: Alonso is the all-time Mets leader in home runs, so he has proven his point. Let this season go where it is going to go for the Mets. Alonso needs to go to a team where he fits best. Just imagine Alonso with the Red Sox and taking shots at the Green Monster. Or Alonso with the Yankees if the Yankees don’t make the smart move and move Aaron Judge to first base. Or maybe if the Rays’ new ownership is serious about winning, Pete could go home to the Tampa area. It will be fascinating to see where Pete winds up next season, maybe even back with the Mets.

I do know this: of the Top Ten Home Run hitters in the game this year, only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani have hit more home runs than Alonso, who has 28, and have a higher average than Alonso’s .267, and you know what, Pete Alonso has more RBIs (96) than both of them. When it comes to Old School Numbers, home runs, RBIs and batting average, Pete Alonso delivers.