Power of the 'pen

Running the Cleveland Indians is apparently like trying to hold a handful of marbles. One falls out of your hand, and when you go to pick it up, three more fall.
Last year, the Indians dragged their bullpen around like a big, ugly goiter. Until Bob Wickman and Bob Howry arrived off the disabled list for the season's second half, the bullpen had no real go-to guys. Jose Jimenez and Scott Stewart were flaming busts. David Riske took almost two-thirds of a season to recover from a disastrous start, and the relief corps had no reliable lefties.
The Tribe sat and watched as countless solid efforts by the offense and starting rotation had a torch taken to them by the bullpen. We still can only wonder how many more games the 80-win Indians could have won last year with a good bullpen. Enough to wrestle the AL Central away from the Twins? That answer is lost to the ages now.
This year, it is just about the exact opposite. The Indians now have the bullpen of a contender. Playoff-tested lefties Scott Sauerbeck and Arthur Rhodes have joined Wickman, Howry, Rafael Betancourt and a revitalized Riske to form one of the top bullpens in baseball.
The trouble is, the offense is now the worst in baseball, entering play today with a major-league low .231 team average, and the starting rotation is inconsistent with a penchant for coughing up home runs.
Now, the offense and starters aren't getting a lot of leads to the later innings for the bullpen to protect. Despite having a bullpen that is arguably as good or better than baseball's top team to date, the White Sox, the Indians enter play today 12-17 and in fourth place, 10 1/2 games out in the Central.
And it's only May.
After last season's late-inning minefield, I'd like to consider the bullpen the one problem solved on this team. I'd like to think owner Larry Dolan is going to supply general manager Mark Shapiro with the funds and permission to seek out pieces to augment the offense and rotation.
But as long as the Indians draw sluggish numbers at the Jacobs Field gate, I know that probably won't happen. And as long as the Indians stay near the back of the bus in the American League, fans probably aren't going to turn out in droves to see them play the Royals or Tigers for the eight millionth time.
It's a self-perpetuating thing, and it might lead to the dismantling of the Cleveland bullpen before the July 31 trade deadline.
The longer the Indians stay out of contention, the harder it is going to be for Shapiro to resist trade offers for his relief pitchers. Texas has already reportedly inquired about Riske and Howry.
If the Indians don't find themselves any closer to the playoff chase in July than they are now, expect Shapiro's cell phone to ring until it melts and burns a hole in his pants pocket.
July is the time when legitimate contenders start behaving like debutantes getting ready for a black-tie gala, fretting over every little imperfection. Nothing is fretted over more than bullpens, so very important in the late-inning chess matches of October.
Big-money contenders like the Braves, Red Sox, Angels and Dodgers will be willing to pay the Indians handsomely in prospects for Rhodes, Riske, Howry or Sauerbeck. It means Shapiro to could get his hands on the power bats missing from the Indians' lineup presently. The trade-off is, it puts the bullpen back on the shaky ground of last year, as we would then have to hold our collective breath and hope Jason Davis turns into a bona fide door slammer.
I think everybody that follows the Indians was really hoping this would be the year they could add pieces for the stretch instead of once again serving as a garage sale for the rest of baseball. But a stacked bullpen doesn't do a lot of good on a fourth-place team. If the Indians never get to breathe down the necks of any contenders this year, Shapiro will have to start looking when teams fling open the doors to their farm systems.