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More On Vogelsong, Perez

I didn't have time to elaborate on this subject last night, so I'd like to do so now.

The timing on the Ryan Vogelsong move was about right, I think. I thought the Bucs were justified in offering him arbitration last year, after he had a decent second half in 2005 and with a new coaching staff in place. I might have been wrong about that - the strikeout rate just wasn't there - but giving him arbitration was only a small risk. I'm not sure he'll never be successful, but I am pretty sure he'd never have been successful with the Bucs. Jonah Bayliss, as Greg notes in the comments to the previous thread, doesn't really fix any problems, and there's hardly a guarantee he'll be successful (he was wild in the minors), but he should still be an improvement. Although Jim Tracy mostly used Vogelsong in mop-up situations, he did occasionally use him in higher-leverage situations, so it's relieving to know that he won't be able to do that again.

Regarding the Oliver Perez move, I'm not sure what the Pirates are thinking. Perez's problems seem to be mechanical and perhaps physiological and psychological, and I'm not sure which of these a move to the bullpen addresses. Is moving him to the bullpen going to help him to again throw 97 while starting? I doubt it. It seems the Pirates have decided they'd prefer to ignore Perez's problems for a while, to push him off to the side. In the meantime, we don't have to watch him try to start, which is a plus, but I'd prefer he be sent to the minors and allowed to start there so that a different coaching staff can try to figure out what's wrong.