Game On?

I stand by my update of "Ugh", the other day. Now I am hearing that Dotel has signed with the White Sox for the same terms as before. If he is signed with the White Sox, great. If not, I'm sick of hearing about it.

Do the Sox need a guy like Octavio Dotel? Yes, they really do. The bullpen is the lynch pin of the whole team. The reason the White Sox have failed as of late rests solely on the bullpen. They are the most important cog in the whole machine.

When the bullpen fails, the rest of the team has the pressure put on them. The starting pitchers feel like they have to go longer, putting more strain on them. The offense feels like they have to score a butt-load of runs, which gets into their head. The defense feels like they have to grab everything, which leads to costly errors. The team loses more games, which causes the manager to curse more around the media. The media writes more negative things about the team, which causes the fans to get upset quicker and some players to get down on themselves. You see, when the bullpen goes, it causes a domino effect that rapidly brings everyone else down with them.

A healthy bullpen is the key to a great season. If the team has the confidence to give the ball to the bullpen, the team will win more games. Octavio Dotel fits into that equation. So does Scott Linebrink. So do the staff who is still there in the bullpen. The only lock is Bobby Jenks. If Bobby is the only part of the bullpen that the team is confident in, that bullpen will not work. You can't always go from the starter to Jenks. There needs to be a solid bridge. Octavio Dotel is part of the strength of that bridge. Potentially speaking, of course.