Right, and notice they didn't sign/ complete a trade for any of them. Instead, he went out and got two impact bats last year. My guess is MadBum will be no different. Stearns probably does put a lower value on these guys than other GMs. That said, the reason Stearns is still interested in some of these guys is that they WOULD be an improvement even if they only go 5 innings. Also, some of that may be GM gamesmanship, and some of the rumors probably weren't true to start with. Right, they didn't pull the trigger but just being involved means they likely see the value in having a guy who can often go deeper and give everyone a rest. If you were only going to pitch Darvish 5 innings why would even consider paying him 15+ mil for 3+ years to even be in the discussion. I think we actually punted two games last year by having guys like Wilkerson start and just taking poundings (those 15+ run games where some hitters had to P). Being they know they'll be more trigger happy yanking early though might've led to them not valuing it enough to make the moves. I like that they have their price and stick to it rather than fall for these shenanigans though. Think of it this way, if you had a legit Kluber type ace 1/5 of the games it would allow to unleash bullpen fury the other days. Problem of course is Bum just isn't that level anymore. But there is a value in him or anyone (maybe Nelson or Burnes) being able to do that here and there to give the pen a break. I'm guessing that's what they're looking for, but so far haven't found a price they're willing to pay. And if they don't find it, they'll roll the same as last year and hope for some more SP innings due to in theory Burnes, Nelson, Davies, Anderson etc being better than the guys they had last year (or in Davies/Anderson cases just closer to their previous seasons). I haven't looked a the schedule yet but I hope there isn't another 24 straight game stretch like before the ASB and 17 straight stretch after on it again.