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People may be tired of hearing this, but the RP actually isn't bad (just unlucky). We have a 4.06 ERA and 721 OPS against. Its not a great bullpen, but its closer to league-average than you'd realize.
The problem this year has been a completely terrible performance in "leveraged" situations. This may be partly mental as negative mindset like this can snowball, but mostly its just horrible luck and also a bit of poor bullpen managing.
In '97 the bullpen had a 5.47 ERA and a 824 OPS against. That includes the "better" 2nd half stats. Its not even remotely the same situation.
Overpaying for some relievers this season with our best prospects would be the worst move since Bavasi's trades of Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo for a platoon DH IMO. We've been a slightly below-average team overall and very unlucky. Either way, we're several games out and not a team with an elite base of talent. Win or lose, this group of players is going to have to figure it out, or not.