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Did the Cubs and Sox improve their relief staffs in the offseason?
Posted by John Dewan on Dec 16th 2015
February 16, 2005
The Cubs starters had the lowest ERA in baseball in 2004. And equally important, their starters had the lowest OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) as well. However, as all Cub fans know all too well, it was relief pitching that failed them. Their relief staff ERA ranked a mediocre 15th out of the 30 teams in baseball last year. The relievers for theirr south-side counterparts, the White Sox, were 19th in ERA.Both teams made significant changes in the offseason with the Cubs trading Kyle Farnsworth and expecting to use Ryan Dempster as their full-time closer in 2005. The White Sox added Dustin Hermanson and Luis Vizcaino to their bullpen. Taking the top four relief pitchers on their teams for 2005 and projecting their stats to be essentially the same as their 2004 season, we find that the Cubs and Sox move up from 15th and 19th place to 11th and 12th place (using OPS for projected stats). That's significant jumps for both teams. The teams with the biggest projected bullpen improvements for 2005 are:
| Team | Ranking in 2004 | Projected Ranking in 2005 |
| New York Yankees | 21 | 6 | San Francisco Giants | 24 | 9 |
| Minnesota Twins | 12 | 1 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 18 | 8 |
| Seattle Mariners | 22 | 9 |
| Chicago White Sox | 19 | 12 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 25 | 18 |
| Oakland A's | 14 | 10 |
| Chicago Cubs | 15 | 11 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 20 | 16 |