The Bearded Boys

As Matthew Pouliot continues to rank the various parts of the Major Leagues, he moved on to bullpens last week. While it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to Royals fans, the Bearded Boys ranked 1st in the eyes of the author.

Here's where the Bearded Boys ranked in some different areas in 2013:

• WAR: 2nd
• ERA: 2nd 
• FIP: 2nd
• xFIP: 1st
• tERA: 3rd
• SIERA: 1st
• K/9: 1st
• BB/9: 11th
• K/BB: 1st
• HR/9: 12th
• LOB%: 2nd
• WHIP: 1st

There's no doubt that the Royals have a talented group in the bullpen. Of course, it helps when you have a dominant closer at the back and plenty of live arms to fill in from there. Luke Hochevar, Kelvin Herrera, Tim Collins, Louis Coleman, Aaron Crow, Wade Davis, Donnie Joseph... the list goes on and on. Of course, there's only going to be room for seven of these guys on the roster. 

Unless the Royals make a move that includes a reliever, there are going to be 2 or 3 very talented arms that will be opening the year in Omaha. It is a good problem to have, but you'd like to see the Royals convert some of these assets into more usable assets in other areas. The Royals did good moving Will Smith to Milwaukee for a regular outfielder, but the Royals should continue to look for ways to take advantage of this stockpile by converting it to other pieces.

In the meantime, the Bearded Boys are going to be back for 2014 and Royals fans can be confident that a starter exits with a lead, the bullpen will get the job done. With the dominance of the back end that this bullpen brings to the table, the Royals are going to get a lot of come from behind wins again in 2014, as opposing offenses hit the breaks when Ned Yost signals to the relief corps. 

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