The bullpen building strategy of the Dave Dombrowski and Sam Fuld regime is obvious. There are a few things they are looking for, of course, but we can boil them down to really just two:
- Can he throw hard?
- Does he have minor league options?
Answering yes to one of these questions is mandatory, both of them a gift. It allows the team to cycle through a cavalcade of arms at the major league level without risking having to expose them to other teams and their talent hoarding vultures. Norwood was one of these finds for the Phillies, acquired in March from the Padres in exchange for a magical bag of beans.