I get how pen building costs less, is usually a safer bet, and shorter commitments, but to me, we have so many pitchers we have used as SP'ers who belong in the pen. We can make our pen one of the best in MLB without adding a single player to our roster, except SP'ers.
This pen blows me away:
Closer: Jansen
Set-Up: Martin
RP3: Houck
RP4: Whitlock
RP5: Crawford
RP6: Pivetta
RP7: Scheiber
RP8: Winckowski/ Bernardino/Joely/Murphy/Walter/Kelly/Robertson
Now, I fully realize at least 2 from Houck, Crawford and Pivetta will be in the opening day rotation, and all 3 will likely start a lot of games in 2024, but if we add 2-3 solid SP'ers, we can minimize those starts and maximize their time in the pen. If Sale can start 15+ games in 2024, it would add to t heir pen time, too, but I'm not counting on even 1 start fro Sale in '24.
This is likely a pipe dream, and it's only adding 2 SP'ers:
SP1: Gray or Urias
SP2: Yamamoto
SP3: Bello
SP4: Houck
SP5: Sale/Pivetta/Houck