Maybe I just don't recall, or maybe I haven't seen it but I can't think of any work done on relief pitcher workloads and effectiveness.
What I do know is Boz's scattershot pick examples that support your point is most likely a bunch of horses(*^(
Imagine that: pitchers get hurt. That NEVER happens. Or pitchers who make it to the majors as a reliever have a short shelf life of effectiveness. Hmmmmm. Wonder why that could be?
Maybe it's because they had a flaw that pushed them toward the far less useful relief pitcher role. Like they only had one pitch (Gregg Olsen's curve for example) or they had major control issues (like Wild Thing). Or maybe they didn't have the arm strength to handle any kind of workload in the first place.
They could hide the flaw for a season or two or even five but eventually the league caught up to them (or they got hurt).
Oh and nice cherry picking Boz. Name three long time dominant relievers who didn't save 20 games before they were 25? Let's see . . . Rivera and Hoffman didn't pitch a full season in the bigs until they were . . . 25!!!!!!!! Wow. And Wagner? He was 24. And "established closer" Todd Jones was on the roster. (Strangely so was Gregg Olsen?)
Now it is true that many long term successful relief pitchers start out in a set up role. Which as I currently understand it is exactly what the Nats would ask Storen to do this season. Since we have "established closer" Matt Capps to blow 9th inning leads this year.
There may be an argument to keep Storen in the minors. But the only reasons should be 1) can he get big league hitters out and 2) How much can the team save by delaying his arb clock?
As for Dunn, I don't see the dilemma. Scouts say Dunn is a terrible fielder. Stat guys say he's God awful. It's dogs and cats living together mass hysteria . . . they AGREE just not to the same extent.
If I had any faith in the Front Office, I'd say Dunn's a DH and while his bat is incredibly valuable, we're a National League team and we just don't use the DH enough. We can get about what we can get from Dunn overall for a fraction of the price and use the savings to patch up other areas. (Or maybe spend on draft picks or international free agents . . . . sorry that was my own fevered delusion, what I meant to say was spend on new paneling for the President's club or to ship authentic cheese steaks down from Philly so the Phillie fans will be happy on those dates)
On Guzman. Sunk cost. No one is going to be fooled into thinking Guzzie is an answer no matter how hot he gets this season. You aren't going to get much for him unless you throw in cash and (hahahahah did I say throw in cash I must be losing it again).
If Desmond earns the job and Guzman sulks, deal with it then. If you have to let him go, well the world didn't end when FLop left.
Lastly, Sunday=Step two. Can you feel the buzz? The drumbeat steadily building. Another scoreless outing and it'll be even tough to justify minor league time. They better be careful or this will quickly escalate.
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