I think that the time is now to make a deal for a real closer. You can make an augument that if we had a REAL stopper in the bull pen, we could have won at least 2 of the 4 games we have lost in a row. Coffey, who pitched far better as a set up guy could have pitched against the Cubs and not have given up the grandslam. He could have pitched the 8th tonight against the Brewers and held the lead (actually started the inning and not take over for Mercer with men on base). I can live with our starting pitching the rest of the season, I can even live with the current defensive lineup, errors included.
We score enough runs to keep us in most games. (a chance to win in the ninth, 3 of our 4 current losses)
If the management thinks Kearns and Dunn is our future...fine, then you need to package Deno, and whoever to get a closer. Deno has nothing else to prove in AAA, he's ready for the majors, either with us or another ball club. His trade value has never been higher.
If Deno is our future, then Kearns needs to be traded. We have something to trade that has value. With a real closer, there is no reason why we can't win 90 games this year. Even with the current bullpen, we are 8 games over
.500 and on pace to win 93 games. The time is now...let's get it done.