The thing I've always felt with Relievers, and this goes back to before Sparky Anderson, is that you throw them out there and see if they stick. At best, you get 2-1/2 years of quality Relief. Relievers will ride a short sample size of success for years and too many teams are willing to chase old results.
If a Reliever isn't getting it done, replace him. Don't chase previous results. There are in-season ups and downs, but I'm talking about Relievers who fail from the beginning of the season through the middle of the season and you're waiting for results from a previous season. That, to me, is folly. Move on. It's also why I would never invest heavily in Relievers It's not a good return per PA for the dollar spent. Volume and a willingness to move on to someone else would be my yearly approach. The Pitching Coach is highly responsible for putting together what the team wants out of the group and everyone needs to pitch towards that philosophy. The Manager then needs to be monitoring each Reliever on a daily basis and do his best to put each person into a situation that encourages growth and success. It's why a single move may not make sense at the time, but is meant to work out best in the long run for the entire group. But, to just throw someone out there "because it's his turn" or "because it's his inning" is plain stupid, especially when recent history reflects repeated failure. None of this works when you have Starters that can't go past five innings. There's just not enough rest available for the pen in these conditions. Ashcraft has been a blessing in this regard as it looks like he may be able to repeatedly go 7 innings. Greene needs to stop leaving pitches dead over the middle of the plate. Lodolo's progressing positively, but the team needs a Veteran next season that can go 6+ innings repeatedly, even if the ERA is at 5.00.