Even now, nearly a month later, bullpens across the league are still contending with the fallout from the trade deadline.

Two of the teams to move their front-runner for saves, the Orioles and Athletics , haven't made any progress toward developing a new one. If I had to pick a favorite from each of those bullpens, I'd say Keegan Allen and Sean Newcomb , respectively, but both have commonly worked innings that wouldn't normally go to closers. Each of their past two appearances has come prior to the eighth, for instance.

Given that the Orioles and the Athletics are both last-place teams, the pursuit hardly seems worth the trouble. Maybe if a singular pitcher in either bullpen grabs the horns within the next week or so, there will be time to mine a few saves from him, but because suc

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