Middle relievers tend to be the Rodney Dangerfields of
baseball roster construction. Though
they play a pivotal role in keeping a game close leading up the designated 8th
inning and 9th inning guys, they don’t get no respect at all.
We Mets fans can think back to a great many non-closer
relievers who were a big part of the team’s success, including Tyler Clippard
and Addison Reed during the NL Championship year of 2015. Others who flourished in that capacity
include John Franco (after the arrival of Armando Benitez), Turk Wendell,
Duaner Sanchez and Jeff Innis. Even the
much-maligned Doug Sisk had a career ERA of just 3.27. Who wouldn’t want that kind of quality on the
team right now?
While there are any number of areas in which the Mets could
stand to improve, the majority of folks would say that the bullpen has been the
biggest disaster. Other than the couple
of recent implosions by Edwin Diaz, he’s been what they expected when they
acquired him. The rest of the pen,
however, is either hurt, underperforming, or simply waiting for the Uber back
to Syracuse.
So with that situation in mind, it got me to wondering about
other middle relievers around the league who have had at least a 2nd
straight year of success in that role and what the price might be to acquire a
few of them. Obviously the management
team would be far more interested in pitchers that still have controllable
years left on their contracts, but there were quite a few helping other
ballclubs.
Scott Alexander – The Dodgers’ lefty picked right up where
he left off after success in Kansas City.
He’s in his final year of controllable cost before arbitration in 2020, and
sports a 3.16 ERA for his career.
Pedro Báez – Another Dodgers’ hurler, the righty has numbers
even better than Alexander – 3.03 for his entire career. He’s making $2.1 million now and is arbitration
eligible next season before hitting free agency in 2021.
Ryan Brasier – The Red Sox reliever has an eye-popping 2.48
ERA for his career despite a downturn this year in the high 3’s. He is a bit older but has turned in two solid
seasons before stumbling a bit this year.
He’s not arbitration eligible until 2021.
John Brebbia – The slender Cardinals’ righty is on the third
straight stellar campaign, with a career ERA of just 2.53. He’s arbitration eligible in 2021 and can become
a FA in 2024. He looks like a great
target.
Ty Buttrey – The Halos got a great 16 game trial from
Buttrey last year and he’s followed it up this season by thus far appearing in 26
games and pitching to a miniscule 1.27 ERA.
He has a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio, too!
Diego Castillo – The first-place contending Rays may not
want to part with the portly right hander.
In his rookie season last year he appeared in 43 games as both a starter
and reliever (remember, the “opener” usage in Tampa). He finished with a 3.18 ERA and this season
is even better with 26 games and a 2.54 ERA.
John Gant – While Sandy Alderson was praised when he brought
in veteran utilitymen Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe, the price included Gant and
Rob Whalen. Gant was then flipped to the
Cardinals where he was used as mostly a starting pitcher with good but not
great results. However, now they’ve kept
him exclusively in the pen and he’s featuring a 1.26 ERA over 24 games with a
nearly invisible WHIP under 0.700. He’s
arbitration eligible next year and can become a FA in 2023.
Ryne Harper – While he may not be the Harper Mets fans hoped
they’d land, the 30-year-old Twins rookie has followed up his eight minor
league seasons with a 2.56 ERA and now is pitching even better in the majors
with a 1.61 ERA over 22 games.
Brandon Workman – Like many pitchers who couldn’t cut it as
a starter, Workman found a home in the pen.
His first year exclusively as a reliver his ERA dropped by 2 full runs
and he’s gotten even better since. This
year he’s been in 27 games with a 2.22 ERA and a WHIP under 1.000. He’s making $1.15 million this season, he’s
arbitration eligible next year and can become a FA in 2021.
Most of these names are probably new to most of the readers,
but they have a young track record of success over multiple seasons (with the
exception of the Twins’ Harper). They
are cheap, always a high priority for ownership, and would represent a
significant upgrade to the Mets’ beleaguered pen.
The cost to acquire these pitchers is a great unknown. The Mets have Dom Smith who obviously would
be of interest to any number of other ballclubs. They have immovable contracts in Todd Frazier
and Juan Lagares. After that they’d be
reaching into their lackluster and thin farm system to try to pull off
deals. Let’s assume for the moment that
Smith is the price, would you do it?
4 comments:
Juan Lagares is also immovable between home and first. I am glad Smith was in the OF last night. I prefer actual HITTERS in the lineup. Helps you win 1 run games, not lose them.
Unless they get a healthy Justin Wilson back soon, they need pen help fast. And you are right - those guys in your article are NOT household names.
I especially like Workman but for who?
I don't want move Dom for now and, like u said, the pipeline is thin.
Middle Relievers are unknowns for a reason;they are rarely consistent from year to year, or even month to month. They are the guys who can't win jobs as starters, closers, and even 8th - inning setups.
If Wilson and Avilan are going to be out for a long stretch, that can be a problem, but if not, they can fill the role. Familia, Lugo and Gsellman, especially Lugo, are good fits, and I'd like to see what our young guys like Bsshlor and Gagnon can do. Santiago hasn't had a long enough look yet, and we have 2 kids on the farm in Villines and Nogosek who deserve a look.
Most teams have bullpen problems, and I wouldn't even consider trading a chip like Smith for a MRP. I wasn't in favor of putting him in the OF, but he's been a lot better out there than previous Mets "converts" like Murphy, Duda, Hundley, et al.
Has anyone seen recent ETAs on our MRP wounded warriors?
It's an old wive's tale that middle relievers vary year-to-year. That is why this group was picked -- consistent track record from year-to-year.
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