Relief pitchers are always a hot commodity at the annual MLB Winter Meetings.
The Pittsburgh Pirates find themselves in the unique position of needing bullpen help while simultaneously carrying a coveted relief trade chip.
The “Shark Tank” — the best in baseball in 2015 — suddenly is full of question marks. With incumbent closer and 2015 MLB saves leader Mark Melancon possibly headed to the trading block thanks to a projected $10 million-plus salary, the Pirates figure to be a big player in reliever talks. At the same time, the bullpen lost some key pieces to free agency. Antonio Bastardo, Joakim Soria and Joe Blanton represent about 162 innings that the team will have to replace. If we add in Melancon’s IP, the number swells to 239 innings lost to departures.
The team has Melancon’s built-in replacement in Tony Watson, but a bullpen that is strong throughout and not top-heavy can push a team to the heights of a 98-win season, as seen last year. The reshuffling that the Pirates will have to go through is considerable. To this point, they have followed a similar blueprint to last year, stocking the system with questionable arms that may contribute meaningful innings. Last year the names were Arquiemedes Caminero and Radhames Liz. Caminero will be back, while Liz flamed out. The team hopes to have a better success rate this year with acquisitions such as Allen Webster and Jorge Rondon. Both follow similar paths to their 2014 offseason counterparts, with Webster sporting some ugly stat lines in limited work in the bigs, and Rondon being on his last big-league option. Rondon in particular is strikingly similar to Caminero, with a fastball that can reach 100mph with good downward movement.
With all of that being considered, it would still come as no surprise if the Pirates found themselves in the hunt for bullpen arms. Any trade of Melancon can free up money to spend on a free agent or take on salary in a trade. Let’s run through a couple of options that figure to be available in Nashville over the coming days.
Al Albuquerque, recently non-tendered by the Detroit Tigers, is an interesting option. Albuquerque has a nice three-pitch selection with a four-seam, sinker, and slider. The slider in particular is interesting as the right-hander relies on it as an out pitch, throwing it 70 percent of the time when there are two strikes in the count. Despite that familiarity, hitters have only had a .195 AVG against it during his career. Albuquerque does have control issues, with a career 5.0 BB/9, but also shows great strikeout ability with 11 K/9. He made about $1.75 million last year, and he could be an affordable option similar to the Bastardo price tag from last year, which the Pirates are clearly comfortable with.
Yusimeiro Petit, recently of the San Francisco Giants, is an intriguing option that could serve a dual-role. With Vance Worley no longer in tow and Blanton exploring free agency, the Pirates might feel a combination long/middle relief arm such as Petit makes sense. Petit has a nice selection of pitches, including great moving pitches such as his cut-fastball and four-seamer with good movement.
In a perfect world, Philadelphia’s Ken Giles would be an electric addition to any bullpen. The still pre-arb eligible reliever has a dazzling ERA of just 1.56 in 113 appearances. In 2015 he stepped into the closer’s role on a truly bad Phillies team and managed 15 saves while sporting a nifty 11.2 K/9. Digging a bit deeper shows that Giles does have a limited pitch selection, relying almost exclusively on a four-seam fastball that averages about 97.5 mph. He does mix in a slider, but at some point he will have to add a third pitch to extend his dominance. Giles just flat-out gets batters to miss, with a 15.7 percent SwStr (swinging strike percentage), far above the league average of 9.5 percent. Philadelphia knows the chip they have in Giles, so he won’t come cheap. The Pirates might not mind paying the price in prospects with Giles’ 5 remaining years of control.
No unit in baseball sees more shuffling than a bullpen, and there are a ton of options out there this year, as there are in most years. These are but a few options. All of these targets and scenarios would assume that Melancon’s departure is a certainty. With the team parting ways with Pedro Alvarez, that may in fact change.
Even if Melancon is a Pirate in 2015, don’t be surprised to see the team leave Nashville with a bolstered bullpen.
