Welcome to the Nats Mr. Gott. Photo via gettyimages
At the end of the 2015 season, our (primary 7-man not including 9/1 callups) bullpen looked like this:
- Papelbon, Janssen, Treinen, Thornton*, Rivero*, Fister and Solis* (Stammen, Barrett, Storen on the D/L)
Then half these guys (Janssen, Thornton and Fister) hit the road via Free Agency, already leaving huge holes to fill. In fact as of just a week ago after this was what our Opening Day 2016 bullpen would have looked like:
- Papelbon, Storen, Treinen, Stammen, Rivero*, Solis* and Martin as a long-man I guess (Barrett to go to the 60 day D/L as soon as he’s eligible).
After a flurry of moves in the past 10 days, here’s what we’re looking at now:
- (Papelbon, Storen) Gatt, Kelley, Treinen, Perez*, Rivero*, Petit
And presumably there’s more work to be done (you have to think we’ll acquire a Proven Closer™ to replace the Papelbon/Storen combo). But, so far, not a bad week for Mr. Rizzo.
Quick thoughts on each move (in chronological order)
- Craig Stammen non-tender: discussed at length in the Non-tender deadline preview post comment section. I didn’t like it for reasons discussed ad naseum, but agree that the team must have decided the risk was too much.
- Oliver Perez signing 2yrs/$7M: good 2015 numbers in the NL with Arizona, then not so much in 12 innings with Houston. His LHP-LHB splits are good while righties hit him at an .881 OPS clip in 2015. I guess that’s as good of a Matt Thornton replacement as we need.
- Yusmeiro Petit signing 1yr/$2.5M after getting non-tendered by SF. An odd move by SF; his 2015 regular season numbers were just fine to me. An ERA+ over a 100, flexibility to go long or go short. And the Nats certainly remember getting shut down by him in the 2014 NLDS. A good move for me as a near like-for-like replacement for Stammen (with the exception that Petit can go longer than Stammen could so he could be the long-man as needed).
- Shawn Kelley for 3yrs/$15M (as reported); three straight years of fantastic swing and miss stuff (11-12 K/9 rates). Great option to add as an 8th inning guy/eventual setup role, eventually replacing what Casey Janssen never did.
- Trevor Gott in trade for Yunel Escobar: it seems like an underwhelming return for Escobar on the face of it. Escobar was our 2nd leading hitter last year and played multiple infield positions. But his batting average was pretty “empty” (he slugged .415) and his defense was abhorrent (not that he ever should have been playing 3B once Anthony Rendon came back … but that’s another gripe). I think what it does indicate is the rising cost of good relievers and the fact that Escobar has one year of control while Gott has just 114 days of service time and is thus controlled for at least *six* more seasons, three of which will be at the pittance MLB minimum. Gott’s numbers as a 22 yr old were pretty good; 125 ERA+, an ERA right around 3.00. Not a ton of swing and miss so far in the majors but he was a closer in the minors and seems like a good 6th/7th inning guy (in other words, a Barrett replacement for the time being).
This configuration leaves a slew of projected relievers set to start in AAA or on the D/L:
- D/L: Barrett (60dl), likely lost for the whole year
- RH middle relievers: Martin, eDavis, de los Santos,
- Loogies: Solis*, Grace*, Lee*
- Long Men options: Jordan, Hill, Espino
What’s left to do?
- Flip Storen for value
- Dump Papelbon for a couple of pizzas
- Find a for-real closer; its going to cost some serious stuff, based on the Craig Kimbrel and Ken Giles trades. Be ready for it.
- Sign some more veteran relievers for AAA like we always do.
Questions for the group;
- Do you like the configuration of this bullpen so far? Assuming we get a for-real closer and dump Storen and Papelbon, would you say that its an improvement over last year?
- Is this too many new players to gel properly? Don’t we always hear about how pitchers are creatures of habit and how “Teams” take a while to gel and play well together? We’re basically throwing out a bunch of guys in that pen who will have never even met, let alone build camaraderie. Do you worry about this? Or do you believe that “winning builds chemistry” and that players are just cyber machines who you charge up in the morning with Red Bull and then slot them into their roles and they magically produce? (If you couldn’t read between the lines in that sentence of sarcasm to tell what I think … well I can’t help you 🙂