Sandy Alderson, acting like a kid who had a summer project and waited until the last day to finish it (and start it, for that matter), acquired an entire middle relief corps in ten hours. After the signing of Tom Gorzellany today, there was panic on my part that he was a replacement for Jerry Blevins. After the signing of Fernando Salas, there was hope that Blevins might still be on the radar. To complete the trilogy, Sandy did indeed re-sign Blevins after he couldn’t get the guarantee multi-year deal he craved. But the deal is for one year at $6 million with an option for a second season.
Blevins, as you know, had a good season in 2016 as he expanded from being a lefty specialist to a guy that had good crossover numbers. I looked over Blevins’ heat maps on fangraphs, which hold the key to Blevins’ success against right handed batters last season. I just don’t know what it is because I’m not sure I can read a heat map. But Blevins was very good against right handers last season, as noted by all the blue on the map. I think. We’ll find out if it’s the start of a trend, or if it’s a one-year fluke, or if I will be able to effectively read a heat map on fangraphs by this time next season.
The important thing is that Jerry Blevins is back, and that’s one less thing to blame Jay Bruce for. I’m sure we’ll find many things to blame him for by the start of the season, but for now, he can sleep well. I too, will try to sleep. Unless Sandy thinks that signing Sergio Romo would be a good late night snack.
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