The Indians continue to add arms to their bullpen as the club has signed veteran right-hander Tommy Hunter to a one-year, $2 million deal. Hunter joins Craig Stammen, Joba Chamberlain, Ross Detwiler, Tom Gorzelanny and Joe Thatcher in the crop of new arms competing for a potential spot in the Tribe’s opening day bullpen. These signings show a clear intent from the Indians’ front office to ensure that the bullpen is a strength next season. These type of moves come as no surprise given the league’s shift toward constructing shutdown bullpens akin to the Herrera-Davis-Holland trio that has been largely responsible for Kansas City’s recent success.
This move is also a clear indication that the Indians are not willing to spend any money on a player who is coming off a good season. Hunter joins Stammen, Detwiler, Gorzelanny, Chamberlain, Mike Napoli, Collin Cowgill, and (to a much lesser extent) Joey Butler, who all pretty much sucked last year. Granted Indians fans have come accustomed to the “buy low” approach the front office has taken in recent years, but this off-season seems particularly disappointing due to the fact that these were the only moves made.
Despite Hunter’s struggles last season, he has been successful in the past, particularly after he was moved to the bullpen in 2013. In 209 career relief innings he has posted a solid 3.28 ERA. Unfortunately, in 60.1 innings last season he posted a 4.18 ERA with a slightly better 3.83 FIP.
With Hunter’s track record of success as a reliever, he will provide an interesting option to fill one of the possible 8 bullpen spots this season. We are all aware of how heavily Tito relies on his ‘pen, and with how hard he has pushed them in recent seasons we could be looking at a very different looking corps this upcoming season. Thus far there is no indication that Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen won’t be taking the ball in the 8th and 9th innings, but considering the sheer number of new signings, I wouldn’t be surprised if the 7th inning is filled by a new face.
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