Are the Pittsburgh Pirates changing their off-season approach by spending more on their 2016 bullpen?
Yesterday the Pittsburgh Pirates bolstered their bullpen with the addition of Neftali Feliz on a one-year, $3.9 million deal. Earlier this offseason, they also added Juan Nicasio with a one-year, $3 million deal. While these are the only bullpen deals of significance for the Pirates so far this offseason, it jumps out as an unusual area for the Pirates to spend money on. Couple these two acquisitions with the raises expected to be given to Mark Melancon, Tony Watson, and Jared Hughes via arbitration, and the Pirates have decided to vest a decent amount of money into their bullpen. Compared to years past, this is a new strategy for the Pirates.
Last year, the big bullpen free agent acquisition was Radhames Liz. They also traded for Rob Scahill and Antonio Bastardo and claimed Arquimedes Caminero off waivers, but those four totaled just over $5 million. This season, the Pirates have already added $6.9 million in just Nicasio and Feliz. The bullpen approach has certainly changed for the Pirates this offseason.
Outside of the spending on Feliz and Nicasio, MLB Trade Rumors projects Melancon, Watson, and Hughes to make a combined $16.8 million through arbitration in 2016. We’ve also seen the Pirates flip closers in the past, most notably with Joel Hanrahan and Jason Grilli. But so far this offseason, Melancon is still on the team, despite the hefty raise he’s going to see in arbitration. Neal Huntington is also on record as saying that the team is comfortable keeping Melancon in 2016. For a small market team, that might not be the best financial strategy.
With this spending on external acquisitions, and the holding onto of Melancon (for the time being), this begs the question: do the Pirates not have confidence in their internal minor league options to take over in the major league bullpen next season? After all, the team already has its 7th-8th-9th innings filled in Hughes-Watson-Melancon, so the roles the team needed to fill were not as high pressure as the back-end. The middle relief area should be where the Pirates spend the least amount of money. Does Scahill factor into the Pirates’ plans? He had a 2.64 ERA in 30.2 innings last season, but didn’t pitch in June or July last year. What about John Holdzkom, who was stellar in a small sample size in 2014, but had an injury-hampered 2015? The team also added Kyle Lobstein, Guido Knudson, and Yoervis Medina, guys who will more than likely block any internal candidates in Triple-A Indianapolis from making a significant impact in the bullpen in 2016.
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen could still be very good once again in 2016. Melancon, Watson, and Hughes should admirably hold down the back-end of the pen. Caminero had a bounce-back year last season and should be a decent middle reliever. Feliz has a history of success in the majors before having a down year last season, and seems like a good bounce-back candidate. The same goes for Medina. Nicasio will more than likely be the swing-man, making an occasional spot start; hopefully he can continue the success he had in 2015.
I for one would like to see more from Scahill and Holdzkom next year. But I do appreciate the fact that the Pirates are willing to change up their strategy if they’re not confident in the depth they have at Triple-A in taking the leap to the major league bullpen (if that is the case). If spending is what it takes, or if it means relying on more external acquisitions than usual, then so be it.
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