The Pittsburgh Pirates need to complete construction of their bullpen. What is left on the market?
The Pittsburgh Pirates still have holes to fill this off-season, and while they have addressed some, they haven’t addressed them all. Starting pitching may be the biggest weakness of the 2016 roster, but the biggest hole remaining is the bullpen. That hole may become bigger if the Pirates do decide to move Mark Melancon, which is a very real possibility. The Pirates did sign Juan Nicasio, who could turn into a good relief arm with the help of Ray Searage, but that’s not guaranteed. Antonio Bastardo, Joe Blanton, and Joakim Soria are all gone, each of whom was a big piece of one of the best bullpens in baseball last year. The three viable options left heading into next season are Tony Watson, Jared Hughes, and Arquimedes Caminero. The Royals proved how important a good bullpen can be last year, and it seems like almost every contender is trying to better their pen. The Pirates also have work to do to improve theirs.
Recently we took a look at the remaining starting pitching options available to the Pirates on the free agent market. Let’s take a look at the remaining free agent relief arms available this off-season.
According to ESPN, these are the remaining options, listed alphabetically with their ages:
Matt Albers (32)
Burke Badenhop (32)
Antonio Bastardo (30)
Joe Beimel (38)
Matt Belisle (35)
Joe Blanton (35)
Blaine Boyer (34)
Craig Breslow (35)
Chris Capuano (37)
Randy Choate (40)
Tyler Clippard (30)
Neal Cotts (35)
Brian Duensing (32)
Jeff Francis (34)
Tom Gorzelanny (33)
Tommy Hunter (29)
Edwin Jackson (32)
Casey Janssen (34)
Sean Marshall (33)
Franklin Morales (29)
Peter Moylan (37)
Edward Mujica (31)
Joe Nathan (41)
Eric O’Flaherty (30)
Ross Ohlendorf (33)
Bobby Parnell (31)
Manny Parra (33)
Fernando Rodney (38)
Joe Thatcher (34)
Matt Thornton (39)
Carlos Villanueva (32)
Ryan Webb (29)
Wesley Wright (30)
Clearly there are plenty of arms available out there to bolster the pen. The Pirates are most likely looking to bring in a lefty first and foremost with the departure of Bastardo, but who would best fill that need other than Bastardo himself? it’s interesting that the Pirates haven’t been connected to Bastardo this off-season, considering he had a good year as a lefty for the team last season. I don’t see the Pirates paying anyone big or even above-average money for a relief arm, as they’ve never done that in the past. I also don’t see them signing an older arm, as their bullpens tend to be younger and veteran arms are more difficult to turn around as reclamation projects than younger arms. I expect the Pirates to sign a younger, cheap arm, one that can compliment Watson and Melancon on the back-end.
There are plenty of former closers available that fit the Pirates’ mold: Tyler Clippard, Edward Mujica, and Bobby Parnell are just a few of these players. I especially like Clippard, whose name hasn’t gotten a lot of bites this off-season but is still a very attractive option. He’s been consistently a great reliever for years, as evidenced by his 2.88 career ERA. The super-bullpen is becoming a reality in baseball, and the Pirates may have to fall in line with that soon.
Ross Ohlendorf jumps out as a former Pirate, and he wouldn’t be a bad option. He pitched to under a four ERA in 2013 and 2015 as mostly a reliever, and he’d come on the cheap. Edwin Jackson is an intriguing name as well, a pitching anomaly whose performance has fluctuated greatly during his career. His upside is probably an above-average reliever at best, but he’d also come on the cheap. Tommy Hunter is also a name to watch, as he had some good seasons with the Orioles in recent years.
The Pittsburgh Pirates should add another reliever or two before spring training, and I’d be surprised if they didn’t. There are definitely a variety of options available.
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