TORONTO – A year ago this time, Dominic Leone was a waiver claim who had just posted a 6.33 ERA in Arizona. He rebounded in 2017, posting a 2.56 ERA with 81 strikeouts in 70.1 innings for the Blue Jays on his way toward re-establishing himself as a valuable reliever.
On Friday, the Blue Jays moved Leone and right-handed pitching prospect Conner Greene to St. Louis for Randal Grichuk, who now projects as Toronto’s regular right fielder. In doing so, they sold high on relief, a notoriously hard area to predict from year to year.
“There’s a lot of volatility there,” GM Ross Atkins said. “So to get more certainty in an everyday or close to a regular player in Randal Grichuk was something that we felt made sense for us.”
“You never really know on bullpen guys,” manager John Gibbons added. “It can be every other year, depends on how they’ve been used the year before.”
That same volatility will keep the Blue Jays active in the relief market. The Blue Jays’ bullpen surpassed expectations during an otherwise dismal 2017 season, but last year’s surprising success won’t automatically be repeated in 2018, as Atkins and Gibbons noted.
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Last year Roberto Osuna, Ryan Tepera and Danny Barnes each pitched in 60-plus games as the Blue Jays’ bullpen logged more outs than all but two teams.
“I loved the workload. It was fun,” Tepera said. “I would want to repeat it this upcoming year.”
The Blue Jays would surely love to see Tepera and Barnes build on their 2017 breakouts, too. At the same time, counting on those same seasons exposes the club to risk should injuries or regression occur.
The next wave of arms includes the likes of Tim Mayza, Matt Dermody and Carlos Ramirez, but they all have options, allowing the Blue Jays to stash them in the minors. Plus, the left-handed Mayza and Dermody have yet to earn more permanent roles on merit and while Ramirez posted a 0.00 ERA in the upper minors before earning a call-up to Toronto, he’s unlikely to remain untouchable based on his good-but-not-overwhelming peripherals.
The Blue Jays also added Al Alburquerque on a minor-league deal Thursday, but given his history of command issues he’s no sure thing. Asked to describe their ideal addition to the bullpen, both Atkins and Gibbons pointed to experience.
“A proven guy that’s been successful,” Gibbons said. “We would love a guy that could give you multiple innings. It doesn’t happen too often nowadays. But really someone that can get some strikeouts maybe late in the game, that’s been through it.”
“Get outs,” Atkins added. “Experience in doing that, consistency.”
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As the front office pursues experienced relief they could turn to an extensive list of free agents that includes Matt Albers, Trevor Cahill, Seung-hwan Oh and dozens more. The Blue Jays appear to have more than $10 million in remaining payroll, but they’re also seeking a starting pitcher and they remain in the mix for backup catching depth.
If they spend aggressively on relief, they might end up with just a few million remaining for the rotation. That could be enough to land a Brett Anderson type, but would cut them off from higher-end options. Spending big on relief would also increase the club’s reliance on Joe Biagini in the rotation (ideally, Biagini would like a rotation spot, yet he acknowledges “they don’t just hand those out”). Meanwhile, Aaron Sanchez continues progressing, but hasn’t been tested in games yet. As such, starting pitching depth’s every bit as much of a question mark as the bullpen and the club will have to balance those needs accordingly.
Late last off-season, the Blue Jays signed two veteran relievers to one-year $3 million deals. Underscoring the unpredictability of the role, J.P. Howell was extremely disappointing while Joe Smith was extremely successful. That’s a template the Blue Jays could follow once again as they sort through their options in an extremely volatile market.
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