Looking at potential “external additions” in the bullpen
The Guardians have listed Cade Smith “or external addition” as their 13th pitcher, leading to the conclusion that they may add a reliever from outside the organization by Thursday.
The Guardians’ Opening Day roster is set.
Will Brennan and Estevan Florial made it. Myles Straw and Deyvison De Los Santos did not.
Tim Herrin and Hunter Gaddis are in the bullpen. Cade Smith will be too unless the team acquires a reliever in the coming days. pic.twitter.com/me4m5o9yyQ
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) March 23, 2024
It’s somewhat of a fruitless exercise to attempt to discover what relief pitcher the Guardians may be targeting. Are they looking at someone who is 26-27 years old and blocked at their current organization but with decent strikeout numbers in Triple-A? Are they looking at a pitcher who no longer can hack it as a starter but whose stuff may play up in a bullpen role? Are they looking for waiver-wire claim relievers who just couldn’t quite stick with a team this spring? Or, are they trying to put together a more significant package to land another veteran relief pitcher in a trade?
I can’t answer those questions, nor can I provide an exhaustive list of all potential options, but let’s take a look at a few names that come to mind under each category:
Blocked Triple-A Relievers:
Matt Krook, RHP, Baltimore Orioles, 28 years old, 14.56/6.88 K/BB/9 and 2.81 FIP last year in 34 Triple-A innings for the Yankees, 2 options. Notes: Here you’re looking at guys like Krook who are likely either going to get a shot in the majors this season or retire from baseball soon. Krook has a career minor league strikeout rate around 11 per 9 innings, but can’t avoid the walks. Maybe Cleveland could be the latest team to think they can help him fix that. But, I doubt it.
Nolan Clenney, RHP, 27 years old, 11.58/3.28 K/BB/9, 3.77 FIP in his minor-league career, yet to debut. Notes: Again, this is just another example of many right-handed arms who strike out a mess of folks in the minors but just can’t get over the hump to get to the big leagues. Clenney throws 94 mph with the fastball but has a middling slider. You never know if a team like Cleveland thinks they can find The One Cool Trick That Will Make You a Major Leaguer for a guy, but it’s kinda fruitless to project that any particular player is the one they’ll feel that way about.
Fallen Starters:
Julio Teheran, RHP, 33 years old. Notes: Teheran saw his average fastball dip below 90 mph last season, so I don’t think this move is likely… or wise. However, after getting cut by the Orioles, it is always possible that the Guardians could swoop in to see if his slider and cutter combination, still effective in 2023, could enable him to be an effective bullpen weapon. Some more starters will emerge in the next day or two to populate this list, but you can see in Teheran the type of player we are talking about in this category.
Waiver-Wire Claims:
Peter Strzelecki, RHP, 29 years old, 9.63/3.38 K/BB/9, 3.45 FIP as an MLB player, 1option. Notes: To be honest, I have no idea why the Guardians wouldn’t try to work a trade out for Strzelecki before he gets to the point teams can claim him, but they could definitely look at claiming him if he gets to that point. He’s got solid numbers and certainly looks like a good middle-relief option. It’s a little odd that Arizona let him go, and that raises a red flag, but middle-relief righties are notoriously fungible.
Carl Edwards, Jr., RHP, 32 years old, 6.82/4.83 K/BB/9, 3.86 FIP last year for the Nationals. Notes: Edwards is now your basic interchangeable veteran reliever. His average fastball was down a full mile per hour last year, but he did flash the best curveball of his career. I could see this being someone the Guardians might be interested in testing to see if there was something left in the tank while Hentges and Karinchak get healthy (hopefully). But, I have a feeling making room on the 40-man is going to require a more valuable piece than Edwards.
Phil Bickford, RHP, 28 years old, 10.16/3.59 K/BB/9, 4.25 FIP as an MLB Player. Notes: Bickford has a good 94 mph fastball that has at times been dominant, but his secondary stuff generally gets blasted. ‘Tis the season of “I can fix him,” so maybe the Guardians see a way they can get his slider to a more useable point and pick him up.
Trade Targets:
Tanner Scott, LHP, Miami, 29 years old, 12.20/5.04 K/BB/9, 3.45 FIP for his MLB career. Notes: Tough proposition to trade for a team’s closer right before the season, but Scott really should be a set-up man and the Marlins should really be leaning into a perpetual rebuild, again. So, it would cost more than what the Guardians probably want to spend, but I’d feel pretty good about handing 7th innings to Tanner Scott, myself. Bring the Youngstown kid home, I say.
Anthony Bender, RHP, Miami, 29 years old, 9.82/3.12 K/BB/9, 3.57 FIP for his MLB career. Notes: Bender is just another solid reliever a rebuilding team should look to cash in on, if I were leading that rebuilding team. And, his acquisition cost would be significantly less than Scott’s.
Sean Reid-Foley, RHP, New York Mets, 28 years old, 10.31/5.73 K/BB/9, 4.68 FIP for his MLB career. Notes: Another failed starter teams are trying to teach improved command of the strike zone in the pen, I’m sure he’d be available at the right price for the quietly retooling Mets if Cleveland is interested,
Jose Soriano, RHP, Los Angeles Angels, 25 years old, 12/4.93 K/BB/9, 3.97 FIP for his MLB career. Notes: I really have no idea what the Angels are doing but I like Soriano a lot as a bullpen arm that averages around 99 mph with his fastball. If the Angels were a reasonable organization, I’d be contacting a team like Cleveland and saying, “Hey, Angel Martinez Webb and Johnathan Rodriguez for Soriano, meow?” But, they’re not a serious baseball team so that’s probably not happening. Soriano has had a great spring and I think he’s ready to bust out and be the only sure thing in an Angels pen that will be bad and an Angels team that will be worse.
Summary: More names will be added to this list in the coming hours, but I think we can see the types of options Cleveland may pursue to add depth and experience to their bullpen before Thursday. We’ll see what they do!