Article: The State Of The Lefty Reliever Market

[Nick Nelson]

Now that he has addressed the needs for a catcher and power bat with the additions of John Ryan Murphy and Byung Ho Park, one of Terry Ryan's top priorities will be finding an impact lefty for the bullpen.

 

Here's the latest on some candidates as next week's Winter Meetings approach.* According to Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press, the Twins "definitely have interest" in bringing back veteran Neal Cotts, who became a free agent at season's end after joining the Twins in August. Cotts, who turns 36 in March, posted a 3.41 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 68 appearances this year, including 3.95 and 1.39 in 14 late-season appearances with Minnesota. He signed a one-year, $3 million deal with Milwaukee last offseason and figures to get something similar this time around.

 

Cotts has been decent over the past of couple years but if the Twins are truly trying to craft a power pen, they should aim higher for their top lefty option.

 

* In the same article, Berardino reports that free agent Brian Duensing hasn't heard from the Twins. Once a solid southpaw specialist, Duensing has declined steadily over the past few seasons to the point where he was roundly ineffective in 2015. The Twins are expected to move on.

 

* Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweeted that the Twins have been in contact with Tony Sipp, who ranked as the No. 2 free agent left-handed reliever in the Offseason Handbook following a fantastic season with the Astros. It would probably cost a fair amount to get Sipp signed, but Ryan might be more inclined to meet his asking price given that the 32-year-old is effective against both lefties and righties, providing Paul Molitor more late-inning flexibility. Wolfson mentioned that he didn't get the sense an offer has been made to Sipp.

 

* The best free agent lefty reliever is Antonio Bastardo, who has averaged 11 K/9 in his career and is only 30. In the Handbook we estimated that he would get a three-year, $21 million contract but there has been no public steam surrounding his market up to this point. It looks as though Darren O'Day, a righty who is one of the top relievers in free agency, is poised to sign somewhere soon, and once he does, I'd expect a bunch of other dominos to start falling.

 

* The Rule 5 Draft takes place next Thursday. Ryan and the Twins have used this avenue to add bullpen arms twice in the past three years, though both Ryan Pressly and J.R. Graham were righties. Could the club target a left-handed reliever next Thursday? Baseball America's J.J. Cooper listed several names to remember in his Rule 5 preview last month, and among them were a few hard-throwing southpaws: Chicago's Onelki Garcia, Houston's Reymin Guduan and Kansas City's Sam Selman. All have posted big strikeout rates in the minors, but also have significant control issues that would inhibit their chances of finding fast success in the majors. Another to keep in mind: 22-year-old Cardinals prospect Luis Perdomo, who shares a name with the righty reliever who made 15 appearances for the Twins back in 2012.

 

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[JaleelWhite FanClub]

Getting somebody from another MLB would obviously be top priority. But a selfish dream scenario for me would be if the Twins took a minor league deal flyer on Johan Santana.

 

It's been tough as a fan of his to watch his issues trying to come back. I can't imagine starting in the majors again is likely at all. I would say though it would be neat to get him back to the Twins. Coming out of the pen will help with his arm. If he has anything left to get his fastball back to the low-to-mid 90s, that slider-change up combo would be dynamite out of the pen.

 

There have definitely been relievers who have had success with less.

[Homer Hanky]

I like the idea of trying Johan... 

[High heat]

I personally like the left handed options we have internally. Rogers has put up excellent numbers against lefties and Darnell finished the season strong. Even pat dean as an option.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'd say no on Santana.  He's not the same guy he was, and I don't see him having a renisance in the pen.  I like the idea of Sipp.  I'd be happy to DFA some of our pitchers for a guy like that.  I'm also not against giving guys like Darnell or Rogers a chance there.

[tobi0040]

Signing a top three reliever would be great, even on a 3 year deal.  It would signal a different approach by this front office that would be welcomed by me.

 

You have a top three of Perkins, the FA, and Jepsen.  Now you have room for upside arms like Burdi, Reed, and Chargois.  I would just side on these young guys stepping up as a plus to an already good pen rather than relying on them to be top 3 type arms.

[HitInAPinch]

With the additions of Murphy and Park, I'm starting to take Terry Ryan seriously on his desire to improve the Twins for a run next year.  I would like to see him make serious runs at both Sipp and Bastardo. 

I've never been all that high on the LOOGY thing.  That's like a half a pitcher to me.  Sipp's career stats vs. left and right hitters is pretty impressive.  And how can you pass on a guy who's last name is Bastardo?

 

The Twins have right-hand relief prospects [including Berrios and Meyer].  Time to take a hard look at them.

[tobi0040]

 

With the additions of Murphy and Park, I'm starting to take Terry Ryan seriously on his desire to improve the Twins for a run next year.  I would like to see him make serious runs at both Sipp and Bastardo. 

I've never been all that high on the LOOGY thing.  That's like a half a pitcher to me.  Sipp's career stats vs. left and right hitters is pretty impressive.  And how can you pass on a guy who's last name is Bastardo?

 

The Twins have right-hand relief prospects [including Berrios and Meyer].  Time to take a hard look at them.

 

It would be beyond foolish to view Berrios as a reliever.  He is 21 and just dominated AA and AAA.  He was the #20 overall prospect at midseason and could crack the top ten when the lists come out.

 

Off memory the last Twins pitching prospects to be in the top ten are Garza and Liriano.

 

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Off memory the last Twins pitching prospects to be in the top ten are Garza and Liriano.

By BA, Garza only reached #21.  Liriano did indeed rocket to #6.

[tobi0040]

 

By BA, Garza only reached #21.  Liriano did indeed rocket to #6.

 

Good catch.  I was looking at Twins ranking, not overall.

[Willihammer]

One LHP who showed up on MLBTR's non-tender candidate list that caught my eye is Marc Rzepczynski. 30 years old, career .215/.285/.288 vs LHBs. The Padres gave up Abraham Almonte for him, who did well with the Tribe but was more of a journeyman/backup before the trade. Maybe the Twins could get Rzepczynski for Nunez or Fien?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

One LHP who showed up on MLBTR's non-tender candidate list that caught my eye is Marc Rzepczynski. 30 years old, career .215/.285/.288 vs LHBs. The Padres gave up Abraham Almonte for him, who did well with the Tribe but was more of a journeyman/backup before the trade. Maybe the Twins could get Rzepczynski for Nunez or Fien?

Rzepczynski is projected to make $3 mil in arbitration, and wasn't that good against LHB last season (.255/.321/.340).  He's better than Duensing, but having him on the roster presents the same issues as having Duensing, Fien, Boyer, Cotts, Thornton, etc. -- you're locking in mediocrity to fill a less important role, when you really need to add another quality arm capable of filling a more important role if needed (i.e. Jepsen, Sipp, Bastardo, etc.).

[AKTwins]

Matt thorton on the table?

[DJL44]

Perkins as the LH setup guy. Buy another bullpen arm but don't force a "closer" role on Perkins or Jepsen. Better to have 3 guys you are willing to use as a closer.

Edited December 2, 2015 by DJL44

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Matt thorton on the table?

Thornton was part of Seth's proposed bullpen plan, but Doogie Wolfson reported the Twins were not interested in him:

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/11/al-central-notes-thornton-rondon-tribe-tigers.html

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Perkins as the LH setup guy. Buy another bullpen arm but don't force a "closer" role on Perkins or Jepsen. Better to have 3 guys you are willing to use as a closer.

Yeah, I wouldn't force a signing of a LHP for this reason.  If they like Sipp or Bastardo, great, but if they prefer Lowe or Madson, I've got no problem.

 

Of course, I'd also be more aggressive in deploying O'Rourke and/or Rogers in MLB too.

[Hrbowski]

We should have signed David Price and used him as a LOOGY.

 

On a more serious note, you could go big and trade for Chapman or Andrew Miller, or go for a more reasonable piece like Jose Alvarez of the Angels.

[Hrbowski]

Oliver Perez is also very good at neutralizing lefties.

[Boone]

 

I personally like the left handed options we have internally. Rogers has put up excellent numbers against lefties and Darnell finished the season strong. Even pat dean as an option.

Couldn't agree more.  O'Rourke wasn't great last year, but he struck out 39% of the lefties he faced.  Combine that with the fact that he's only 28, cheap, and has been utterly dominant in the upper levels of the minors and I think he deserves a shot as a LOOGY.  Same goes for Rogers, who struck out 28% of lefties he faced last year with an 11:1 K:BB ratio.

 

Yes, if we sign a LHP as a free agent it will be someone with a proven track record.  Furthermore, they might be better against righties than either O'Rourke or Rogers.  But O'Rourke and Rogers offer plenty of upside, both for this year and in the future, at a fraction of the cost.