Now that the Braves have a new GM and MLB has handed down the punishment for John Coppolella’s and John Hart’s international spending scandal, it feels like we can finally shift our focus to the offseason. Here is part five of our offseason questions series:
The Braves’ bullpen was atrocious last year. It ranked in the bottom tier in ERA (4.58) and FIP (4.37) and posted the fourth-worst combined WAR at just 1.1.
The first significant move of the winter came on Thursday as Jim Johnson was traded to the Angels in a salary dump. The deal cleared up $4.5 million in salary relief. The club also signed Rex Brothers to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal.
Arodys Vizcaino, Sam Freeman and Jose Ramirez are likeliest to make the team next spring given their 2017 performances. A.J. Minter seems likely assuming his elbow is healthy. Lucas Sims projects as a reliever, and if there isn’t room for him in the rotation, I’d like to see him in the bullpen. Dan Winkler impressed in the final month of the season, and Akeel Morris looked great when he came up mid-summer. Guys like Luke Jackson, Jacob Lindgren and Jesse Biddle will be given a chance to win some of the final roster spots.
Despite the bullpen’s shortcomings, we can only hope Alex Anthopoulos doesn’t spend big on a couple relievers. Mid-market clubs who spend big bucks on relievers tend to get in trouble, especially when there are greater concerns on the roster to address. This team isn’t a good reliever or two away from a playoff run.
The entire list of free agent relievers is here. I can’t imagine Anthopoulos getting into a bidding war for Wade Davis or Greg Holland. Some of the middle tier guys (Mike Minor or Brandon Marrow) could be in play, but I’m in favor of signing or trading for a couple of buy-low candidates and hoping to strike gold. Frank Wren was the master of that and we all saw how good his bullpens were (it didn’t hurt that he had Craig Kimbrel to anchor it).
The Braves will address the bullpen in some way or another over the next few months, but hopefully it doesn’t become a focal point for the new front office. There are simply bigger fish to fry.