With the winter meetings about to kick off and the David Price drama in the rearview mirror, new general manager Ross Atkins needs to start showing the on-edge fans in Toronto that the team is going to remain in contention and shore up the biggest hole remaining on the roster: the bullpen.
It’s a big ask of Atkins, who officially took the job running the Jays last week and should probably be afforded a couple weeks to get acclimatized with his new surroundings and the depth of the organization, but there is no time for that. Free agents are going to start getting scooped up and Toronto still needs multiple arms in the bullpen, especially if the club is going to consider moving Aaron Sanchez and/or Roberto Osuna into the rotation.
Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman was moved to the Dodgers on Monday morning and several quality late inning arms have already been snapped up, but there are still some established names out there worth a look and a series of players the Blue Jays should look at kick the tires on as possible reclamation projects.
Adding a second reliable lefty like Tyler Clippard continues to feel like a quality move for the team, as Aaron Loup had the worst year of his career last season and gotten a little bit less effective in each of his four years in the Majors. A quartet of Osuna, Sanchez, Cecil and Clippard would put Toronto in a good spot to turn games into six-inning affairs like the Kansas City Royals did last season.
But they have to add more than one arm and they can’t just troll the bottom of the barrel for discount relievers, hoping to find a gem amongst the junk.
Call up former Jay Casey Janssen and see what he’s up to next year; he may have a sported an ERA a shade below 5.00 last season with the Nationals, but he throws strikes and knows how to pitch in pressure situations. Turning to a guy like that in the sixth or seventh inning is better than calling on a veteran minor leaguer or some journeyman that’s bounced around from job-to-job for four or five seasons.
Go after Shawn Kelley, who averages 10.6 SO/9 for his career, has pitched in the American League East before and could be the kind of “come in and get two guys out” type every bullpen needs. Remember – this is a club that was still turning to LaTroy Hawkins in the playoffs last year.
See if Ian Kennedy or Mat Latos are interested in becoming this year’s Marco Estrada, guys that aren’t assured of starting jobs, but will be called upon first if an spot opens up and they’re pitching well enough to merit a look.
And take a flyer on a few low-risk, high-reward guys that other teams have given up on too.
Roll the dice on former Marlins closer Steve Cishek. Get former Rookie of the Year Neftali Feliz into camp on an incentive-laden deal and see if he can rediscover some of the juice that made him a great reliever to start his career before it all fell apart. Hell, why not see if the procedure Tim Lincecum had on his hip really did help “The Freak” and find out if he’d be interesting in an invite to Dunedin? It’s the same approach as departed GM Alex Anthopoulos took with Johan Santana last year – if there is something there, great, and if not, thanks for coming.
The bottom line is that the Blue Jays already have a solid starting rotation (as much as people want to complain about not re-signing Price) and the building blocks for a quality bullpen are there, but they need to bring in more arms – lots of arms – in order to take it from a weakness to a strength.
For all the great things Anthopolous did last season, that’s one thing he failed to do and it ultimately cost them. Atkins can’t make the same mistake.
