We're fresh off another postseason that emphasized the importance of a good bullpen. Consider the Houston Astros, whose two most important World Series relievers might have been ... Charlie Morton and Brad Peacock. All right, so the Astros kind of turned the tables. They went so far as to avoid using closer Ken Giles, who had a wonderful regular season. The World Series Astros showed off the significance of a talented and deep starting rotation.
But the Astros wouldn't have gotten that far had it not been for their bullpen. I mean, look -- there's nothing to question here. Every team that hopes to contend needs a good bullpen. There's arguably no such thing as having too many quality relievers. Starters are throwing fewer innings than ever, putting more of the burden on the relievers, and those relievers are frequently getting the most critical outs. Pitching staffs need to be good from the front, but they also need to be good in the back, lest all the hard work go for naught.
Some solid teams' bullpens are already in good shape. The New York Yankees, for example, don't have to do anything. Included here is a list of teams that could stand to make some major bullpen upgrades in the weeks and months ahead. Through free agency or the trade market or elsewhere, the following teams could use some late-inning help.
Every team in baseball will look for bullpen help -- they always do -- so I've limited my list to six teams. The Astros could use a lefty, but they aren't desperate. The Dodgers could use a bridge to Kenley Jansen, but they're also not desperate. For the following teams, there's more urgency, and I'm recommending a few specific fixes. Every team in baseball would be improved by adding Wade Davis or Mike Minor. I'm not avoiding naming them because I hate them. But for the following clubs, I've tried to remain realistic.
Maybe more than any other team, the Cardinals never run completely dry. Their player-development system runs like a well-oiled machine, and it's among the many reasons the Cardinals are perennially in contention. Still, if they hope to make a push in 2018, they'll have to replace Trevor Rosenthal. Seung-Hwan Oh has left as a free agent, and Zach Duke and Juan Nicasio are also gone. This isn't currently an empty bullpen, but it is missing a shutdown reliever.
The fix: Dennis Sarfate. I know this is a little out of nowhere; Sarfate was last in the majors in 2009, as a wild power arm pitching for the Orioles. He's now 36 years old, but he just set the single-season record for saves in Japan and won the Japan Series MVP. Sarfate is evidently looking for a major league job after five consecutive dominant seasons in the NPB. This season, pitching for Fukuoka, Sarfate wound up with 102 strikeouts and 10 walks in 66 innings. The Cardinals trusted Oh as an import closer, and Sarfate looks to have conquered his strike-zone demons. Although he might not be Wade Davis, there's a chance that he is even better.
It isn't fair to judge a bullpen by how it looks in October, but Joe Maddon very clearly didn't trust his corps of relievers. Davis might have been the one guy he liked, but Davis is on the market, looking for a three- or four-year contract, and the Cubs are looking for a closer again -- and potentially more than that, depending on whether Carl Edwards Jr. regains some control. The Cubs could add one guy or four guys. They would presumably like to find a little more late-inning stability.
The fix: The Cubs might make it easy on themselves and bring Davis back. They have the money and familiarity with him. But this is the team that might most be able to use Brad Hand. Hand is under team control for another two years, and the Padres have made him available in trades. He'll be expensive (in terms of talent dealt to get him), but he's probably worth it. He's a lefty who can cover multiple innings, and he racked up 21 saves last season. Hand could close for Chicago, or he could serve in a more versatile role. Maddon loves having options.
The Diamondbacks just leaned heavily on Archie Bradley and Fernando Rodney. Bradley is the far superior pitcher, but Rodney was more effective than not, and now he's a free agent. Jorge De La Rosa and David Hernandez have also left for the market, and there's some chatter that Bradley would like to return to being a starter. Further complicating things is that Arizona is somewhat tight on money, so it can't just throw cash at this problem. This club is good and the rotation is deep, but a weak bullpen could pull the rug out from under an otherwise competitive team. The Diamondbacks need talent at prices they can afford.
The fix: You always want to find the good relievers before they become good relievers. You want to find 2016 Tommy Kahnle and make him 2017 Tommy Kahnle. That's hard to do, but maybe the answer is getting both Anthony Swarzak and Yusmeiro Petit. They both just had breakout seasons, but they still have records of mediocrity that should keep them from getting too expensive. Petit could handle multiple innings at a time. Swarzak looks ready to pitch the seventh or eighth inning. These wouldn't be the sexiest additions, but the Diamondbacks aren't in position to pay for sexy.
Greg Holland? He's a free agent. Jake McGee? He's a free agent. Pat Neshek? He's a free agent. Adam Ottavino? He isn't a free agent, but his walks spiraled out of control. As much as I like Chris Rusin, and as complicated as it can be to evaluate pitchers who work half the time in Colorado, this bullpen is looking thin again. The Rockies just promoted a good number of young starters from their system, and maybe they could do the same in relief, but they'll probably want and need additional help. Now that they've made the playoffs, expectations are higher.
The fix: They should try to pry Zach Britton away from Baltimore, though the Orioles might understandably want to give Britton another three or four months to re-establish his value. In that case, the Rockies should pursue Steve Cishek and Michael Feliz. Cishek has something a little bit like the Neshek funk, he just got back to being a ground ball pitcher, and he's death on righties. He also has closing experience. Feliz could be a buy-low trade option; he isn't high in the Astros' pen hierarchy, despite striking out a third of his opponents. Even if Colorado seems like no place for a power reliever with a home-run problem, the upside would be substantial. There isn't that much of a gap between present Michael Feliz and future bullpen ace.
The Twins have been linked to names such as Yu Darvish and Shohei Ohtani. It's tremendously unlikely that they end up with either, but today's Twins are run by a different group of thinkers, and they've brought with them a new direction. The Twins just became a playoff team (briefly), and that was despite trading their closer in July. The rotation needs help, but the bullpen does too. Trevor Hildenberger can't do everything, and Matt Belisle is a free agent. The Twins probably won't sign Wade Davis, but that doesn't mean they won't look for guys who can get late outs.
The fix: This is where I'd like to see Brandon Morrow land. While I understand that Morrow will have an active market, the Twins could offer him a chance to close. If other teams want to give him two years, the Twins could and should give him three. Morrow is now in his mid-30s, and his recent record is spotty, but his more recent record is terrific. With the Dodgers, Morrow was suddenly throwing consistent strikes at 98 mph, backed by a quality cutter. If you close your eyes to everything before last summer, Morrow might look like the best reliever available. Although you can't actually dismiss his entire history, there's reason to believe he has put it behind him. Morrow would give the Twins something they currently lack.
There's a difference here, notably that the White Sox are bad. They're getting better, but they're bad. As such, the Sox might not feel any urgency to beef up their bullpen. But right now, it's empty after they moved Kahnle, David Robertson, Swarzak and Tyler Clippard. The White Sox have playing time in high-leverage roles to offer, and they could subsequently flip any successful additions to contenders at the trade deadline. Every cellar-dweller can offer this opportunity, but Chicago's pen is more open than any other.
The fix: Trevor Cahill was rolling right along until his season was interrupted by shoulder woes, but when healthy, he was getting strikeouts and grounders, and given the chance, he could turn into a dangerous multi-inning relief option. Aiming higher than that, the White Sox might find it worth their while to make a pitch for Dellin Betances. Betances appears to be on the outs in New York, and in Chicago he would have ample opportunity to work through his issues with Don Cooper, a proven pitching coach who has rescued wild power arms before. Betances wouldn't come for free, but the Sox could turn around and swap him to a contender. It wasn't long ago that Betances was one of the most valuable relievers in the game. Chicago might launch his recovery.