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Indians Intend To Sign Reliever With Closer Experience

By Jeff Todd | December 15, 2013 at 9:43am CDT

The Indians have every intention of adding an impactful veteran relief arm, club president Mark Shapiro told hosts Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette today on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (audio link). "We will clearly add a bullpen guy and a guy that has some back end closing experience," said Shapiro. "I think in the next week or two you'll see us be able to consummate something there."

After cutting loose former closer Chris Perez and allowing setup man Joe Smith to depart via free agency, the Indians have some potential openings at the back of the pen. Of course, as MLBTR's Charlie Wilmoth has explained, the team has reasonably attractive internal options as well. And as Shapiro added, the club feels that both Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw could "step up and pitch later in games."

Armed with that internal security net, Shapiro also hinted that the Indians could be looking to achieve value on the late-inning relief market, rather than targeting a particular pitcher. "It's an area of the market where there was an opportunity," he said. 

Indeed, a sizeable pool of relievers with closing experience remains available on the open market. Most recently, Cleveland has been connected to former Tigers closer Joaquin Benoit as well as one-time Brewers 9th-inning man John Axford.

If you want to brainstorm other possibilities for the Indians, or any other club, simply head to MLBTR's 2014 Free Agent Tracker (found under the "Tools" section) and filter the results to suit your needs. 

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26 Comments

  1. Lefty_Orioles_Fan

    12 years ago

    Indians should be worried about their starting rotation rather than their closer for 2014!

    Reply
    • Honey Badger GM

      12 years ago

      Unfortunately, same with the O’s.

      Reply
    • Kadoc

      12 years ago

      Could maybe get the job done as it is. Nothing fancy but nothing really weak either (except the 5th spot). That’s the hardest to improve when FO “has sea urchins in their pocket”…

      Reply
  2. Alex K.

    12 years ago

    Maybe the Tigers should have intended to sign a reliever who can set up games. What’s that, Dave? You got Chamberlain? Ah. Excellent! The Tiger bullpen definitely won’t be a problem in ’14 like it was this past season.

    Reply
  3. barry2

    12 years ago

    You think they would go after Santana or Garza and add bullpen arms in Veras and Balfour after winning over 90 games and almost catching the Tigers. Why would they not be all in?

    Reply
    • brian310

      12 years ago

      Those would be good pick ups to replace Jimenez and Kazmir

      Reply
  4. Zak A

    12 years ago

    RAJ will ship you Pap + 13 MM + Cody Asche for Lindor & Salazar lol

    Reply
  5. Cereal_22

    12 years ago

    They probably won’t have many games to save anyway.

    Reply
    • Zak A

      12 years ago

      Perez – 36 in 2011, 39 in 2012 and 25 in a weed filled 2013.

      Reply
      • Shin_Soo_Choo

        12 years ago

        2013 was probably the least weed filled for Perez.

        Reply
  6. Catztradamus

    12 years ago

    I’m waiting for Papelbon for Bourn to go down.

    Reply
    • Zak A

      12 years ago

      I’d be more like Pap + Revere for Bourn no money involved.

      Reply
      • JAMCTribe

        12 years ago

        They have already said they are not interested in Papelbon, so you might be waiting awhile.

        Reply
  7. liberalconservative

    12 years ago

    One step forward and 2 steps back is the indians this off season. They need to sign a couple of starters and a closer.

    Reply
    • barry2

      12 years ago

      What is the payroll like for the Indians? With all the Arbs their payroll should be able the same as last year, even with all the expiring contracts. They do need a starter and a closer. Signing Malcolm, Hammel, Chen or Capuano to fill out rotation and Veras to close. This shouldn’t kill the payroll. Nice if they could afford Arroyo and Balfour.

      Reply
  8. Nick Costanza

    12 years ago

    I wonder when teams’ obsessions with relievers with closer experience will end.

    Reply
  9. BobMarley22

    12 years ago

    Sign Axford.

    Reply
  10. Michael 22

    12 years ago

    I just got a visual of Joel Hanrahan with his face pressed against the glass like a puppy in a pet shop window.

    Reply
    • Joe Orsatti

      12 years ago

      I have the same visual, but with Ruben Amaro begging for somebody to take papelbon.

      “I’ll eat all of his salary, just take him PLEASE!!”

      Reply
    • bucsws2014

      12 years ago

      And I’ve got a visual of Neal Huntington scheming a way to fleece the Indians for Melancon the way he fleeced Boston for Hanrahan.

      Reply
  11. Rls23

    12 years ago

    Wonder if they made an offer to Balfour.

    Reply
    • Greg David

      12 years ago

      Word is they’ve made offers to just about everybody they’ve been linked too but they keep coming up just a little short either in money or years

      Reply
  12. Rizzo44

    12 years ago

    Maybe marmol. ? He just needed a good pitching coach .. he finally learned how to pitch in LA. He had Larry Rothschild almost his entire career .. can teach how to pitch when the teacher knows nothing about it.

    Reply
  13. jesse heiman

    12 years ago

    Indians should sign Axeford How! He could CHOP the opposition down in the 9th.

    Reply
  14. Ferrariman

    12 years ago

    They could try to swing a trade for Jason Motte. Cards have him as a bit of a spare part.

    Reply
  15. jdouble777

    12 years ago

    Trade for Mark Melacon

    Reply

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