Looking for a lefty reliever? Here are the available free agents:
- Joe Beimel – Beimel is a Type B free agent, but the Dodgers did not offer him arbitration. His walk and strikeout ratios are not great but he’s somehow managed to allow only one home run in the past two seasons. Lefties hit .278/.330/.311 against him in ’08.
- Randy Flores – Flores was non-tendered by the Cardinals in December. He had surgery in September for a cyst as well as fraying of the labrum. In the Majors in ’08 lefties hit .314/.422/.549 against him.
- Tyler Johnson – The youngest of the group, Johnson was also non-tendered by the Cards. He missed the entire ’08 season with shoulder problems. He held lefties to a .224/.307/.418 line in 2007.
- Will Ohman – Ohman was traded to the Braves in December of ’07 along with Omar Infante. He held lefties to a .200/.257/.314 line. The Braves have had an offer on the table for him since November, and the Phillies recently backed off.
- Dennys Reyes – Reyes is a Type B who was offered arbitration by the Twins. He’s bounced around in his career. Lefties hit .202/.250/.287 against him last year and the Dodgers may be interested.
- Ricardo Rincon – He pitched in the Mexican league for most of ’08 and hasn’t done much in the Majors since ’05.
- Ron Villone – Held lefties to a .176/.311/.318 line for the Cardinals in ’08.
The Tigers, A’s, Phillies, Braves, Dodgers, and Mets are known to be in the market for lefty relief help.
