Free-agent reliever Joel Hanrahan will work out for teams in spring training, a league source tells MLBTR's Tim Dierkes (via Twitter). Hanrahan is currently throwing off a mound, earlier than anticipated. He had season-ending surgery on his elbow in May.
The closer struggled in nine appearances with the Red Sox in 2013, though he still threw very hard, with his fastball averaging 96.6 MPH. He posted a 2.72 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 for the Pirates in 2012 before the Bucs traded him to Boston with infielder Brock Holt for four players, including Mark Melancon and pitching prospect Stolmy Pimentel.
Madson, Hanrahan, Bailey……former stars who faced the wrath of the volatile position of RP. I would prefer to take my chances with Madson, but that may just be a Philly fan supporting the player who has only pitched for the Phillies.
I’ve really been hoping for a Phillies-Madson reunion all off season and there is apparently mutual interest. Guys like the three you listed are great low risk, high reward players. The Pirates built their playoff team with moves like that
Its a perfect scenario for Madson. No team obviously is going to give him a closing job, but given the health of Adams and the decline of Papelbon, he has a chance to earn at least the setup job in out pen if he performs. Besides, he grew his career here, the fans would love to see another year of him.
Pirates or Yankees could acquire Papelbon, esp. if Brett Gardner is the main piece going to the Phillies to replace Dominic Brown should Brown & Lee gets traded to the Mariners.
Yankees are not trading Gardner for Papelbon unless the Phillies ate a good portion of Papelbon’s contract.
In what universe are the Pirates going to trade for Papelbon???
Not going to happen w/ Melancon still on board. The Pirates could trade Francisco Liriano or Jeff Locke & either Travis Snider or Jose Tabata to Seattle Mariners for Nick Franklin, Justin Smoak, Tyler Pike, Carson Smith, and Stefan Romero as both teams can fill some needs at positions.
Pirates also built some terrible teams with moves like that. I like Madson – but anything more than an MiLB contract is too much for a guy who hasn’t thrown a pitch in MLB for 2 years.
And my hatred of the Brock Holt (Yes, I am calling it that) trade has returned. Anyways, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rays sign him to a minor league deal.
Are you a Red Sox fan? If yes, you guys still won a World Series in spite of Hanrahan’ s injury.
Yes, regardless of the Sox winning the WS, it was a dumb trade. They always trade for closers and it always fails.
Possibly Tigers.
Yep. Coupled with Tanaka would be a nice January for the Tigers.
It’s a lost cause to convince most of the people here to trade Scherzer and sign Tanaka. As for the people at the Tigers SB blog, most of them are okay with trading Scherzer but there’s little to no discussion about Tanaka.
My argument kinda went out the window after Tanaka was looking for 17 million though.
Over the next five years, which will be a better deal?
1. $20MM Posting Fee + $17MM/year for Tanaka… plus 1-2 top prospects (or at least a QO Pick)?
2. Or well over $20MM/year for Scherzer?
That is truly debatable.
Why not get both for 2014 and let Scherzer walk with his heir apparent already on the team?
Sorry, I meant a minimum 17 million a year.
“Team officials involved in Tanaka sweepstakes say the Japanese star will cost a minimum of $17 million a year”
I understand the excitement about Tanaka but Scherzer is a proven threat. Why would you be willing to trade him for a pitcher that has never seen the MLB. Please remember how great Daisuke Matsuzaka was projected to be. I’d take the sure thing with Scherzer any day.
I’ve already explained this in another article.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/12/poll-which-team-will-sign-masahiro-tanaka.html
Find the comment that starts with “I voted Other because I think it’ll either be between the Tigers and Yankee’s.” Then read all the comments in that discussion. And Dice-K should not be related to the discussion. They are two completely different pitchers. The only similarity is the country they come from.
I tried to post a link to an article on this site that correlates to why I thought the Tigers should trade Scherzer and sign Tanaka but apparently it won’t show up.
Find this article:
Poll: Which Team Will Sign Masahiro Tanaka?
And find my comment that begins with “I voted Other because I think it’ll either be between the Tigers and Yankee’s.” Then read the discussion under that comment. Also, Dice-K should not be related to the Tanaka discussions. They are two completely different pitchers who only happen to come from the came country.
One of the teams I had in mind
Seems like Pimental was a hard thrower also when he was with the Sox minor league system, or at least up to 95 as a SP. Wouldn’t shock me if Pittsburgh got another decent mid-back end SP from him in the end out of that deal.
I remember I was so mad when the Pirates first made that trade, worked out fantastic though
I could see the Yankees giving him a shot on a minor league deal and then a incentive laden ML deal if he can come back from TJS. The Yankees could use bullpen help so he could stand a pretty good chance of making the team at some point.
Pretty much any team could sign Hanrahan. Low risk, high reward player if his velocity is still high.
I’d love to see Hanrahan rebuild his value in Pittsburgh
I would too, I just don’t know if there’s any space for him. Grilli, Melancon, Watson, Wilson are all locks to make the pen. Gomez, Pimental, Morris and more will compete for the remaining spots.
I feel like signing Hanrahan could be more of a distraction than an improvement, if only because fans would want to see him in the bullpen regardless of how he performs. We already have enough bullpen depth, I guess.
I’d rather see Hanrahan getting a shot rather than Morris in there, but really the difference would be negligible. Still, this is a guy who wanted to stay in Pittsburgh.
I’d love to see Hanrahan rebuild his value in Pittsburgh
Would love this guy on a minor league deal for the halos. Always liked him in Pitt. If he can recover his 2012 form some team will have a good plus piece in the pen.
As a Pirates fan, I was happy to see the Hammer get his ring this year, even though he hardly pitched for the Red Sox. I can see him signing with a team like the Astros or Angels on a one-year deal to build some value. Hanrahan was pretty dominant for a two-year stretch there. He could be an effective closer again.
Don’t forget the Mariners should they also be interested to fill closer role by signing Joel Hanrahan (better fit than Jack Hanahan few years back before going to the Indians/Reds).
I’m confused. Hannahan is a third baseman.
Yup, but Joel Hanrahan would be a nice fit for the Mariners as the team need a closer since GM Jack Z is on the hot seat like Huntington of the Pirates was at this time last year.
I could see him resigning with the Pirates obviously not in the closers position, but as a middle reliever or 7th inning man
Pirates bullpen already seems pretty much set with Grilli, Melancon, Watson, Wilson, Morris, Mazzaro and Gomez…not sure where Hanrahan would fit in.
cashman sign him
Giants or Braves after losing Downs to ChiSox could use Hanrahan as a closer or setup man. Mariners could also be in the mix if the team can only acquire Cliff Lee & Dominic Brown. HF advantage (Hanrahan/Farquhar if no injuries) would be an awesome bullpen in the late innings to win games on top of the acquisition on offense/defense including Dominic Brown coming over w/ Lee only in a rumored trade.
One of the few disappointments for the Red Sox last season. But can’t complain after winning the WS. Good luck to him, some team will likely get a good value signing with him.
Hope Hanrahan makes a comeback! Enjoyed having him in Pittsburgh