The Reds have officially struck a one-year deal with reliever Drew Storen, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon first reported (via Twitter), making him the first player the organization has signed to a major league deal this winter. It’s a one-year, $3MM major-league deal for the veteran righty, per Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (Twitter links).
Storen, a client of CAA Sports, can earn an additional $1.5MM via incentives. He’ll receive $50K apiece upon appearing in 15, 20, and 25 games, plus another $100K upon reaching 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 games finished. He’ll also receive a $500K assignment bonus in the event he’s traded.
As Steve Adams and I recently discussed, Cincinnati seemed primed to add an experienced, late-inning arm to its bullpen mix. Storen, in particular, appeared to be an interesting fit given his relative youth and high-quality performance in the not-so-distant past.
Now that he’s slotted into the Reds’ late-inning mix, Storen figures to have a strong shot at returning to the closer’s role he once held with the Nationals. For now, Jason Martinez of MLBTR and Roster Resource is penciling him into a setup spot behind Raisel Iglesias.
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Utilizing the experienced Storen in the ninth would have some side benefits, though. He’d keep Iglesias and fellow youngster Michael Lorenzen free for more flexible, multi-inning stints, and by being the one to accumulate saves would tamp down their future arbitration earnings. Either way, he may end up turning into a summer trade chip, depending upon how things go both for Storen and his new team.
Of course, there’s a reason that the 29-year-old was available on just a one-year commitment. His 2016 season represented a significant departure from his prior years’ work, as Storen scuffled to a 5.23 ERA over 51 2/3 frames split between the Blue Jays and Mariners. Declining fastball velocity (92.3 mph average, down from 94.1 mph in 2015) and elevated home-run tallies (six in 33 1/3 innings with the Jays) were just two of the major problems that arose.
Storen ended up being designated for assignment by Toronto and ultimately swapped in a change-of-scenery deal for Joaquin Benoit. He did pick up the pace upon the move to Seattle, allowing seven earned runs on just 13 hits, three walks, and one home run over 18 1/3 innings. But Storen ultimately hit the DL with shoulder inflammation, adding to the concern about his near-term outlook.
While there’s obviously some cause for concern, Cinci isn’t taking much of a gamble here and has much to gain. Storen racked up a career-best 11.0 K/9 in 2015, and metrics suggested he was unlucky to end that year with a 3.44 ERA. In the season prior, he ran up a 1.12 ERA by allowing just 44 hits and 11 walks over his 55 strong innings. Despite his loss of velocity in his most recent campaign, he did manage to maintain his swinging-strike rate, which provides some additional cause for optimism. If he can return to anything approaching his prior form, Storen would represent a screaming value for a Reds organization that trotted out a historically bad bullpen in 2016.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
good for him
Yeah. A lil surprised he got a major league deal after last year
Reds buy low sell him at deadline if any good
Casilla would’ve made more sense, Storen is completely toast from what I saw last year. Fastball lost a lot of velo which X led to him getting lit up badly
I agree Storen is a bad mix for that stadium.
They are trying to push past their hr totals from last year.
If Storen has recovered from his shoulder problems and has his velocity back it should be a great deal for the Reds. Cheap price for a veteran setupman and closer who’s still pretty young. Just the kinda guy the Reds should’ve targeted.
He won’t be a great closer, but he looks like a better option than Cingrani, and offers more flexibility with how they choose to use Iglesias and Lorezen.
2016 is an outlier in a long track record of relative success.
As a Jays fan, had the same optimism this time last year. Boy, was that wrong. Storen was pretty much a BP pitcher, dragging down the worst bullpen I’ve ever seen. Thank God they were cleared out at the trade deadline or else there’s no way the Jays would have made the playoffs. I think you’re in for a rough ride.
I’m hoping the Reds also sign RHP Joe Smith, a Cincinnati native. Storen provides upside and the chance of a rebound, but Smith offers stability (and ground balls) that the Reds’ bullpen could use.
Good deal for Cincinnati, if it works out, great, if not it really couldn’t get much worse than last year for the pen
Reds are really Storen up the talent…
Nice joke…try going back to the drewing board
Ha!
Hopefully he turns it around. He seems like a great guy and he still has a lot of movement on his pitches, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he does. Bad ball park to go to though
I liked him in Seattle. He was very well liked by fans. He loved the M’s as a kid and you could tell he enjoyed playing there. Was hoping Seattle resigned him.
Reds’ first signing of the winter.
Love this as a Cubs fan.
Yeah me too. Schwarbs has killed Ohio pitching. First chance he get. He’s gonna hit about a 450ft bomb. As will Bryzzo and Addy. And the 2017 comeback player of the year(or at least I think he will be)Jason Heyward. I can’t see the cubs facing him that much. They killed reds pitching last year.
Great signing. This will be good for both Storen and the Reds. Storen needs a pick-me-up and the Reds needs pitching. Him and Tucker Barnhart went to the same high school and were only two years apart, so it will be a nice reunion for them.
And Mike Trout and Bryce Harper attended different high schools together. A reunion would be something else.
Believe it or not, I dreamed last night that Storen blew another late inning lead for Nationals in a series clincher playoff game. Very happy to find out in the morning he signed with Reds.
25 blown saves last year for the Reds bullpen, if he just carries a 75% conversion rate the Reds instantly become a .500 ball club. Good signing.