The Indians search for bullpen help continues, as Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports that the club has signed lefty Oliver Perez to a major league deal. The club has designated fellow left-hander Jeff Beliveau for assignment in a corresponding move.
The Yankees released Perez from his minors contract just yesterday; as MLBTR’s Jeff Todd pointed out at that time, he’d received a June 1st opt-out date in his contract with the club due to his status as an Article XX(B) free agent. Perez struck out 10.5 batters per nine innings while walking 3.9 across the past two seasons with the Washington Nationals, and the Indians will hope he can serve as another reliable lefty reliever behind Tyler Olson while former ALCS MVP Andrew Miller rehabs a knee issue.
As Bastian aptly pointed out, Perez will end up being the 15th relief pitcher used by the Indians this season, whereas they only used 13 relievers for the entirety of 2017 (position players and starters coming out of the bullpen excluded). Those relievers have combined to post an ERA north of 6, good for the worst mark in the majors. While it would be silly to think that Perez can have a significant impact on that figure, he’s got a long resume of effective performance against same-handed hitters. On the whole, he’s limited those lefties to a .228/.318/.365.
In any case, that makes him an upgrade over Beliveau, who’s at times seemed incapable of getting any outs at all. Beliveau’s got a gargantuan ERA of 11.57 this season, and remarkably, his FIP suggests he’s been lucky to have posted even that figure. Of course, this all comes in a 4 2/3 inning sample size, but Indians fans will surely be glad to see Beliveau replaced in the bullpen regardless.
Oliver Perez was the one reliever I said I wouldn’t want the Indians to sign. Of course he’s the one they get.
He is an upgrade over a quad-A reliver like Beliveau.
I was thinking that right after I sent my original comment
Nothing to lose given the prior roster space occupant. I remember watching OP as a youngster against Boston in an inter-league game. The ball seemed so small, like he was throwing peas. I kept wondering who he was, thinking this kid was going to have a long career. Not as great as I expected but definitely did last a long time.
And the bottom-feeding continues for the beleaguered Indians bullpen.
And the revolving door to the bullpen continues…
“he’s limited those lefties to a .228/.318/.365.”
What are his splits vs. RHB? As long as Ollie is used strictly as a LOOGY* both player and team will be fine.
*Extra innings and ‘last man standing’ excluded.
CLE will continue to cycle through the waiver wire claims for a while, but at some point they’ll have to trade for relievers who are effective now. I hear all the blah blah blah that effective relievers will cost too much in talent, but their window is open now. The division is theirs for the taking. Tribe won’t survive even the play in game with a bullpen like this. The FO failed to address the pen last winter, and (surprise, surprise) the problem didn’t fix itself (never does).
CLE won’t be in the play in game… although I do agree they need to trade for pen help
Funny, but the guy they miss the most is the one everybody griped about. The Tribe might have failed to address the bullpen, but there was no way on earth they could afford to negotiate those contracts with what they’re already spending everywhere else.
Exactly. Bryan Shaw gave me a heart attack every time he came in, but all in all he was as consistent as they came (his poor start in Colorado notwithstanding). I just don’t think the Indians could have justified paying $9 million a year on a set-up man.
I wonder if the Indians even have the finances to conduct a trade for a relief pitcher
The Padres and the Indians line up nicely as potential trade partners.
The Padres the pen pieces: Hand, Yates, Stammen.
The Indians have the athletes (Tristen McKenzie, Benson, Allen)
While they need help in the bullpen, there’s no way they give those guys up for Yates or Stammen and when Miller is back they don’t have such a need for Hand. I would like to see Lauer in a Tribe uni but they’re not in the market for a starter anytime soon.
Yeah true, but hey you can never have too much pitching. A healthy Andrew Miller and Brad Hand on the same team to pair with Cody Allen would be lights out.
The Padres would probably have a lot of interest in Mejia. Hedges is great defensively but is never healthy and when he is, he struggles to bat .220
I wonder if Hand plus one of Pirela, Spangenberg, Asuaje or Jankowski for Mejia and another prospect at the bottom of the top 30 list for the Indians is enough?
Padres will not get Mejia, McKenzie or Benson anytime soon. Again, no need to go all in on a second lefty in the bullpen when they already have Miller.
Hand will not bring back Mejia, Cleveland also adding a top 30 prospect to the deal for those spare parts would never happen. They already have a glut of players at those positions that are better and wouldn’t dump one to add any of them to the roster.
Depending on what happens to Beliveau, the whitesox might go after him.
fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=RP or any team with horrible relievers
I think he needs to retire! The Reds released him because he wouldn’t accept a Triple A assignment and now he opted out of his Yankees contract because he isn’t good enough to be on a major league team!
Or he opted out on the contract deadline because he did have an MLB deal? I wouldn’t take a AAA deal in Cincy either, Yankees is a different story.
Nice outing for him today, hopefully he can string together several good outings.
Yep, nice to see for a change.
Followed up with another good outing.