The Diamondbacks have pursued late-inning help all offseason. Arizona’s lone major league bullpen pickup was their waiver claim of Seth Martinez from Houston. The Snakes let Paul Sewald walk in free agency, leaving them without much in the way of experienced closers.
General manager Mike Hazen told reporters this afternoon that any late-offseason bullpen pickup is likelier to come by way of free agency than trade (relayed by Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports). The bullpen market has moved rapidly over the past four or five weeks. David Robertson stands as the top unsigned reliever. He has ample experience as both a closer and setup man. Robertson will be limited to a one-year deal at age 40, though he could command an eight-figure guarantee after posting an even 3.00 earned run average while striking out a third of opponents across 72 innings for the Rangers.
There are a handful of other free agent relievers who still seem likely to land big league deals. Kyle Finnegan, Andrew Chafin, and Phil Maton should all get major league contracts. Buck Farmer, Lucas Sims, Héctor Neris and injury returnees Kendall Graveman and Keynan Middleton are all unsigned. Craig Kimbrel has the most closing experience of any free agent, though he’s coming off a dismal season with the Orioles.
If the Diamondbacks don’t add anyone from that group, the ninth inning could be up for grabs in camp. Manager Torey Lovullo said yesterday that he’d prefer having an established closer but is “not going to force it” if a committee approach works better (link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Lovullo listed A.J. Puk, Justin Martinez and Kevin Ginkel as in-house candidates to close.
Puk was utterly dominant after the D-Backs acquired him from the Marlins at last summer’s deadline. The southpaw fired 27 1/3 innings of 1.32 ERA ball while striking out nearly 42% of batters faced. Puk has had three straight seasons as an excellent late-game weapon. He didn’t close much last year but recorded 15 saves two seasons ago.
Martinez turned in a 2.48 ERA over 72 2/3 innings in his first full big league campaign. The righty punched out nearly 30% of batters faced with a massive 58.9% grounder percentage. His sinker landed north of 100 MPH on average, while opposing hitters had no success against his splitter. Martinez doesn’t have Puk’s multi-year track record but clearly has closing stuff. Ginkel turned in a 3.21 ERA with a strong 26.5% strikeout rate across 70 innings. While he seems likelier to stick in a setup capacity, the righty has been a reliable bullpen piece for the past three years.
David Robertson is the most sure solution out there , but coming off 11 mil, might set a high bar on what he’s willing to take compared to what he’s worth at 40.
Kimbrell is a fun option for a non serious team.
he’s grinding milestones, so shouldn’t cost much, but will want save opportunities.
Surprised there’s not more movement on Kyle Finnegan, but I think he’s looking for the best fit amongst wide’spread similar offers.
Robertson only made $5M in ’24. $1.5M from the buyout at the end of the season. The other $5M was deferred, payable at $1M per year from 27-31.
Good to know.
He’d be a solid addition for 5 mil
Dbacks should sign Kyle Finnegan, I think that’s a cheaper steal
I haven’t seen Finnegan pitch much, but I see his SO%, W%, EV and HH% are all on the wrong side of major league average. And his FIP is major league average. Again, I haven’t seen him much, but it feels like Puk and Martinez are better 9th inning options.
What the Puk are you talking about?
Puk you!
I don’t think any remaining FA relievers are what the Dbacks are looking for.
Robertson, if he took a low guaranteed salary, would want incentives, plus the priority for saves to reach those incentives. And I don’t think that’s good for the team.
Finnegan’s peripherals are scary bad.
The rest really offer nothing the Dbacks don’t already have
The only move that does make sense is trading for Miller from the Athletics, though the price will be steep.
I haven’t known Hazen to outright lie about plans, but he certainly does “lawyer up” when he’s talking about the team.
Saying that the team is more likely to add through FA than trade, doesn’t mean that he’s likely to do either; he’s just more inclined to add through FA.
Did we all forget about Drey, though? He’s already throwing in camp, and he’s definitely not going to be pitching out of the rotation.
D’Backs save your money, let ST play out wait until the near the end, the market may evolve into something, you have Pittsburgh not sure of Bednar, A’s are saying Mason Miller is not available, you put a solid package to together A’s may decide yes it’s a deal, and you have a couple more that the right package might just entice a team that thought their closer was unavailable. Do not settle for a 40yr mid-level closer we tried that before, let’s go for a real top level closer this year.
Once the team gets rolling this season is a winning direction. And they will. Someone will pop up in trade and it will work out.