Building a Better Bullpen - Part I

After several difficult years, 2012 was to be the season the Metropolis Avengers returned to respectability.  That started in the offseason when we traded for Jose Bautista and signed star free agents CC Sabathia, Robinson Cano and Jose Reyes.

Going into the season, I thought my lineup and rotation were strong enough to be competitive in the playoffs, but knew my bullpen might be a little short.  I had hoped a bullpen anchored by Neftali Feliz, Sergio Santos, Marc Rzepczynski and Aroldis Chapman would be able to get the job done, but after losing several games in the late innings, it was obvious I would need to upgrade my pen if the Avengers were to have a real chance to get to the Brassball World Series.

In June, I scoured the league rosters and identified about 25 pitchers I thought could help.  I was aggressive in pursuing deals and emailed at least ten owners hoping to find an upgrade.  Not many owners were willing to throw in the towel that early and, despite my efforts, I entered July with the same bullpen I had in April. 

In mid-July I restarted talks with numerous owners, hoping that some would be more open to a deal after another month of games.  Luckily for me, that’s just what happened.

My first deal was with Florence for David Herndon.  On the surface, Herndon might not look like an obvious target, but he is a right-hander that can shut down right-handed hitters.  My pen did not have that “hard righty” before and I hope Herndon can do his job in what will likely be short stints against some of the top righties in the league.  Herndon had Tommy John surgery in 2012, making him a rental for the rest of the season and also lowering his price.  He cost me just $100,000 plus the remainder of his salary for 2012.

After picking up Herndon, I returned to a deal that was, literally, months in the making.  I had been talking to Parkland since early in the season, as I knew they had a deep and talented bullpen.  (To be completely honest, Parkland may have claimed I had been stalking or hounding them, but I’ll stick with “talking.”)  In a series of emails, phone calls and in-person talks, we considered a number of different combinations, but it was obvious Parkland wasn’t going to deal until they decided they were out of contention. 

I had initially targeted Kenley Jansen and Greg Holland, but by mid-July, I narrowed my focus to Jansen alone, as I had already acquired Herndon and was hoping to acquire one or two more relievers elsewhere.

Parkland made it clear they were looking primarily for talent already in the majors, which was a little difficult for me.  My MLB roster is fairly lean and most of the valuable assets had important roles on my current Brassball team.  In the end, I decided that I could afford to deal Jed Lowrie, despite the fact he was my platoon 1B and having a great 2012 MLB season.  In the end, you have to give talent to get it, and I have Jose Reyes locked in as my shortstop and hope Jansen will be an important part of my bullpen for the next several seasons. 

Once Parkland decided it was time to deal, we completed our trade quite quickly – it was a straight Lowrie-for-Jansen deal.  I’m quite happy with the deal, but I do feel bad that Lowrie went on the MLB disabled list just two days after the trade.  Of course, injury risk has always been part of the equation for Lowrie, which is another reason I was willing to deal him.

After two deals I had added two good arms to my bullpen, but I wasn’t satisfied.  In Part II, I’ll discuss additional trades that added even more quality and depth to my bullpen.