O’s Bullpen Under Construction

If you gave me the big office in the Warehouse (which has apparently changed occupants), reshaping the bullpen would not have been my first priority. But rather than ripping the team for failing to give Robbie Cano $240MM or some other flashy thing* I’m going to focus on the bullpen moves of late.

Departures

Jim Johnson ended up being just another soul for sale, oh well. Despite being one of my favorite Orioles, I can’t help but agree that Johnson had to go at $10MM+ and possibly diminishing returns. The move will hurt less if the Orioles actually “reallocate” the money (Duquette’s euphemism of choice) to get better for 2014. If they fail to capitalize in the Winter Meetings, the salary dump will make ownership look cheap, regardless of intent.

Acquisitions

The Orioles signed Ryan Webb to a 2-year, $4.5MM contract. Webb was an arbitration casualty, becoming available when the Marlins decided the 27 year old’s career 3.29 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. His skill set has been favorably compared to Jim Johnson, and he is considerably cheaper. A solid pickup, Webb will compete for the closer role, and can provide quality innings in a setup capacity.

Brad Brach was acquired from the Padres for a minor league arm. While his career had been unremarkable in San Diego, he provides an optionable arm in the bullpen, which is a valuable commodity for Buch Showalter. I’m not sure Brach comes north with the club in March, but I would expect to see him contribute at the major league level at some point in 2014.

Depth signing Edgmer Escalona leaves little to be excited about. The righty has a decent fastball, but lacks the secondary pitches to be truly effective. He’ll get a look in spring training, but will be the odd man out if Duquette manages to further upgrade the bullpen in the Winter Meetings.

Left hander Kelvin De La Cruz is another organizational arm. While his strikeout totals at AAA Albuquerque were impressive, he had a walk… problem.

Possible Re-purposing

In frightening news, the Orioles have started listening to Matt Sroka, and will give Brian Matusz a chance to start. Whether because they want to squeeze every bit of value (and salary) from the former first rounder, or because they suspect there are no front-line starters on the way via free agency, Matusz will be stretched out in the spring, and allowed to compete for a job in the rotation. If he makes it, it will remove an incredibly dependable reliever from a bullpen already in flux. It also makes Troy Patton the primary left handed specialist. Color me skeptical, but I don’t see Matusz winning a starting job. If he does, I think it says more about the Orioles’ offseason failures than it does Matusz’s progression.

Other names have been bandied about for a role change, but are even less likely than Matusz:

• Bud Norris for closer. Makes more sense to make him a long man. Will definitely be in the rotation if the O’s hold pat on the roster.
• Zach Britton for closer. Let’s prove he can pitch at the major league level first, before putting him in high pressure situations, mkay?
• Tommy Hunter for closer. It could happen.
• TJ MacFarland to the rotation. I’m big on MacFarland, but also reside on Planet Earth. No thanks.

I expect that the Birds will try to land at least one more arm, whether that be a proven closer, or a complimentary piece to replace the in-house candidate who eventually takes the job. With that, the bullpen should be stronger than last year, which may improve some of those one-run outcomes. If this team hopes to be in contention, it’s going to need a stable, dependable bullpen – especially if question marks plague the rotation.

* I said I wouldn’t rip the team for bad moves that put too much money and too many years on the table, but so help me, I’ll be grabbing my pitchfork if Duquette doesn’t come out of the Winter Meetings with solutions to some of the Orioles’ problems. This team has holes, and can’t afford to make do with substandard players.