One area that severely plagues the Pirates is the lack of lefties both on the MLB roster and within the system as a whole. Their only two lefties on the 40-man roster are Felipe Vazquez and Steven Brault. Neal Huntington acknowledged this past week that they are needing to add in that spot and that they will explore options in that area. He stated it towards getting help in the bullpen in particular, and it seems like the Pirates have that need in mind this offseason.
With that being said, it is a good offseason to need any sort of reliever as there will be plenty to choose from, both righties and lefties. The Pirates should find it easier to find one than they did in previous years. So let’s take a look at some of the options available.
Zach Britton (free agent)
Britton is an interesting free agent case this offseason. He holds name value, but his production the last two years has not held up in comparison to what he did in 2014-2016. Most of that has to do with injury as he has been held to 78 innings total the last two years after averaging close to 70 per season the three years prior. When healthy, he can still be productive, but the problem has been his health, so it’d be a gamble to give him a big deal in hopes he is good now. He may want to settle for a 1-year prove-it deal to see if he can cash out next offseason. If that is the case, the Pirates may want to get in on his market and see if they can get 1 year of good Britton. If it doesn’t work out, they don’t havre to be locked into a bad contract for a mediocre reliever.
Andrew Miller (free agent)
Andrew Miller is sort of in a similar boat to Britton. Once one of the best lefty relievers in the game, he has been hampered by injuries that have hurt his production, as well as his free agent value. He was held to only 34 innings in 2018 after being one of the league’s most reliable relievers the previous four seasons. He wasn’t as productive in 2018 either as a result as questions about his usage being the main cause for the injury popped up. What doesn’t help him as well is that he experienced this at age 33, which is cause for major concern. Whether he is the same Andrew Miller he was from 2014-2017 is a a big question. And like Britton, it could lead to him needing to take a 1-year prove-it sort of deal to show if he’s right or not. Again, if that is the case, the Pirates should get in on his market to see if they can get vintage Andrew Miller on a lower-risk deal.
Jaime Garcia (free agent)
Some might be surprised to see Garcia on this list as many think of him as a starter. However, he was more effective out of the pen last season and many teams may see him as an outside-of-the-box relief option. Pirates could be one of those teams. They have had interest in Garcia in the past, and they may like the idea of bringing him in as a reliever with the potential to start games if things go sour for the rotation. At a cheap price, Garcia could be a nice value add for this team.
Tony Sipp (free agent)
Sipp has been an effective reliever that just does his job with little recognition (sound familiar, Pirates fans?).The main issue with Sipp is his workload has never been particularly high. His career high in innings pitched in a year was a 54.1 in 2015 and has only eclipsed 50 innings twice. In 2018, he was very effective, pitching to a 1.86 ERA/2.41 FIP and was worth 0.9 WAR in only 38.2 innings pitched (0.9 WAR in only 38 innings is very good for a reliever). He is 35 years old which means his workload is likely only going to be 40-45 innings at this point, but he’d be a fine middle relief option if he can put up numbers like last year despite the decreased workload. Pirates could probably afford him on a 1-year deal as well given his age.
Justin Wilson (free agent)
Remember Justin Wilson, Pirates fans? That flamethrower that the Pirates converted into an effective reliever before shipping him off to New York for Cervelli? Yeah, he is a free agent now, right when the Pirates could really use him. He was a very effective reliever with the Yankees and Tigers before taking a bit of a tumble with the Cubs. He was still a good reliever with the Cubs though, and he’d be a good option for the Pirates, as long as you don’t expect him to log 65-70 innings in late relief. He isn’t that type of guy, but he can be an effective middle-relief lefty to bridge the gap and come in to create matchup issues. He will be affordable at age 31 on maybe a multi-year deal that wouldn’t be too much to take even if he falls apart. He has familiarity with the Pirates, so maybe he has interest in coming back and actually pitching with Cervelli as his catcher now. If the Pirates have interest too, it could be a good match.
Oliver Perez and Zach Duke (free agents)
Now if you really want to dig up old Pirates fossils, this is the way to go. Both have found their way into nice niches as lefty relievers, particularly specialists. Huntington said he’d prefer to not have a lefty strictly as a specialist, so that dampens the hopes some fans he may that we can have a Bucco throwback.
Aaron Loup, Jorge De La Rosa, Jerry Blevins (free agents)
All three of these guys are veterans that would barely move the needle, but perhaps they can come in on cheap deals, maybe even minor-league deals. I would not see them as guys to put on the top of the list of free agent lefty relievers, but they could be good fallback options that can help if put in the right situation.
Tony Watson (trade)
Watson is a guy that all Pirates fans know. He was one of the Pirates most reliable relievers for the better part of six years. He was dealt to the Dodgers in 2017 at the trade deadline in a deal that looks good now as it landed them Oneil Cruz, one of their better prospects. For Watson he bounced back very nicely in 2018 with the Giants after signing a very cheap deal with them after two down seasons before. That contract looks very good now. The Giants had a poor season in 2018, despite it being an improvement over 2017. They may be looking to move around some pieces to reinvigorate the roster, and perhaps Watson is expendable. They were reportedly shopping Watson in July at the trade deadline, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they do so again. Perhaps the Pirates would be interested in a reunion. With him being owed only $3.5M in 2019 with a $2.5M player option in 2020, he is very affordable. He also wouldn’t take a huge haul to acquire despite the good contract and the production he showed last year, as well as being a lefty. Pirates can certainly afford a reunion in both prospect cost and money cost.
Andrew Chafin (trade)
The Diamondbacks may be tearing it down, at least a little bit. The lefty reliever Chafin may be one of the pieces that is not held down. The 28-year old is coming off an effective season with the Diamondbacks, pitching to a 3.10 ERA/2.65 FIP and was worth 1 WAR in Arizona in 2018. This was after a pretty effective 2017 as well. He seems to have developed into a reliable reliever. He is under team control for 2019 and 2020 through arbitration, which makes him an attractive option for the Pirates. If the Diamondbacks are interested in dealing Chafin, the Pirates should be in the market for him.
The Pirates seem likely to add a left-handed reliever in some capacity this offseason, and there are plenty of options out there at all levels of the market that can provide something of value to the Pirates.
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