Five Free Agent Targets for the Dodgers to Upgrade Their Bullpen

The Dodgers need to rebuild their bullpen. Over the last two seasons, the bullpen was touted as one of the best in baseball during the regular season, but it has consistently faltered late in the playoffs.

While the team has a plethora of arms that can throw multiple innings, they lack depth in terms of reliable late-inning relievers and matchup firemen.  From Brandon Morrow to Kenley Jansen to Ryan Madson, Dave Roberts has had to overwork his veteran arms in the postseason, to the detriment of the team.

If the Dodgers want to compete for another title next season, they will need a new bullpen, restocked with a variety of different arms. They will need lefties, righties, flamethrowers and finesse guys and some level of clutch performance and playoff experience.

While the Dodgers are less likely to go after expensive relievers through free agency, there are a few veterans on the market that could provide low-cost options. And spoiler alert, they’re all former-closers.

Kelvin Herrera (RHP): Herrera is one of the few all-star relievers available on the free agent market this season. A fireballer, Herrera won a World Series ring with the Kansas City Royals in 2015, making back-to-back AL all-star squads in 2015 and 2016. Last season, the Royals dealt Herrera before the trade deadline to the Washington Nationals. Herrera had injury problems last season so he only threw 44.1 innings, finishing up the year with a 2.44 ERA and a 92.1% strand rate.

He was much better in his role as the Royals closer in comparison to his late-inning relief role for the Nats, as he had a 1.05 ERA and .70 walks per nine innings with Kansas City versus a 4.34 ERA and a 3.86 BB/9 once in D.C. Herrera’s diminished performance last season should drive down his price to a point, and his playoff experience and skill set is unmatched at his price point, which will probably be around $8 million per season.

Brad Brach (RHP): Another former closer from the AL East, Brach has notched 30 saves over the last two seasons with the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves. Brach mostly has been a middle and late reliever in his MLB career, and though he began closing games in 2017, he will most likely go back to his old role in 2019, regardless of where he lands.

For the Dodgers, Brach could provide a strong seventh or eighth inning righty-righty matchup pitcher, something Roberts really did not have last season. Brach, over the last three seasons, has hovered right around a strikeout per inning and has an ERA of 2.88 over this span. Against righties, Brach had a .242 batting average against in 2018. According to Fangraphs, Brach was strong during high leverage situations, with a 3.63 ERA and a .239 batting average against during these outings.

Brach also pitched in the NL West for the first three seasons of his career with the San Diego Padres. He will probably only need just a one year deal, worth around $4 million, as he heads into his age 33 season.

Bud Norris (RHP): The only former Dodger on this list, Norris pitched well for the Cardinals in 2018, racking up 28 saves with a 3.59 ERA and a 10.46 K/9 in 57.2 innings. This was Norris’ second season closing, as he the Cardinals signed him after his closing stint with the Angels in 2017, in which he saved 19 games with 60 strikeouts.

Norris, a former starter, mostly mixes a fastball, cutter, and sinker to along with a slider. The cutter was his best pitch in 2018, with a 5.0 Pitch Info pitch value according to Fangraphs. Although he is a righty, Norris is best against left-handed hitters, pitching 59.2 innings against them over the last two seasons with a 2.41 ERA and only two home runs allowed.

If he can continue to keep lefties off base, he would be a valuable addition to the Dodgers ’pen. Norris will be entering his age 34 season in 2019, though his average velocities have not shown any decline over the last few seasons and he should cost only about $3 million per year based on what he earned after the 2017 season.

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Santiago Casilla (RHP): Over the course of his career, Casilla racked up 144 career saves with the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics. Casilla is the epitome of a late-inning reliever, as he has a .222 opponent AVG against and 160 Ks in 177.1 high leverage innings, according to Fangraphs. Casilla pitched for the Giants in all three of their World Series seasons, and over his entire career accumulated 19.2 playoff innings in which he posted a 0.92 ERA and stranded 86.4% of runners.

Last season, Casilla held right-handers to a .170 opponent average, and in general, had positive pitch values for his fastball, slider, and curveball according to Fangraphs. He will be even less expensive than the previous two relievers mentioned above, and at 38 will be somewhat risky, but he still was able to hit 93.8 mph with his average fastball last season according to Fangraphs.

Casilla’s last contract was for $11 million over 2 seasons, so he should go for around $2-3 million on a one year deal for 2019. As long as the arm remains intact, Casilla can produce for whichever team takes a chance on him.