The Phillies need to add a reliever this offseason, and preferably someone with some experience for the stretch run
Despite signing Tommy Hunter and Pat Neshek to two-year deals worth $34.2 million combined the Phillies bullpen came up lame last season. The bullpen allowed 4.49 runs per game, the 12th worst in baseball and fifth-worst in the National League.
The bullpen wasn’t all bad, converting 69% of their saves and only 30% of inherited base runners scored, both the sixth-best in baseball.
There are certainly building blocks for the team to work with going into 2019 and beyond. Seranthony Dominguez and Victor Arano each had a WAR of 2.0 or better and Edubray Ramos had a 2.32 ERA in 52 games.
Luis Avilan is arbitration eligible after the Phillies picked him up from the White Sox during the waiver deadline. We’ll see what happens to Luis Garcis and Yacksel Rios, and hopefully Hector Neris can rebound after a down season.
Despite the success of Dominguez, Ramos, and Arano the Phillies likely need one more veteran in the bullpen. Injuries will unfortunately come about, as seen with Neshek last year.
Here are 10 relievers the Phillies might consider signing this offseason.
Adam Warren
The long-time Yankees pitcher is a free agent for the first time in his career after being traded by the Yankees to the Cubs, then back to the Yankees, then to the Mariners in July.
Warren primarily appeared in the seventh inning this year, but ironically that’s when he struggled the most. The righty’s ERA was 4.50 in 67 plate appearances in the seventh inning, while his ERA was a remarkable 0.66 in 53 eighth inning plate appearances.
This could be a cheap setup man option for the Phillies with Warren coming off a $3.3 million deal with the Yankees and Mariners last year. This might be another deal that looks similar to Tommy Hunter at two-years and $18 million.