Post by dougiejays on Mar 14, 2022 17:32:58 GMT -5
The Jays swung a minor move over the All-Star break to try and continue patching together a bullpen that’s been leaky all season, acquiring left-handed reliever Gary Wayne from the Florida Marlins along with a 3rd round pick in the upcoming 1999 draft in exchange for their 2nd round pick in the same draft and a player to be named later or other considerations. (These considerations have been widely reported as the Jays permitting catching instructor John Rabb to switch sides and work with some Marlins players as part of the deal.)
Wayne has logged a 3.38 ERA in 24 IP this year, though his 1.42 WHIP suggests some cause for concern. For his career, he has a 17-11 record with 10 saves and a 3.91 ERA in 315 innings spread over parts of ten seasons with the Mets, Mariners, Angels and Marlins. Over the past three years in particular he’s been a valuable contributor for the division-winning Angels.
This will be the second bullpen lefty on an expiring contract that the Jays have picked up from Florida in less than a month, having landed John Franco in exchange for Bob Wickman near the beginning of June. Franco immediately slotted in as the team’s closer and has gone 1-1 with 4 saves and a 1.13 ERA in 8 innings since that trade.
The moves were required because Toronto’s bullpen has been one of the most suspect in the league all season. Opening day closer Jason Christiansen blew 5 of his 15 save opportunities en route to a 4.87 ERA and a trip to the minors, and mainstay relief ace Randy Myers has also looked shaky early this season, posting an unsightly 5.32 ERA through 45.2 IP. Wickman also struggled mightily prior to his departure, as did Ricky Bones before his recent injury. At one point, the Jays even turned to starting pitcher Jim Niedlinger as a temporary closer, and while he did convert two save opportunities successfully, he was ultimately pressed back into duty in the squad’s equally embattled starting rotation.
The upshot of the two deals is that the Jays will now have a bullpen that tilts alarmingly to the south, featuring four lefties (Christiansen, Myers, Franco and Wayne) and just two righties (Ben Weber and Ken Ryan). Depending how everybody performs, this bug will likely correct itself organically when Brian Fisher comes off the DL and potentially pushes one of Toronto’s struggling right-handed starters, be it Niedlinger or Roger Pavlik, back to the bullpen.
All told, these deals will hardly evoke past memories of recent vaunted Blue Jays bullpens that were almost impossible to score upon, but if they can simply hang onto a few leads for the triple-headed monster at the front of Toronto’s rotation (Roger Clemens, Jeff Russell and Kevin Brown all rank in the top 5 in the AL ELA race), then this team should have no problem cruising to the playoffs.
