Indians have needs in the bullpen, too

The day after the World Series ended the Indians released closer Chris Perez.

The
move was quick and decisive on the first official day of the offseason
to clear themselves of the $9 million or so obligation for him next
season and the big giant headache he had become off the field and in the
locker room.

For as much as Perez was maligned
in Cleveland and the many high wire acts he put everyone through in the
ninth inning, he posted 124 saves and a 3.33 ERA in 274 appearances in
his five-year Indians career. It was a career that really, for the most
part, was good, but the closers role is one of the most volatile in the
sport because of how people fall into and out of favor of them so
quickly.

Perez was nothing special, but he was a
solid back-end reliever who usually got the job done by converting 86.7-percent of his saves as an Indian -- even if it left fans reaching for the Rolaids.
But for a team with a finite budget and him slated to earn so much
money next season, it is a move that had to be made. A team like the
Indians with a payroll around $80-85 million can ill afford to have over
10 percent of their payroll tied into an average or slightly above average
closer -- something that would have happened if Perez was retained for
2014.

Not only is Perez out of the picture, but
ultra-reliable right-hander Joe Smith is a free agent and probably won't
return because he's going to get a multi-year deal for $5-7 million a
year. He is one of the more underappreciated players over the past five
years as he has appeared in 303 games and racked up a 2.76 ERA as an
Indian. Considering the volatile nature of relievers, it is not often
you find a guy who performs so consistently year in and year out for as
long as Smith has with the Indians.

With Perez
and Smith gone, the Indians have said that internal options such as
Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen will be considered for the vacant closer and
setup role. Simply plugging in Shaw and Allen in the setup and closer
role may be simple, but it doesn't offer up a lot of wiggle room either
if one or both fail.

They do have Vinnie Pestano
as an option, but he is a complete unknown going into next year. His
health and confidence issues were a problem this season, and it is
unknown if he will bounce back and be the Vinnie of old or end up on the
Jensen Lewis career path.

They have some
interesting young, inexperienced arms such as Preston Guilmet and C.C.
Lee that could become much bigger factors later in the year. They have
Blake Wood coming off of his first healthy season. And they also have
the enigmatic Carlos Carrasco who might have the potential to be great
in a bullpen role, but could struggle just as much as a reliever as he
has as a starter.

But as a team expecting to
contend next season, the Indians need another proven, experienced option
or two for the back-end of the bullpen. If they were the Astros or
another team looking to go through another development year, they could
go with what they have to see what sticks. But as a contender they
simply can't afford to do that since so many seasons are lost because of
a bad bullpen.

Both Shaw and Allen pitched well
this season, but neither has much true experience pitching in a high
leverage role in the eighth and ninth inning. They both have had
occasional opportunities in the role, but have never had the pressure of
the responsibility night in and night out, so you really don't know how
they will respond.

This is why the Indians will
likely add at least one back-end pen arm this offseason via trade or free
agency - maybe even two.

Shaw, Allen and even
Pestano should be in the mix as late inning options, but the Indians
need to find an experienced, reliable, cost efficient late inning arm or
two to add to the mix in order to help reduce some of the risk involved
with their limited internal options.

The best
fit would be an arbitration eligible pen arm that they can acquire who
won't be too expensive next season and can be controlled contractually
for the next year or so, but those kinds of players are hard to find. A
perfect fit would be Steve Cishek from Miami, but he probably won't be
available this offseason and even if he were would cost a pretty penny
to acquire.

There are a bevy of relievers with
closing experience that are available on the free agent market such as
Grant Balfour, Joaquin Benoit, Joel Hanrahan, Ryan Madson, Edward
Mujica, Joe Nathan, Fernando Rodney, Jose Veras and Brian Wilson. Some
of those guys would be a reclamation project and some are better than
others, but it is a saturated market where the Indians should be able to
sign one of them to a one year deal for a few million and tab them as
their closer.

There are also some other
interesting back-end bullpen options available in free agency such as
setup man Jesse Crain. He was great the first three months of the season
racking up 38 appearances and a miniscule 0.74 ERA, but then missed the
last three months of the season because of a shoulder
issue.

Crain has been a very consistent and
effective reliever over his career appearing in 532 games with a 3.05
ERA. He brings the experience needed for a late inning pen role, has
pitched his entire career in the AL Central, and the injury issue might
be enough to push his cost down to where the Indians can afford the risk
to sign him on a one or two year deal for a few million per
season.

When looking at the alternatives for the
bullpen, the Indians do not need to focus on just closers or setup men.
They just need one or the other. Allen is versatile enough where
depending on what the Indians add to the roster he could be the primary
setup man or be the closer, and of course they also have Shaw in the mix
too.

No matter what decision the Indians make
with filling their need for a late inning pen arm this offseason, it
will be a much more efficient use of their money than had they kept
Perez. Even if Perez's replacement provides the same results, it would
be a win-win as you would be paying that player league minimum (Shaw or
Allen) or on a much smaller deal at $1 to $4 million (free
agent).

With a team needing to shore up their
starting rotation and adding a bat or two, that is an efficient use of
their money so as to make sure they have the dollars available to make
those upgrades all while fortifying a bullpen in need of upgrades
itself.