Byline: Max Offen Sichtlich
Off Topic
Will the Team Avoid Arbitration?
September 1, 2055
Despite being a bit nonplussed at the team’s lack of aggressive moves at the trade deadline, many Mad Pope mad fans are breathing a bit of a relief at the team’s 10.5 game lead in the best division in baseball. We at the Times Gazette have been using this moment to take a bit of a putter around the team’s overall situation in the bullpen, and think it bears noting that when the Sacramento Mad Popes quietly announced the signing of relief pitcher Angus “Pure Beef” Trew to a three season contract extension (for a combine $7.8M, with the last being at Trew’s convenience), it marked a key moment in the club’s near-term future.
Specifically, it puts the club in control of the roster for 2056—barring a few extremely bad arbitration decisions.
In other words, the bullpen (and, really, the roster) you see today should be pretty much the roster you see tomorrow.
Which is good.
The team’s relief squad is the envy of the league, even after trading fan favorite Aaron Anderson. It’s .291 OBP against is ten points better than anyone else in the Frick League. Pope relievers have allowed only 33 homers on the season, eleven fewer than any other bullpen. Here are a few interesting numbers regarding the effect of the ballpark on those kinds of standings:
| SAC Bullpen | IP | ERA | K | BB | HR | BABIP | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 163.2 | 2.31 | 157 | 38 | 21 | 0.232 | 0.197 | 0.251 | 0.346 |
| Road | 158 | 2.73 | 109 | 59 | 12 | 0.273 | 0.241 | 0.311 | 0.347 |
The bottom line here is that the squad has pretty danged good.
A part of this is because, given the rotation is solid, it hasn’t been called on to do things it shouldn’t be doing. The bullpen’s 321 innings pitched make it the least called upon bullpen in the league. Still…
Going forward, Trew, who is trying to finish up what is arguably his finest season (2.01 ERA, 2/81 FIP, and a full WAR as a reliever), joins Luis Ramos and Félix Vidaca to anchor the league’s best bullpen. If they struggle, you’ve got Clint Thomas (who was brilliantly inconsistent as the closer, but can manage other innings just fine), Augusto Ayala, Ludwig Werberg, and Dylan Wonnocot as the second wave. Not bad. Werberg is signed, but Ayala, Thomas, and Wonnocot are due arbitration.
At question is whether the team will pursue signing them prior to said period or not.
The downside to that play is that they might well be a tad pricier to take the avoidance approach. Thomas is projecting a $1.1M price tag, Wonnocot is likely to be a touch pricier, with Ayala perhaps commanding as much as $1.8M. On the other hand, if only one of these three wins the well-named arbitrary arbitration game, the overall cost could wind up heftier than that $4M or so it would likely take to just get ‘er done.
“We have lots of arms in the minors, too,” said Assistant GM Carlos Camacho after making an unannounced appearance in the newsroom. “So there’s always the chance we’d be interested in a sign a trade—in which case, that lower salary that comes from a good arbitration result makes value.”
The ephemeral Camacho is not wrong.
There are arms down in the Black Hills of Dakota, perhaps the most intriguing case is that of 28-year-old journeyman Terence Harris, who has been starting through most of his career, but who some scouts think could be made into a highly effective bullpen arm. Michael Craig is down there, too. As is the now injured Mike Young.
So, the signing of Trew gives the club stability in that they can now be certain of all the chips in the can. There are, however, still decisions to be made going forward. At question is how the team will make them.
