58.07 Blazers Revamp Bullpen

[Bob Breum]

With almost all of their lineup returning and looking at a down year for free agent starting pitching, Montreal elected to invest in their bullpen. Both their rotation and their bullpen ranked fourth in the Johnson League last season, but they lost their closer Max Birstall to free agency. They have concerns about Tom Miller’s durability, who is expected to inherit the closer role. Last season, Miller threw 98⅓ innings for the league champions with a 2.84 ERA but missed seven weeks with a sprained ankle.

The Blazers will feature at least three new faces in their bullpen this season. First to sign was 32-year-old Vonne Baloloy. A day later, the club inked 32-year-old Fernando Villarreal and 37-year-old Ricardo Rivera to big league contracts.


Fernando Villarreal
Villarreal is a groundball specialist with two plus pitches, a fastball and a splitter. He sports a career ERA of 3.17. He should fit in nicely with the club’s emphasis on home run suppression and infield defense.


Ricardo Rivera
Rivera is expected to fill a long relief role with the Blazers. Over his long BBA career, he has over 393 starts (146-114), but his last start was in 2055. He has been highly effective out of the bullpen the last two seasons, posting ERAs of 2.40 and 2.53, while allowing only 3 home runs in 62 innings pitched. He is also a leader in the clubhouse, and it would not be surprising if he becomes de facto team captain.

[BaseClogger]

We’ll see if Rivera has anything left in the tank.

[Bob Breum]

We’ll see if Rivera has anything left in the tank.

Montreal maintains a full time staff of geriatric specialists to assist our older players. He'll fit right in.

[ae37jr]

Rivera is a great signing for non baseball reasons. $1.8 million for an extremely popular player is about as cheap of a FI increase as you can get. Personally I would have tried to get him for one year and then immediately resign him to a one year extension to get a double FI bump.

He's also a "Wrecked" team captain. So even if he gets hurt for a long period of the season(which he probably will), he can sit on the DL and still give you whatever it is that a team captain adds to your team.

Of course whatever he gives you on the field is just a bonus.

[RonCo]

Ricardon Rivera was a total stud in the day. Glad to see him helping out in Montreal.

[trmmilwwi]

Love these signings. Erik needs to be paid more.

[Bob Breum]

Personally I would have tried to get him for one year and then immediately resign him to a one year extension to get a double FI bump.

This is brilliant. It would have never occurred to me.

[Bob Breum]

Rivera is a great signing for non baseball reasons. $1.8 million for an extremely popular player is about as cheap of a FI increase as you can get.

rivera fans.jpg (13.49 KiB) Viewed 228 times

[Bob Breum]

He's also a "Wrecked" team captain. So even if he gets hurt for a long period of the season(which he probably will), he can sit on the DL and still give you whatever it is that a team captain adds to your team.