After signing Jonathan Schoop and C.J. Cron to deals earlier
this month, the Minnesota Twins have been largely quiet. Despite having been
linked to a few big bats for the lineup, there’s been no new acquisitions for
Rocco Baldelli to pencil into his Opening Day 25-man roster. Looking at where
Derek Falvey and Thad Levine can upgrade this club, there’s no denying some
relief pitching help is a must. A familiar face could be the key acquisition in
that area.
Cody Allen is the 30-year-old former Cleveland Indians
closer. During their peak, it was Allen that often trotted in behind the
efforts of Andrew Miller. While Miller was considered the fireman that came on
to escape big jams, it was Allen who was routinely asked to close the door. Since
2014 he’s accumulated 147 saves and has surpassed the 30 mark on three separate
occasions. In each of those years he tossed at least 67 innings, and his 11.8
K/9 over that stretch is nothing short of impressive.
While we aren’t yet into the advanced stages of the
offseason, Allen’s market really has yet to take shape. He may eventually see
the money expected to come his way entering the 2018 regular season, but the reality
is that the latest campaign was a step backwards. Allen posted a career worst
4.70 ERA along with a 4.56 FIP. The strikeout totals dipped to 10.7 per nine,
and his 4.4 BB/9 was also a low water mark for his seven-year big league
tenure.
In trying to deduce what could be next, you must look at
Allen’s inputs under the hood. His fastball velocity average 94 mph last
season, which was down 0.6 mph from 2017. Allen sat in the mid 96 range back in
2014 and has lost roughly 2 mph on the pitch over the past four seasons.
Primarily a two-pitch pitcher, using a fastball and curveball, he went back to
being fastball reliant after briefly (and starkly) reversing that trend during
2017. The results yielded more hard contact, less swinging strikes, and an
ever-climbing HR/9 tally.
This is where the Twins can find opportunity. At 30
years-old, it’d be somewhat shocking if Allen was running out of steam. There’re
just over 400 innings on his arm at the big-league level, and he tallied under
100 total innings during two minor league seasons. Allen was drafted and
groomed through the Indians system, meaning Falvey should have a rather
intimate understanding of his health and ability. Bargaining against his recent
performance, future results could be captures at somewhat of a discount.
Baldelli likely needs at least two relief arms brought in to
shore up the back end of his pitching staff. Minnesota, as you’ve heard, has
plenty of cash flow ready for allocation. It’s fair to assume that Allen could
be had for a contract like that of Addison Reed a season ago, which then would
leave roughly that same amount for another arm to be brought. The Twins
acquiring two relievers at something like $8 million a year should lead to a
considerable talent influx out of the bullpen.
There’s no denying that we may have become enamored with
saves years ago, but they don’t tell the story of a pitcher’s true efficiency
at this point. Allen however is more than a late inning statistic when he’s
right, and if Minnesota determines that 2018 was a fluke, the opportunity to
allow him an ability to thrive in a familiar division is more than appealing.
We have yet to see the direction Minnesota’s front office is
going to take on the mound, but this would be one that should be easy to get
behind.
