Mark Melancon, the third head of the three-headed monster in the closer market is the PERFECT fit for this San Francisco Giants team. After an incredible year with the Pirates and Nationals, he cashed in on a 4yr/$62M deal making him, for the time being, the most expensive relief pitcher in MLB history.
Having already amassed 168 career saves, has a 2.60 career ERA and averages 8 K/per 9 innings, Melancon is as efficient a closer as you will find.
I like him the most out of the three (Melancon, Jansen and Chapman) because he’s faced the most adversity. While great with the Astros in 2011, the Red Sox took a chance by trading for him in 2012 and he simply didn’t deliver. Fromt that failure emerged a tough pitcher, both mentally and physically. Giants fans will be pumped every time he comes in the game because of the consistency and dominant attitude he’ll bring.
If you want to know about his “stuff”, this guy possesses one of the BEST cutters in the game today. Not a hard thrower, he will throw an occasional 4-seam fastball anywhere from 90-93 mph. He also adds a cutter which sits in the same range.
Take it from a hitter’s perspective: It’s one thing to face a guy who can throw a mid-to-high 90’s 4-seamer. It’s a completely different beast when he throws a cutter with 5-7 mph in difference. When a guy comes at you with a 4-seamer and a cutter at around the same speed, now you are guessing movement.
Making hitters guess is the big thing in there and Melancon will have hitters guessing constantly.
Off of that, he mixes a curveball and changeup on occasion. Melancon’s curveball is devastating to say the least. Not too many pitchers possess a true knuckle-curve that they can bounce in the dirt (only 4 wild pitches last year) at any time or even steal a strike.
He generates lots of weak contact from lefties, as his cutter slices in on their hands. He also draws uncomfortable looks from righties, as he has that 10 mph difference between fastball and curveball. This makes it difficult to cheat on a pitch. If you’re looking for a pitcher to blow people away in the 9th, this isn’t your guy. However, if you’re looking for quick, efficient, rare edge-of-the-seat moment from a closer, Mark Melancon is your guy.
As for the rest of the reliever market, the Giants are in a slight predicament because they do have young, “great stuff” relievers – but they lack experience. Javy Lopez & Jeremy Affeldt are gone and the odds are against the Giants resigning Sergio Romo. All in all, San Francisco has recently lost a combined 40 YEARS of experience coming out of the pen.
All of this makes the trade for Will Smith the correct one, foresight we can assume Bobby Evans and the boys in the front office had when they made the move. Smith eventually became comfortable in his new environment and dominated into the month of September. Smith has an entire offseason to rest his ailing knee and could be a true steal if he stays healthy this year.
General Manager Brian Sabean says, “we are kicking the tires” on every possibility. If they go without a big name left fielder, they should have approximately $45M to spend on depth and bullpen.
Here are some possibilities:
Righty Setup
Joe Smith: Submariner with nasty stuff when healthy. After getting hurt last year, he may not get the dollars he was hoping for, but with Romo probably headed elsewhere a different righty reliever like Smith is exactly what Giants manager Bruce Bochy needs.
Brad Ziegler: He has closed in recent years, but has been consistently great out of the pen as well. He’s versatile without the closer ego, meaning you can throw him in any situation and he’ll be successful. Boch needs a reliable arm like Ziegler and his different looking sidearm delivery fits well in the Giants ‘pen.
Lefty Setup/Situational
Boone Logan: Despite pitching at Coors Field for home games he had a 3.69 ERA, 3.23 FIP and averaged 11 K/Per 9 innings. Logan possesses very similar attributes to Affeldt and is very dependable. Moving into the friendly confines of AT&T Park would only do wonders for him.
Jerry Blevins: This is the perfect veteran left hander the Giants would be grateful for in the end run. His ERA is .207 against lefties and .237 against righties who struggle against Blevins with his deceptive delivery and a sneaky-quick fastball at 89 mph. Blevins has been a consistent performer throughout his career, which he demonstrated in his time across the Bay with the A’s. Stranding 82% of runners he inherited last year, he’s a guy Boch could call upon whenever. From firsthand experience, Jerry is an unreal teammate and would be an ideal fit to help mentor Steven Okert/Josh Osich while complimenting Will Smith.
Trade Ideas
Brad Brach – Baltimore Orioles
If you like straight, hard fastballs then this isn’t your guy. Brach posses a devastating sinking fastball at ONLY 94-96. Its gross how his fastball just disappears and the 1-2 combo he and Britton have made makes this unreasonable but still intriguing. He has 2 years of arbitration left so still very team friendly but for the right piece I could see him thriving at AT&T Park. 10.48 strikeouts for every nine innings and a speedy sinking fastball and slider… there isn’t much thought other than this guy needs an opportunity to continue to be an 8th-inning guy in the NL West.
Nate Jones: Chicago White Sox
6’5” righty a little dip in stuff this year he still had a huge year. One more year of Arbitration the Giants could look to move for a guy like this and give him the opportunity. High 90s fastball who really has late life an exploding look to his fastball he is not a comfortable at bat. 9.81 K/9 in his career he may be one to look at in bringing in and giving him a chance to florish in the 8th.
Kelvin Herrera: Kansas City Royals
I think everyone saw the fire power last few postseasons from ALL MLB bullpens. The one that still stands out are the Royals and this guy has the “stuff.” With 2 years of Arbitration left this guy may be one that the Giants think about to trade and sign long term. Only 26 years old, best years may be ahead of him and his 100 MPH fastball.
Wild Card Setup on Free agent Market
Luke Hochevar
Talk about a Wild Card 8th-inning man, this guy would be golden. With Herrera, Wade Davis, Joakim Soria, and Greg Holland all getting save opportunities, this former number 1 pick could be a steal because of the “lack” of true high-leverage situations he’s been given. Fastball (95), Cutter(89), Curveball(77) this guy has the arsenal to be a sturdy bridge to Melancon.
Neftali Feliz
99 career saves and a healthy full year with the Pirates. Feliz’s fastball has been on the up-swing in terms of velocity. in 2013, he was throwing 93, 2014: 93 mph, 2015:94 mph and last year, throwing the highest percentage of fastballs since his World Series years as the closer for the Rangers, he was consistently at 96 mph! he’s not your closer but rather a good wild card and legitimate candidate to be a dominant eighth-inning guy and will come relatively cheap in regards to the top 3 closers demands.
Greg Holland
With a true unknown in his elbow holds, Holland was a DOMINANT closer for the Royals for a few years. Sometimes you need to take a leap of faith and in this case a 2-3-year deal with incentives could be a perfect fit for the Giants. 89-91 mph in a showcase, with zero adrenaline rush and no hitters… I would think he’s doing just fine. Holland is a nasty at-bat especially when you get to his off-speed stuff which, at times, he could tell you it’s coming and you still have no chance to connect.
Drew Storen
A Bay Area college product from Stanford, he may not have the Strikeout stuff you are looking for but 98 saves in a young career? That’ll do. Look, some guys are made for certain leagues and to me Drew is a guy who belongs in the National League. If he gets to be a closer, he will succeed. In a secondary set-up role? He’ll thrive and could be a solid pick up for The Giants.