It remains to be seen what waters the Cubs will be swimming in with respect to their very needy bullpen, but even if they remain in the lower tiers of “value” signings, higher levels of the market will nevertheless dictate the pace – and to some extent the dollars – of the rest of the market.
To date, the very, very crowded relief market has been slow to shake out, but two big moves came down overnight, and it might prompt more movement:
Sources confirm the Los Angeles Dodgers are nearing an agreement with Joe Kelly, as @Ken_Rosenthal and @ByRobertMurray reported. Deal would be for three years and ~$25 million.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 13, 2018
Jeurys Familia has agreed to a 3-year contract with the #Mets, source says. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 13, 2018
Familia deal is three years, $30M, source tells The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 13, 2018
The Cubs were not rumored to be in on either Kelly or Familia, so there’s nothing lost in that regard here. Instead, it’s just a useful data point on the price tags in the market, with each getting just about exactly what was expected.
The Mets, meanwhile, continue to improve for 2019 with hopes at a surprising run of contention – they’ll now have Edwin Diaz and Familia at the back of the bullpen, which is pretty darn good.
The Dodgers, who had needs in the bullpen, get a guy who has always had good stuff and a huge fastball, but who hasn’t always translated it to results.