Sifting through Diamondbacks’ closer options in trade, free agent markets

Spring training begins next month, and the Arizona Diamondbacks have yet to address one of their listed goals of the offseason: adding to the back end of the bullpen.

Luckily, the relief market remains relatively untouched compared to other positions with several 2024 All-Stars unsigned, such as Kirby Yates, Tanner Scott and Jeff Hoffman.

And that’s not to say the Diamondbacks don’t have internal options of interest, specifically Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk.

“I think they have the makeup to do it. Would I like to add somebody into that mix? Yes, I would,” general manager Mike Hazen told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke during the winter meetings nearly a month ago.

The Diamondbacks refreshingly did not face closer questions going into last season with Paul Sewald entering a walk year, but he lost the ninth inning role at the end of July and is now a free agent.

The D-backs have still not received 20 saves from a closer since Brad Boxberger in 2018. Sewald was only the third pitcher to lead the team in saves for consecutive seasons since 2013, along with Archie Bradley (2019-20) and Brad Ziegler (2015-16). No one has done it for three years in a row, adding to the potential intrigue of Puk or Martinez grabbing ahold of the role.

Even so, every team can use back end help, and the Diamondbacks’ lack of reliable bullpen depth cost them last season (4.41 bullpen ERA, 25th in MLB).

With so many names still on the table, let’s review some possibilities to enter Chase Field with blinking lights and a hype video this year:

Internal options for D-backs closer

RHP Justin Martinez

Martinez was Arizona’s breakout player last season, taking up a much bigger role at only 22 years old than anticipated. The hard-throwing righty showed immense improvement with his command to finish with a 2.48 ERA and 91 strikeouts through 72.2 innings.

Reliever Ryan Thompson likened Martinez to Arizona’s future version of Cleveland All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, which is quite a lofty comparison but shows the confidence in the room.

Martinez possesses certain traits of a lockdown closer, including the triple-digit fastball and two plus breaking pitches, especially the splitter that drew a 54% whiff rate. He also owns the moxie and self confidence, blowing on his hand after striking out a batter to end an inning.

But the Diamondbacks were reluctant to hand the closer keys over to him permanently after moving off Sewald. And he still has room to grow.

Going back to the Clase comparison, they both throw gas with a wipeout slider and generally avoid hard contact, but Clase walked way fewer batters (3.7%) than Martinez (11.7%) last year and saw much better results with his cutter (.150 average) than Martinez with his sinker (.325 average). Clase is the best reliever in baseball and broke out at 23 years old. What kind of leap can J-Mart make?

LHP A.J. Puk

Not a single relief pitcher in baseball was more effective than Puk from the time Arizona acquired him until his final appearance on Sept. 28 — when Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka ended Puk’s 25-game scoreless streak with a home run.

Before the homer, Puk held an 0.33 ERA and struck out a league-leading (among relievers) 43 batters in 27 innings after the trade from Miami.

His 43.4% strikeout rate ranked third in MLB during that span, while his .129 opposing batting average came in at No. 9. His FIP (fielding-independent pitching) of 0.65 led the league.

The D-backs have the 29-year-old under team control for another two seasons. Manager Torey Lovullo told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo during the winter meetings that Puk would be his internal pick at the moment, but the decision was far from being made.

“If you had me trapped in a corner and I had to fight you by telling you one name, I’d probably say A.J. right now, but it’s a wide open situation,” Lovullo said.

The trick with Puk is his handedness. The Diamondbacks can deploy Puk to attack the top left-handed bats in opposing lineups, which may come up in the seventh or eighth innings. In which case, the D-backs will need to rely on someone else to finish the game.

RHP Kevin Ginkel

Ginkel had another really good season for the Diamondbacks in 2024 while managing a few different roles.

Sewald started the year on the injured list, thrusting Ginkel into closer duties to decent but somewhat mixed results. By the time Sewald got back, Ginkel held a 2.57 ERA and five saves through 14 games, albeit with two blown saves.

He hit a rough patch in May (6.75 ERA) but crushed the summer months with a 1.58 ERA from June 1 through the end of August. His September was a bit hit-and-miss with a couple more blown saves but he finished the year on a five-game scoreless streak.

Ginkel did not quite emulate his stellar 2023 season (2.48 ERA) — although his 2023 FIP (2.86) and 2024 FIP (2.85) are nearly identical — but has over the past couple years established himself as a trustworthy back-end reliever.

Older free agent closers on the market

RHP Kirby Yates

Haven’t the D-backs already tried plugging an accomplished closer in his late 30s to inconsistent at best results? Fernando Rodney? Mark Melancon?

Kirby Yates is going to be 38 years old next season, and yet, he is coming off a career year in which he produced a 1.17 ERA and 33 saves for the Texas Rangers.

Yates was an All-Star in 2019, but injury held him to six games in 2020, zero in 2021 and nine in 2022. He underwent Tommy John surgery for a second time in his career and missed his age 34 season.

After a solid comeback in Atlanta in 2023, he simply put did not give up runs last year. His ERA never reached 1.50 at any point, as he started the season with 15 scoreless innings. His .111 opposing batting average led all relievers.

Looking at Rodney and Melancon in particular since they both had All-Star seasons before signing with the D-backs, Yates had the superior FIP, WHIP, strikeout rate, opposing batting average and save percentage than the other two.

Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro and Nick Piecoro of azcentral have reported Arizona has interest in Yates. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden recently predicted the D-backs would land Yates.

There is inherent risk signing a player at his age with the injury history, but on a short-term deal, getting a version of what Yates provided the Rangers is a best-case scenario for this bullpen.

Yates signed a one-year, $4.5 million contract last season.

RHP David Robertson

How about a closer in his 40s?

David Robertson will be 40 in April and has enjoyed quite the career resurgence. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2019, Robertson pitched for Team USA during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 before a return to MLB at the end of that season.

Over the past three seasons, Robertson threw at least 60 innings each year, produced an ERA of 3.03 or better and saved 40 total games. He was teammates with Yates in Texas last year.

He throws his cutter a lot (63.4% in 2024), but the pitch maintained its 93 mph velocity and a consistent spin rate throughout his return to MLB. And opponents have not been able to hit it (.163 average against the cutter in 2024).

Last year, he struck out Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman in succession … twice!

David Robertson is the only pitcher this season to strike out Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman in succession.

He's done it in back-to-back games. pic.twitter.com/5RRl51XBB8

— MLB (@MLB) June 14, 2024

Robertson made his MLB debut back in 2008 and has a career ERA of 2.91 — he is 11th on the all-time strikeouts leaderboard for relievers with 1,153. When healthy, he’s been as reliable as it gets for a long time.

He signed a one-year, $11.5 million deal last winter.

RHP Kenley Jansen

Jansen is 37 years old, and while he may not be a top-tier closer anymore, he remained quite good last season for the Boston Red Sox. He saved 27 games in 31 opportunities with a 3.29 ERA and 3.00 FIP in 54.2 innings — his numbers declined as he dealt with shoulder issues in September.

Despite his age, the former longtime Dodgers closer has maintained one of the best cutters in MLB per Statcast’s run value metric, along with a strikeout rate well above average at 28.4%.

He is the active saves leader in MLB with 447 for his career. Boston signed Jansen to a two-year, $32 million deal two offseasons ago.

The big (expensive) 3

Scott (30), Hoffman (32) and Carlos Estevez (32) are younger options expected to land multi-year deals for more money than the aforementioned trio.

The Diamondbacks have signed three external free agent relievers to multi-year deals since 2016: Melancon, Scott McGough and Miguel Castro (one year with a vesting option). Given the current payroll and that history, these three may be seen as a stretch, especially Scott.

LHP Tanner Scott

Scott may command as much as $20 million per season after an All-Star campaign with the Marlins and Padres. Scott’s 1.75 ERA across 72 innings ranked sixth among relievers while he allowed the fourth lowest hard-hit rate (22.2%) and second lowest exit velocity (84.3 mph).

RHP Jeff Hoffman

Hoffman broke out at the right time over the past two seasons with the Phillies before free agency, making his first All-Star Game last year. He does not have extensive closing experience with a career-high 10 saves last year, but there’s no denying he’s been one of the most effective late-inning relievers since the start 2023 (2.28 ERA in 122 games) — Adrian Del Castillo walk-off home run notwithstanding.

RHP Carlos Estevez

Estevez has 82 career saves with 51 over the past two seasons pitching for the Angels and Phillies. Last year, he finished with an excellent 2.45 ERA, a career-best mark as he nearly cut his walks by half. He was not a big strikeout guy, more of a fly ball pitcher who kept the ball in the yard more effectively than at any other point in his career.

He signed a two-year, $13.5 million contract with the Angels two years ago.

Other free agent relievers with closing experience include Sewald, Kyle Finnegan, Craig Kimbrel, Scott Barlow, Andrew Chafin and A.J. Minter.

Potential trade targets

RHP Ryan Helsley (Cardinals)

Gambadoro has mentioned Pete Fairbanks, Ryan Helsley and David Bednar as potential Diamondbacks targets, saying attempts to pry Helsley away from St. Louis has proven futile to this point.

Helsley won the 2024 Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year with 49 saves and a 2.04 ERA. The 30-year-old enters the final year of his contract on a team that is looking to retool and focus on young talent.

The right-hander unleashes a slider-fastball combination and hits triple digits on the radar gun. The slider in particular is one of the nastiest pitches in the league with a 51% whiff rate.

He is due a major payday next offseason, so perhaps this would be a rental. That is, if the Cardinals come around on trading him to build up their assets before he hits the market.

RHP Pete Fairbanks (Rays)

Fairbanks is 31 years old and also entering a walk year.

The 6-foot-6 right-hander — who also uses an upper 90s fastball and slider to record outs — broke out in 2020 for the Tampa Bay Rays and took over closing games regularly in 2023.

Fairbanks’ season-long numbers across the board in 2024 did not live up to 2023, when he worked a 2.58 ERA with a 37% strikeout rate for the postseason-bound Rays.

He dealt with multiple injuries last year and finished with a 3.57 ERA, although he was once again terrific for most of the season after coming back from a nerve issue early on.

In 37 games from May 11 to Aug. 16, Fairbanks earned a 1.91 ERA with 20 saves and two blown saves. He finished the year on the injured list with a right lat strain, though.

RHP David Bednar (Pirates)

Bednar was a hot commodity from 2021-23, when he made two All-Star Games with a 2.25 ERA and league-leading 39 saves in 2023.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Bednar put up a stinker 2024 season with a 5.77 ERA and -0.2 fWAR, 19th lowest among MLB relievers. His spring training was marred by a lat issue, and after a strong six weeks during the regular season, he landed on the injured list with an oblique strain.

His strikeouts dropped, walks went up and despite a lower hard-hit rate than 2023, his home runs per fly ball leaped from 3.8% to 11.3%.

The good news is he’s done the thing before and is a bounce-back candidate at only 30 years old if he stays healthy. Bednar also has two more seasons under team control before hitting free agency, although now does not appear to be the time for Pittsburgh to trade him before he can revamp his stock.

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