Pittsburgh Pirates Trade Rumors – Day 6 – Rays Relievers

Welcome to Rum Bunter’s 12 Days of Trademas! On each day between now and the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline, we will profile a player or two who may be a potential trade target for the Pittsburgh Pirates. We will highlight both the cases for and against that player in order to give you the full scope of what acquiring that player might entail.

Before we break down today’s potential trade target(s), make sure to give a listen to our quick breakdown via podcast of yesterday’s piece that took a hard look at Mitch Moreland of the Texas Rangers.

On this the sixth day of our 12 Days of Pittsburgh Pirates Trademas, we decided to look at an area that the Pirates want to address before the deadline: the bullpen. Ken Rosenthal, MLB on Fox reporter, recently sent out a tweet following the deal for Aramis Ramirez.

If this report is proven true – and there is no reason to question Rosenthal’s reporting here – the market is absolutely ripe for a team looking to add a reliever. The Tampa Bay Times reported today that the Tampa Bay Rays are ready to offer up three quality bullpen arms – including an all-star – regardless of how long the teams stays in playoff contention. The three names being bandied about are RHP Brad Boxberger, LHP Jake McGee, and RHP Kevin Jepsen.

The Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen has a clear demarcation line. There is Mark Melancon an Tony Watson, and then everyone else. The rest of the bullpen must act as a reliable bridge to two of the most consistent back-end relievers in the game. With Jared Hughes also having a stellar season, the sought-after improvement must be a clear upgrade over the likes of Arquimedes Caminero and Deolis Guerra. Before we see if that’s possible, let us take a look at the career arcs of these three young arms.

Boxberger

McGee

Jepsen

The case for a Rays reliever

There is a lot to like about all of these guys. Boxberger earned an all-star nod this year on the back of a 24-save first half. His peripherals are outstanding, with a 11.2 k/9 (strikeouts per nine innings), likely due to a 12.2% swinging-strike rate. Boxberger is also that rare reliever that consistently relies on his changeup, as he throws it 36.4% of the time. McGee has the most name recognition of the trio. Pressed into the closer role due to injury in 2014, McGee is working on a fantastic encore, with a microscopic 1.19 ERA. He too carries an excellent swinging strike rate (15%) and also does a fantastic job of limiting opponent chances with a low contact rate of 71.1%. In 2015 he can boast a 10.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio which is excellent.

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Jepsen is the most experienced of the three. The 30-year old is in his first season with Tampa Bay and is performing well while leading the AL in appearances thus far. Jepsen does not get many batters to swing for strikes (9.1%) but it’s not due to his velocity, as Jepsen averages 94.6mph on his four-seamer and has a cutter that can dip into the mid-80s. Contract-wise, the most team-friendly deal of the three is Boxberger’s. Having only accumulated just over a year in service time, Boxberger will not be arbitration eligible until 2017; with total team control until 2020. Making $521,000 this year, he figures to get a decent raise but should still be well within affordable.

The case against Rays reliever

While we are on the subject of contracts, we must note that McGee and Jepsen come with a heftier price tag. As stated above, Jepsen is the most tenured, with four years of service time and on a 1-year/$3.03 million contract. He will be arb-eligible for next year but hits the market in 2017. McGee is on a similar deal, owed $3.55 million this year and arb eligible for two more years. It’s hard to fathom the Pirates taking on that kind of money, especially as the Rays are not a team in position to take on remaining salary.

Back to on-the-field matters, Boxberger and Jepsen have alarming strikeout-to-walk ratios, with a 2.58 and 1.74 rating respectively. Perhaps most telling, none of these pitchers are true fits for the Pittsburgh Pirates system, with none of them enjoying a ground ball rate over 50%. Jepsen comes in at 48.7%. Still, this would be an improvement over Antonio Bastardo’s 27.6% rate and Caminero’s 36.8%, albeit an incremental one

Conclusion

While it is definitely exciting to see a team like the Rays commit to unloading some proven major-league bullpen arms, the prohibitive contracts and underwhelming ground ball rates of McGee and Jepsen do not seem to be a fit for the Pirates.

Boxberger is an interesting case. With a very attractive salary and true strikeout ability makes Boxberger the most attractive option of these three. While not a household name, Boxberger would prove to be a welcome addition should larger names carry an unseemly price tag.

What do you think? Let us know on twitter! You can tweet us here @rumbunter or use the #12DaysOfTrademas hashtag! You can also air your grievances in the comments section below or on our facebook page. Make sure to stay tuned tomorrow for the fifth day of Trademas!

Next: Pittsburgh Pirates Trade Rumors - Day 5 - Mitch Moreland