One of Andrew Friedman’s main tasks as Dodgers president of baseball ops was to remake a bullpen that had consistently been a disappointment. In 2014, the Dodgers pen had a 3.80 ERA, and totaled just 0.7 fWAR in 489 2/3 innings. Taking dominant closer Kenley Jansen out of the situation, those numbers fall to a ghastly -1.3 fWAR and a 3.97 ERA in 424 1/3 innings. However, Friedman is already making strides towards improving that pen. Kevin Correia, Paul Maholm, Chris Perez, and Jamey Wright (who actually sort of effective in 61 appearances) are all free agents. And in the wee hours of Thursday night, Friedman acquired an old friend from Tampa Bay – Joel Peralta.
The Dodgers have acquired RHP Joel Peralta and LHP Adam Liberatore from the Rays in exchange for RHP Jose Dominguez and RHP Greg Harris.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) November 21, 2014
Yup – Peralta *and* another potentially talented reliever in Adam Liberatore (86 strikeouts, 15 walks in 65 AAA innings) for Greg Harris (87 innings in A-ball) and Jose Dominguez (41 innings in 2014, 49 strikeouts, 22 walks, shoulder issues). Not a bad deal at all, even when you consider Peralta’s 4.41 ERA in 2014. That 4.41 ERA is misleading, because his FIP was a full run lower at 3.40 and he still posted a nearly 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio. The only regular Dodgers relievers with a better FIP were Jansen and another former Ray, J.P. Howell, and Jansen was the only reliever that could match Peralta’s K:BB.
Then, there’s the salary component. Peralta is making just $2.5 million this year – maybe a bit of a rich salary for a team like the Rays, but a drop in the bucket for the Dodgers. Four LA relievers made more than that in 2014, and Correia made a higher base salary, though the Dodgers only paid him for two months after acquiring him from the Twins.
Yeah, the Dodgers are going to have a gross payroll once again in 2015 – they’re already at $200 million following the Peralta trade, and that doesn’t figure in six arbitration raises. But a lot of those contracts (hi Andre Ethier, Brian Wilson, Brandon League, Alex Guerrero, Erisbel Arruebarruena) are unfortunate reminders from the Ned Colletti regime. By simply acquiring Peralta and Liberatore for a pair of players that wouldn’t contribute much in 2015, Friedman has done more for his bullpen than Colletti did backing up the Brinks truck to “big name” relievers whose performance didn’t match their reputation. Last winter, he signed Chris Perez for one year and $2.3 million (plus incentives, which took the contract to at least $3.8 million), and was rewarded with a 4.27 ERA, a 5.07 FIP, and nearly a full win below replacement.
Sometimes, the big name might be the most sexy name, but not the best fit for the team. By focusing on players that are simply the best fit, the Dodgers are going to be much more successful in 2015 than they were under Colletti, who simply desired to make splashes without thinking about the actual construction of his team.
