Saves the Day?

by McCormick P. Schmidt IV

Piglets GM Pat Renaud caused some controversy earlier this season when he publicly opined on the value of saves, which have become a source of much controversy since the Doggs and Piglets chose polar opposite approaches to the issue last year. But recent news may have provided a definitive answer to the age old question – should you pay for saves?

Quebec City GM Pat Renaud had finally had enough. It was bad enough that his closers were constantly being re-shuffled, due to injuries, ineffectiveness, or just plain managerial whims, but now his historically good starting pitching staff was losing ratios to a cast of bozos and cast-offs in Vegas, all while other GMs tried to take advantage of the chaos by shopping their similarly volatile relievers for an arm and a leg. 

“I’ve worked hard over the years to make sure that the Piglet brand name means something when it comes to pitching. We own the weekly record for Wins and Ks, the season records for Saves and Ks, and hope to add the season records for Wins by the end of the year. When you think Piglets, you think pitching. And that’s something we’re proud of around here. And it’s why we don’t care for gimmicks,” Renaud recently said in a one on one sit down interview.

“But, the market is what it is, and when we saw the high cost of Saves, we decided it wasn’t for us. Obviously, that had some unintended consequences and we had to backpedal a little bit with the Doolittle acquisition [ed. note - the Piglets traded Jay Bruce during the waiver trading period last year for a return package that included RPs Sean Doolittle and Matt Belisle], and thank God we did, because we don’t win the championship without it, but it still rankled me that teams were out there paying through the nose for a niche category, and it bothered me even more that our team was falling behind in some areas as a result.”

That frustration boiled over into a public outburst in July, as Renaud vented his frustrations league-wide following an open call for offers from Rakeville GM Jack Reed for his very available relief pitcher, Brad Boxberger. Reed was having a difficult time meeting his asking price for Boxberger, who it warrants mention, was and is having a very strong year, and Renaud had finally had enough.

“Look, was it right to go after Jack like that? No, and I feel bad about it. He was just following the market and trying to get what he viewed as fair value for his player. I get it. But Box [Boxberger] is fine at best, and without long-term value at worst, and he was looking to get a 1^st Rd. MiDP. If we’re talking about the elite of the elite at that position, guys like Kimbrel [Weymouth RP Craig Kimbrel], or [San Juan RP Aroldis] Chapman, okay, fine, I’m not going to argue too much with that. But Boxberger? Is that guy even a keeper next year? I just don’t see it.”

The outburst had consequences, as Reed publicly and privately chided Renaud over the public dressing down, claiming the screed had “tanked the trade market for [Reed’s] only real trade chip,” per Reed, who was upset about other GMs being ever more cautious about making a move in a buyer’s market, especially after an influential GM had made it an ever more unpopular move to spin to their fans. Although Rakeville was eventually able to spin Boxberger to Tijuana for a 2^nd Rd. MiDP (short of Reed’s asking price, but still good value) moments before the non-waiver deadline, Tijuana’s acquisition, as well as a previous RP acquisition, has again raised issues around the value of relievers.

Kenley Jansen (plus Vegas’s 2019 1^st Rd. MaDP) netted Las Vegas the entirety of Tijuana’s 2019 minor league draft, truly a king’s ransom, but for the type of closer that seemed likely to return long-term value…until Friday’s news that Jansen was suffering from the recurrence of an irregular heartbeat, and would miss at least a month of action, effectively ending his season for the Hispanics at a time when they desperately need every ounce of help they can get in their chase for the playoffs.

Said Renaud, “Look, to my mind, that was always a gross overpay, but it looks so much worse today. Because here you have a guy whose value is completely tied up in getting saves – without the saves, he’s like a poor man’s Dellin Betances, and Betances can’t find a job [in the EHCC]! And you can say he’s going to deliver some of that value next year, but can you be certain of that? This isn’t the first time this guy has had heart problems. This could end his career, truly. I hope that’s not the case, but you can’t rule it out. And if that’s the case, what did you get for those incredibly valuable picks?”

In the meantime, Jansen’s replacement, Scott Alexander, quickly came to terms on a contract with…Las Vegas, meaning that GM Howe Dogg essentially traded 8 saves for Tijuana’s entire 2019 minor league draft roster. When informed of Jansen’s health issues and Vegas’s corresponding signing, one GM who preferred to remain anonymous, stated, “Incredible. And now Vegas gets to reap all the benefits. It’s like [finding] free money.”

For his part, when reached for comment, Dogg expressed concern for Jansen, before noting that he was “not surprised.”

So where does the EHCC go from here? Will saves continue to wreak havoc on the trade economy, as Vegas continues to dominate a game of reliever roulette? Or will shifting strategies eventually even out and lend some more normalcy to the reliever market? It’s hard to say at this point, but GMs would be wise to remember an old gambling chestnut that has seemed to apply to relief pitchers as well – the house always wins.

McCormick P. Schmidt IV is a freelance reporter covering the EHCC for Baseball Tri-Weekly. He attributes fancy name and style as aspirational wealth on the part of his parents, who raised him in a single-wide trailer, but became convinced that his fanciness would lead to their dream of one day owning a double-wide. That dream had yet to be realized at press time.