The market for free-agent closers has drained quickly. Edwin DÃaz moved from the New York Mets to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Displaced New York Yankees closer Devin Williams jumped to the Mets. Robert Suarez signed with the Atlanta Braves from the San Diego Padres. And former St. Louis Cardinals and Mets closer Ryan Helsley got snapped up by the Baltimore Orioles.
Even future Hall of Famer Kenley Jansen signed at age 38 with the Detroit Tigers, his fifth team in six years, in his quest to become only the third reliever in baseball history to cross the 500-save mark.
But there is still one elite closer remaining unsigned, and according to baseball analyst Christopher Kline of FanSided, the Toronto Blue Jays should move quickly to sign him â because if they don’t, the Dodgers will.
The closer is former Tampa Bay reliever Pete Fairbanks, who saved 27 games this year for the Rays. But the always budget-conscious Tampa Bay missed the playoffs for the second straight year after a streak of five postseason bids in a row, and shortly before Fairbanks turned 32, they declined his team option for 2026, making the 2015 Texas Rangers ninth-round draft pick a free agent.
Fairbanks Could Be Los Angeles Setup Man
The Rays saved themselves $11 million by cutting Fairbanks loose after signing him to a three-year, $12 million extension in 2023. But ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan projected last week that Fairbanks on the open market âshould get either multiple years or well over the $11 million option declined by Tampa Bay.â
âThe Dodgers made their bullpen splash already, signing Edwin DÃaz to a three-year, $69 million contract. Still, there’s room to upgrade the bullpen, especially if the Dodgers opt to stretch the rotation six deep and start both Emmet Sheehan and RÅki Sasaki,â wrote Kline in his analysis published last week. âEnter Pete Fairbanks?â
Though Fairbanksâ strikeout rate has dropped over the last couple of seasons, from 13.5 per nine innings in 2023 to 8.8 this year, he would still have a valuable role in a well-stocked Dodgers bullpen as a âpotentially elite setup man in front of DÃaz,â according to Kline.
Blue Jays Urged to Step In
But the seven-year veteran could occupy a more high-profile role with the team that came two outs away from denying the Dodgers their second straight World Series championship this year, the Blue Jays, Kline wrote.
âFairbanks could relocate within the AL East and anchor Toronto’s bullpen, bumping Jeff Hoffman to a lower-leverage role and further fleshing out the Blue Jays staff after the Tyler Rogers signing,â the FanSided scribe speculated.
About 10 days ago, the Blue Jays signed the former Mets and San Francisco Giants reliever Rogers to a three-year, $37 million contract. With Hoffman remaining in the closer’s job, Rogers â known for his submarine arm-angle delivery from the right side â will likely serve primarily as Hoffman’s eighth-inning setup.
A Few Issues With Fairbanks
There remains, however, the question of why Fairbanks has remained on the market while most other available closers have been snapped up.
âFairbanksâ underlying metrics suggest he wasnât quite the dominant late-inning force he once was. Statcast shows a 42.8 percent hard-hit rate and a 90.2 mph average exit velocity against, marks that are closer to league average than elite for a high-leverage reliever,â wrote Kristie Ackert of The Sporting News last week.
Ackert also noted that Fairbanks suffers from âRaynaudâs syndrome, a condition that can cause numbness and loss of feeling in his hands in extreme temperatures,â seemingly limiting his market to warm-weather teams or those that play under retractable domes.
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