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When the Tampa Bay Rays signed Grant Balfour to a two-year, $12 million deal prior to the 2014 season, it came with some excitement for the team. Balfour had been one of the more dominant relievers in baseball for years, throwing to a 2.47 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 while notching 64 saves from 2010 to 2013. He was expected to step in as the Rays’ closer and round out a team that many expected to make a deep playoff run.
However, Balfour’s 2014 could not have gone any worse. In his age-36 season, the right-hander managed just a 4.91 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 5.6 BB/9. Balfour has never been a control artist, but he lost any sort of control he had over his pitches. Plus, his fastball averaged just 92.66 miles per hour according to Brooks Baseball, which was the lowest of his career.
Heading into the 2015 season, Balfour now seems like an albatross to the Rays. He is owed $7.0 million, and at 37 years old, you have to wonder if he has anything left in the tank.
Luckily for the Rays, they have a strong bullpen. Jake McGee has had a sub-2.00 ERA in two of the past three seasons and will hold down the ninth inning, though he is expected to miss the first few weeks of the season. Brad Boxberger dominated to the tune of a 2.37 ERA and a videogame-like 14.5 K/9 last season. Newly-acquired Kevin Jepsen was also impressive in 2014, throwing to a 2.63 ERA and 10.4 K/9.
Even beyond these three, there is plenty of talent. C.J. Riefenhauser has dominated in the minors the past two years and is a potential setup man. Jeff Beliveau had a 2.62 ERA in a partial season’s worth of work for the Rays last season. Ernesto Frieri had a rough 2014, but he has been a dominating closer in the past. Beyond that, guys like Kirby Yates, Steve Geltz, Jose Dominguez and more all could be solid pieces of the bullpen.
Because of their level of talent, the Rays do not need Balfour to reach his previous levels of success to have a good bullpen. But imagine if he did. That would give the Rays four guys capable of being a late-innings reliever in Balfour, Boxberger, Jepsen and McGee, and a rebound from Frieri could even further add to it. All of a sudden, a resurgent Balfour could give the Rays one of the best bullpens in baseball.
The Rays likely have no expectations for Balfour after his 2014 woes. In fact, you could draw up a scenario in which Balfour has a rough start to 2015 and the team releases him to be done with it. However, Balfour is only one year removed from being a dominant reliever, and a rebound from him, however unlikely, would be huge for the Rays.
Drew Jenkins is an MLB writer and Sabermetrics Columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DrewJenkins77, “Like” him on Facebook, add him to your network on Google, or contact him at [email protected].
