Let's face it: the Phillies bullpen is the laughing stock of the league, and Matt Klentak is taking the heat. The Phillies GM certainly deserves it, but there are deeper issues at play here. Klentak has attempted to bolster the 'pen over the past three years through free agency and waive-wire acquisitions, and nothing has panned out. Injuries decimated the relief core, and the Phillies ended up collecting a group that shouldn't be in the big leagues.
Are injuries, volatile performances and a budget lockdown all Kletank's fault?
Let's start with the free agent signings. Over the previous two years, Klentak committed $57 million to David Robertson, Pat Neshek and Tommy Hunter, three established relievers with solid track records that went down with injuries. Robertson and Hunter combined to pitch in 16 games during the last two years, while Neshek landed on the injured list after a rough start to 2019.
Some of the best bullpens have been built through free agency. The Yankees have had the most dominate bullpen in the last several years and committed $117 to Aroldis Chapman, Zach Britton, Adam Ottavino and Tommy Kahnle. The Mets paid Jeurys Familia and Dellin Betances over $40 million. The Braves shelled out $116 million to Mark Melancon, Will Smith, and Chris Martin.
Using ERA+, which normalizes pitchers' ERA across the league and uses a scale based on a 100-average, both Robertson and Neshek have a higher career ERA+ than all of those pitchers other than Chapman and Betances.
Outside of big free agent signings, Klentak has made decent waiver-wire moves and marginal trades for guys like Wilson Ramos and Jay Bruce. He also found average replacements for the rotation like Drew Smyly and Jason Vargas. Klentak also traded for Jose Alvarez and Luis Avilan back in 2018 and handed out fliers to potential talent like Blake Parker, Mike Morin, Jared Hughes, Reggie McClain and Delois Guerra. Those waiver-wire pickups turned out badly, yet Klentak's options were slim when looking for relief help, especially with a lack of trade bait.
At the same time, the Phillies had several decent home-grown arms. Seranthony Dominguez was dominant, Victor Arano and Edubray Ramos put together strong 2018 campaigns, and Ranger Suarez along with Adam Morgan were solid secondary options. Even when the bullpen was sidelined last season, they managed to post the 4th-best ERA in the National League after the All-Star break.
Klentak's biggest mistake was hoping the bullpen would recover from injury, and it cost him this year. Dominguez's rehab went south just days before the season was postponed, Arano struggled with arm issues during Summer Camp, and Robertson isn't due back until the end of August at the earliest. But spending money on the bullpen again with a tight budget didn't seem realistic when the team needed to address the rotation and lineup depth this past offseason.
At the same time, the lineup depth offered trade pieces for in-season bullpen additions. Look at the 2019 World Series champion Nationals---their bullpen was garbage the first month of the season, but midseason trades helped stabilize the pen.
Maybe it's unfair to compare the Phillies current bullpen to any other bullpen considering how terrible they have been. This wasn't an unforeseen circumstance headed into the season, though.
The fact remains that if John Middleton really wanted to "bring that bleepin' trophy back," he wouldn't have handcuffed Klentak's ability to make moves this offseason. As soon as the team neared the luxury tax, Klentak's lone option was to sign Tommy Hunter to a cheap deal.
The bullpen's mediocrity was a clear concern. Middleton's willingness to dish out money to high-end free agents was great until spending was capped. It's Klentak's job to find the players that push the margin, especially in the bullpen, yet more than nine relievers missed time in 2019 due to injury and the bullpen still preformed in the second half. Maybe that doesn't excuse Klentak, but it shouldn't excuse Middleton either for offering no help to an ailing team. Spend all the money you need to build a winning team because staying below the luxury tax with a flawed one doesn't matter.