Have the Dodgers Solved Their Bullpen Problems?

Have the Dodgers Solved Their Bullpen Problems?

Have the Dodgers solved their years-long bullpen problem? The short answer is we don't know. And we're not going to know until we see the relief staff perform for a few weeks. Or a month, by which time the 60-game 2020 baseball season will be at the halfway point.

We do know that, as is the case more often than not during the Andrew Friedman Administration, Los Angeles has not pulled out of all the stops for stoppers in recent deadline deals or free agency.

We know that the best reliever on the free-agent market over the winter, Will Smith, went to Atlanta for three years and $40 million. Smith is from Georgia and wanted to go home to play for the Braves, but still, he was precisely the type of player Los Angeles requires.

The ever-consistent Will Harris left Houston for the defending champion Nationals, at three years and $24 million. Chris Martin, who the Dodgers were rumored to be pursuing during last year's trading season, signed with Atlanta for two years and $14 million. Another guy L.A. was reported to be interested in, Jake Diekman, went to Oakland for two years and $7.4 million. 

Joe Smith? Astros, two years $8 mil. Craig Stammen: Padres, two and $9 mil. Dellin Betances: Mets, one year, $10.5 million. Steve Cishek: White Sox, one year, $6 mil.

Say what you will about those guys, it's likely that one or more of them will turn out to be saviors of one sort or other in 2020. And it's an incomplete list of free agents only.

[Follow Sports Illustrated’s Inside the Dodgers on Twitter.]

Los Angeles did sign Jimmy Nelson to a $1.25 guaranteed free agent contract in January, which went about as well as I expected: "Jimmy Nelson is a poor man's Tom Koehler. Or a rich man's Brandon Beachy." Nelson is out for the year following back surgery, and like Koehler before him, will never throw a pitch for the Dodgers. (Beachy managed eight innings, 10 hits, six walks, five strikeouts, a 7.66 ERA and 2.000 WHIP for L.A. in 2015.)

The Dodgers did reel in Blake Treinen (one year, $10 mil), a revelation in Oakland as recently as 2018 and a bit of mess in 2019. That move may work out as well or better than a number of the free agent signings mentioned above. But then again, it might not. And a reclamation project is a reclamation project.

Speaking of which, the Dodgers just brought in A.J. Ramos, who averaged 25 saves per season for Miami from 2015 through 2017. Though he's been injured for most of the past two season (seemingly a requirement for Friedman),  the potential for upside exists. Ramos looked good in two intrasquad appearances over the weekend, throwing an unhittable breaking ball for a strikeout to end his one-batter stint versus Arizona last night.

Most importantly, however, was the acquisition of Brusdar Graterol, a 21-year-old flame-thrower via Minnesota and the Kenta Maeda trade. Keep an eye out for him in 2020. Both eyes, actually.

Returning is the usual cast of characters: Scott Alexander, Pedro Baez, Caleb Ferguson, Dylan Floro, Joe Kelly, Adam Kolarek and Kenley Jansen. Plus Dustin May , Tony Gonsolin (although he's been optioned), perhaps Victor Gonzalez, Mitch White and Josiah Gray. 

So while I've included some snark here, with the possibility of impact performance from newcomers Treinen, Ramos and especially Graterol, plus the presence of May from Day One, and the optimism surrounding the slim-downed, Driveline-improved Jansen, Los Angeles may well have solved its bullpen problem.

In other words, patience Grasshopper.

And remember, glove conquers all.

Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.