Oakland Athletics Closer Role Up For Grabs
By Jason Burke
The Oakland Athletics made their signing of Santiago Casilla official yesterday, as the former San Francisco Giant closer joined in on a conference call with local media from both the A’s and Giants.
Nobody is kidding themselves about the Oakland Athletics. Santiago Casilla isn’t going to help this club vault back into contention, but he could prove to be a valuable asset to the club both on the field and potentially at the trade deadline if his value bounces back a bit. Giants beat writer Henry Schulman described Santiago in another way, saying, “Another old saw goes ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,’ and that captures some of Oakland’s feelings in signing Casilla to a two-year, $11 million contract.”
Well, the A’s new treasure may not be good enough to close out games for his new club at the outset of the season–that is to be determined in spring training. With onetime closer Sean Doolittle looking to throw more than the 52 2/3 innings he’s accumulated in the last two seasons combined, and last season’s closer Ryan Madson in the mix for the ninth as well, this could be an intriguing mixture the A’s have.
Three closers, none of which is spectacular, but each of which has had success in getting the job done, and the A’s could play some mix-and-match in the latter innings to secure a few more wins than they did in 2016.
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The one potential foil for this plan could be the ages of Madson and Casilla, both of whom will be entering their age 36 season.
Last season with the Oakland Athletics, Madson made 63 appearances and tossed 64 2/3 innings to the tune of a 3.62 ERA with a 4.06 FIP. Considering the A’s lackluster defense, there could be some cause for concern with Madson outperforming his FIP. His strikeout rate took a hit over his 2015 rate, sitting at 6.8 in 2016, while his walk rate rose nearly a batter per nine to 2.8.
Casilla on the other hand appeared in 62 games and totaled 58 innings (blowing saves means unfinished innings) for a 3.57 ERA and a 3.94 FIP. While there is a decent chance that Casilla will find a new nemesis somewhere in the AL West, the fact that he is distancing himself from Jake Lamb–who in three at-bats took him deep three times–on paper looks very good. Remove those three runs from his 2016 totals and he’s looking at a 3.10 ERA and potentially even a bit lower with the extra out(s) being recorded.
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With Doolittle being the only lefty in the bullpen as things stand, it’s unlikely that the A’s would have him pitch the ninth inning when there are other options available, instead using his handedness for outs in key situations.
Between Casilla and Madson, before any games are played, my guess is that Casilla ends up taking the job to start the season. Unless he is completely wrecked from the way his tenure with the Giants ended, Casilla still has the ability (at least on paper) to close out games. His strikeout rate in 2016 was over ten per nine while his walks per nine was 2.9, both of which were career bests. He also has a longer recent track record of success than Madson, so if the race is close at the end of camp it’ll be interesting to see if the A’s go with the incumbent or the record of Casilla.