There are still a few loose ends to be tied among free agents, even with preseason baseball already underway. The latest piece to fall is the destination of righty reliever Chad Durbin, who agreed to a one-year, $800,000 contract with Cleveland yesterday.
Durbin, 33, was an integral part of Philadelphia’s bullpen last year, but still had trouble finding a major league offer with a contending team. Rather than accept a minor league deal, he joined the rebuilding Indians, and should immediately upgrade a bullpen that ranked 26th in FIP last year.
Durbin is actually a former Indian–he threw 8 2/3 innings for the team in 2003, back when he was a swingman. He’s also pitched for the Royals and Tigers, and spent the past three years exclusively as a reliever with the Phillies.
There have been rumblings that he’ll be moved back to the rotation, and while that’s a longshot, Durbin does have a solid four-pitch arsenal that would (in theory) work as a starter. His fastball and cutter are average pitches, while his curve and changeup are a tick above average. Durbin has a career 5.71 FIP in the rotation, while that improves to 4.60 in relief, including a 3.97 mark last year. Then again, Durbin’s curve has come a long way from his days as a starter, so maybe it could work.
In any case, we’re talking about a guy who’s posted a sub-4.00 FIP in two of the past three seasons, has shown he’s fairly durable, and is young enough that he’s not a likely decline candidate. Moving to the AL will hurt him a bit, perhaps, but the NL East is tough, and Citizens Bank Park is no treat, either. As long as he can throw enough strikes to get by (which was a problem in 2009), he should be an asset, and there’s little doubt he’s an improvement on guys like Frank Herrmann and Justin Germano.
The deal does have a max value of $1.8 million, with incentives, but that’s about what Durbin was worth last year, so if he simply equals his 2010 performance, the Indians will have gotten their money’s worth no matter how much he winds up making. When one considers the fact that Durbin may be replacing a pitcher with a negative WAR figure, that makes it an even better decision. Furthermore, sometimes these relievers can be solid trade chips, so once some of Cleveland’s young relief talent is ready to push the veteran aside, they can flip him for a semi-interesting prospect or two (more, perhaps, if he gets off to a hot start, which is certainly possible).
It’s a solid move for the Indians, and Durbin’s got to be relieved he found a guaranteed job.