LHP Fernando Abad, $1,087,500
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The Oakland Athletics have done wonders in recent years with their inexpensive yet efficient bullpens. Over the last three seasons, their combined bullpen ERA’s have consistently ranked inside the top six league-wide. The correlation between those results and the fact the A’s have qualified for playoffs in all three of those years is no fluke.
Fernando Abad is the other left-handed arm that will pair with Watson on this roster to get the make-believe dream team out of tight situations after the starter has exited games. Ryan Cook ($1.4 M) and Sean Doolittle (750K) are also great bargains on the A’s roster, but Cook is a righty and Doolittle is presently injured.
Abad flourished in a move to an American League roster last season after pitching four straight seasons in the National League. Last year with the A’s, Abad’s ERA of 1.08 and WHIP of 0.85 ranked him inside the top 10 for all relievers in those categories. The southpaw held both left and right-handed hitter’s to batting averages against under .200. In fact, Abad proved to be more effective against right-handers despite being a lefty. Abad’s BAbip of .211 was fourth best of any Major League reliever.