MLB Trade Deadline: Top 10 Relief Pitchers on the Market

With all this in mind, it is furthermore useful to examine the distinct positions of each buyer on the market. For those teams whose likelihood of playing on into October is already all but assured (the Cubs, Rangers, Nationals, and Giants come to mind), seeking a bullpen upgrade may actually make more sense. For those teams who are presumed to be in for a hard-fought battle for a playoff spot (the Cardinals, Mets, Dodgers, Mariners, and most of the AL East and AL Central come to mind), such an acquisition may prove to be wasteful and fruitless.

An exception could be a situation in which a team’s bullpen is actively costing such a contending team numerous winnable games. In other words, unless your bullpen is hurting you, upgrading it won’t get you in the playoffs, but if you’re well positioned to be there then it may be worth setting yourself up to have the strongest possible chance in the highest leverage situations.

So, for the purposes of this study let’s first examine the relative strength or weakness of each contending team’s bullpen. By generous measure, at this juncture we’ll consider each of the following 17 teams “contenders.”

Astros: 4.1 WAR, 3.11 FIP, 4.59 WPA (+21.65/-17.07), 1.23 pLI, 0.52 Clutch
Royals: 2.8 WAR, 3.45 FIP, 4.33 WPA (+17.20/-12.88), 0.98 pLI, 2.68 Clutch
Dodgers: 2.7 WAR, 3.53 FIP, -0.52 WPA (+16.11/-16.63), 1.06 pLI, -3.41 Clutch
Orioles: 2.5 WAR, 3.87 FIP, 4.36 WPA (+17.92/-13.56), 0.98 pLI, 2.77 Clutch
Red Sox: 2.5 WAR, 3.46 FIP, 1.12 (+15.40/-14.28) 1.01 PLI, -1.23 Clutch
Nationals: 2.1 WAR, 3.38 FIP, 0.47 WPA (+16.01/-15.54), 1.14 pLI, -1.86 Clutch
Tigers: 2.1 WAR, 3.71 FIP, 0.27 WPA (+15.09/-14.82), 0.98 pLI, 0.72 Clutch
Mets: 2.0 WAR, 3.61 FIP, 2.18 WPA (+15.17/-12.99), 1.01 pLI, 1.18 Clutch
Mariners: 1.5 WAR, 3.84 FIP, 0.40 WPA (+17.98/-17.58), 1.12 pLI, -0.39 Clutch
Blue Jays: 1.5 WAR, 4.03 FIP, -1.24 WPA (-15.45/+14.21), 1.09 pLI, -0.73 Clutch
Marlins: 1.1 WAR, 3.89 FIP, 0.16 WPA (+18.78/-18.62), 1.10 pLI, 0.43 Clutch
Cardinals: 1.0 WAR, 3.87 FIP, 0.20 WPA (+12.69/-12.49), 0.89 pLI, 0.14 Clutch
Indians: 0.9 WAR, 3.90 FIP, 1.17 WPA (+14.51/-13.34), 1.00 pLI, 0.33 Clutch
Cubs: 0.8 WAR, 4.03 FIP, 1.93 WPA (+13.34/-11.41), 1.00 pLI, 1.06 Clutch
Rangers: 0.5 WAR, 4.59 FIP, 1.17 WPA (+21.24/-20.07), 1.27 pLI, 1.52 Clutch
Giants: 0.2 WAR, 3.93 FIP, 0.85 WPA (+16.86/-16.01), 1.14 pLI, 0.68 Clutch
Pirates: -0.7 WAR, 4.50 FIP, -0.60 WPA (-18.13/+17.52), 0.98 pLI, 1.14 Clutch

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