Miami Marlins: Junichi Tazawa Signing Makes Much More Sense

Relief pitcher Junichi Tazawa has agreed to a deal with the Miami Marlins. This signing comes after the team’s failed pursuit of All-Star closer Kenley Jansen.

Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria seemed to have a big move in mind when the offseason began. It was only five years ago that the team went all-in by adding big names like Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Heath Bell and Carlos Zambrano in the same winter. Loria also approved a mega-deal to keep Giancarlo Stanton in town for the long-term (at least for now). The Marlins owner has been controversial in that he’s shifted course on multiple occasions, including during the 2012 season when he jettisoned many of his primetime pickups.

Still, it seems liked Marlins management had their eyes on two of the best closers in the game in Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen. This pursuit appeared a bit misguided to many as the team has the makings of a really good bullpen already with solid options like A.J. Ramos, David Phelps and Kyle Barraclough handling the relief pitching duties. It’s the club’s starting pitching that really needs the upgrade, especially after the sudden and tragic passing of Jose Fernandez.

At the moment, the Marlins have Wei-Yin Chen, Adam Conley and Tom Koehler returning from last year’s staff, and have signed second- and third-tier starting pitching options in Edinson Volquez and Jeff Locke. Even with these moves, the Marlins still probably need at least one more qualified starter for the team to come into Spring Training feeling at least somewhat confident that their rotation will be good enough to compete for a playoff spot.

However, it looks like the Marlins are going in another direction to help solve their pitching problem. After Chapman and Jansen signed with the Yankees and Dodgers, respectively, Miami quickly moved on to other free agent relievers by snagging former Boston Red Sox righty Junichi Tazawa to a two-year, $12 million deal. After striking out on the elite relief options on the free agent market, the team is spending about $10 million less on Tazawa. While this doesn’t solve their starting pitching issues, it does offer much better value for a team that probably would have overpaid for someone who only gets three outs.

I would argue that it was a blessing in disguise that Jansen reportedly took less money to return to Los Angeles. Now the Marlins will be paying less for a pitcher that has some upside to further improve the club’s bullpen. At just 30 years old, Tazawa’s ERA over the past two years has been in the 4.00s, but some of his peripheral numbers signal that he could be set to improve in the seasons to come. Tazawa averaged close to 10 strikeouts in per nine innings in 2016 and hasn’t allowed more than 2.5 walks per nine innings over the past five years. The Japanese right-hander did let up twice the number of long balls that he did in 2015, but that seems more like more of an outlier because of the track record he’s established since joining Major League Baseball in 2009.

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In addition to probably getting better bang for their buck, the extra money will allow the Marlins to address either the starting rotation or continue to strengthen their bullpen. In my opinion, the front office needs to focus on adding another starter. The only problem is that there are really no established starting pitchers available. Jason Hammel, Ivan Nova and Tyson Ross all are capable starting pitchers, but are attached with notable risk. Miami’s farm system is also not good enough to acquire a Chris Archer or Jose Quintana.

There have been reports that the Marlins are interested in veteran relievers Brad Ziegler and Joe Blanton. So it looks like the franchise is buying into the new craze of shortening the game with an elite bullpen. It’s certainly an interesting attempt to solve a weakness on the roster, but I’m still under the belief that the team’s starting rotation is just not stable or proven enough for the Marlins to be true contenders in 2017.

Still, by getting rejected by Kenley Jansen, the club was able to make a better value move by acquiring Junichi Tazawa. This will allow Marlins management to have the resources to continue to strengthen their overall team makeup. It would have been a big mistake to sink all their resources into a premier closer, but luckily the decision was made for them.

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What do you think of the Marlins signing Tazawa? Share your thoughts in the comments below.