Oakland Athletics: A’s sign RHP Yusmeiro Petit to two-year deal

OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 05: Yusmeiro Petit
OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 05: Yusmeiro Petit

Wednesday evening the Oakland Athletics agreed to sign former San Francisco Giants, and most recently Los Angeles Angels, reliever Yusmeiro Petit.

It’s no secret that the Oakland Athletics bullpen was a mess last season. With their young starting rotation unable to go deep into games the A’s bullpen was utterly fatigued by mid-season.

The Oakland bullpen posted a 4.57 ERA on the year, pitching the seventh-most innings in the American League with 553.1.

They then traded left-hander Sean Doolittle and right-hander Ryan Madson to the Washington Nationals mid-season, and the bullpen seemed to have a revolving door of pitchers.

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So it makes sense that the A’s went into the off-season seeking veteran relievers and perhaps even a veteran starter.

The Athletics have found that veteran reliever in Yusmeiro Petit, and it appears like they want to keep him around.

He signed a two-year, $10 million deal with a team option for a third year for $5 million in 2020, pending a physical.

A 10-year veteran in the majors, Petit has proven to be reliable and durable. Plus, the 33-year-old is coming off a career year with the Angels.

He posted a 2.76 ERA over 91.1 innings to go along with a 0.95 WHIP. He struck out 101 batters averaging 10 K’s per nine innings to just 1.8 walks. His career ERA is 4.31.

The Oakland Athletics are likely hoping that last season will lead Petit into the best years of his career and he’ll be a substantial veteran presence in what is likely to be an overall, young bullpen.

They also added right-handed 26-year-old  Emilio Pagan to their bullpen in the trade that sent slugger Ryon Healy to the Seattle Mariners. In, what was his rookie season, Pagan played well for the Seattle Mariners posting a 3.22 ERA with a 0.934 WHIP and, like Petit averaged 10 K’s per nine innings.

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It doesn’t mean the A’s are done fixing their bullpen but signing Petit and trading for Pagan is a pretty good start.