Kim Klement – US Presswire
An already impressive Washington Nationals bullpen got even better Tuesday with the signing of veteran closer Rafael Soriano to a two-year, $28 million deal.
While the Nats bullpen performed well during the regular season, the organization clearly could not overlook their massive playoff meltdown and decided to bring in Soriano. The 33-year-old closer had one of his best seasons for the New York Yankees in 2012, as he saved an amazing 42 games for fantasy baseball owners while filling in for Mariano Rivera. Taking over as the closer in May, Soriano blew just four saves all season and was almost perfect in the postseason, as he allowed just two hits in four innings.
The season was not an anomaly for Soriano, who has 132 saves in his career with a 2.78 ERA and impressive 1.05 WHIP, while his 2.6 WAR [Wins Above Replacement] last season was his best ever by a significant margin. With the money the Nationals gave the veteran, he will clearly be the closer out of the gate and should be taken as a top five reliever in fantasy baseball drafts this spring.
However, entering his 10th season, Soriano’s best days may not be ahead of him. While there were no signs of a decline last season, the Nationals do have options to turn to if he struggles or gets hurt, including former “closer of the future” Drew Storen.
The 25-year-old Storen saved 43 games in 2011 with 74 strikeouts in 71.1 innings pitched. He missed much of 2012 after elbow surgery and after being eased back into the closer role, he pitched well to end the year and finished with four saves and a 2.37 ERA.
All it took, however, was one historically bad game to plant the seed of doubt in his future. Storen needed to record just three outs to send his team to the National League Championship Series. He got those three out, but not before give up four runs on three hits and two walks on 33 pitches in that ominous inning. It was a performance so bad that he will now likely be the team’s set-up man in 2013 and completely killed his fantasy value in the process.
While Storen should be the first backup plan, the team also has Tyler Clippard and Henry Rodriguez. Clippard saved 32 games last season and is still just 27, but he did struggle at times in the closer role. Rodriguez, who won the job out of spring training, showed some promise and converted his first five save chances in dominant fashion. He then struggled in May and his season ended with elbow surgery. He is expected to be ready for spring training, but he would have to have a lot of things fall his way in order to see some save chances this season.
