The Los Angeles Dodgers announced they have signed veteran pitcher Joe Blanton to a one-year contract. According to Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan, the one-year deal is worth $4 million.
Blanton appeared in 36 games for the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates last year, posting a 2.84 earned run average in 76 innings.
MLB.com’s Mike Petriello assumes some Dodgers fans will rush to judgment about Blanton based on his previous stint with the team and his disastrous season with the Los Angeles Angels:
The bulk of the 35-year-old’s career has been spent in a starting role, but an exceptionally poor 2013 and a yearlong layoff from MLB in 2014 necessitated a move to the bullpen.
Blanton had a nondescript start to the 2015 season with the Royals and then excelled with the Pirates. According to Baseball-Reference.com, he finished with a 1.57 ERA and 2.11 FIP in Pittsburgh, and his 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings were a career high.
FanGraphs’ Neil Weinberg wrote Blanton’s resurgence was all the more surprising given the fact his transition to being a reliever didn’t result in a significant uptick in his fastball velocity, which in part explains Wade Davis’ and Glen Perkins’ success in the bullpen.
Rosenthal noted Blanton’s contract with the Dodgers indicates he’ll remain a reliever in Los Angeles:
Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times believes Blanton fills a major hole in the Dodgers’ pitching staff:
If Blanton can repeat last year’s success with the Pirates in 2016, this will be a great deal for the Dodgers. Four million dollars is a reasonable sum of money to pay a better-than-average middle reliever.
And on the days when Los Angeles’ starters are forced to exit earlier than expected, Blanton’s ability to eat up innings in the middle of games will be an invaluable resource.
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