Kuzul

Free-agent relief pitcher Brett Cecil will have a new home for the first time in his eight-year MLB career, as he signed a four-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported the deal was worth $30.5 million.

“The Cecil market escalated quickly. Teams realized three years wasn’t gonna get it done, and St. Louis coveted him enough to go four,” Passan added.

Cecil is coming off his worst season since 2012 with the Toronto Blue Jays, as he posted a 1-7 record with a 3.93 ERA while allowing 39 hits in 36.2 innings.

He was hampered by a triceps injury that kept him sidelined from mid-May to mid-June and allowed 13 runs in his first 24 appearances, with his ERA swelling to 6.75.

He finished strong, however, surrendering just one run in his final 17 appearances. Cecil’s curveball was the pitch he relied heavily upon:

Cecil used the pitch 45.4 percent of the time last season, which was the highest mark of his career, per FanGraphs.

The left-hander posted a sub-3.00 ERA each year from 2013 to 2015, and he made an All-Star appearance in 2013, when he finished 5-1 with a 2.82 ERA and 11 holds in 60.2 innings.

The Cardinals will hope he can regain that form in 2017 and become an asset to their bullpen.

St. Louis boasts a strong and deep relief corps, but it was in dire need of another quality southpaw to support Kevin Siegrist.

Zach Duke did well in that regard last season, but he is expected to miss all of 2017 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in early October.

That created a major void, but if Cecil can bounce back from a subpar 2016, he is an ideal option to fill it.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Brett Cecil recently became the first player in MLB history to be credited with five losses as a relief pitcher during the month of April, per Elias Sports Bureau (h/t ESPN.com).

The last reliever to lose five games in any single calendar month was former Oakland Athletics pitcher Brian Fuentes, who did so in May 2011.

Cecil finished April with an 0-5 record and 5.79 ERA, leading the majors in losses while sitting in a four-way tie atop the leaderboard for most blown saves (three).

Despite the early struggles, Cecil does have some positive numbers, as he’s allowed just one home run (46 batters faced) and is tied for 14th in the majors with five holds.

Although he’s an easy target for blame, the 29-year-old lefty hasn’t been the only problem for Toronto this season. Fellow setup man Drew Storen has surrendered nine earned runs in eight innings, and designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki are both off to notably slow starts at the plate.

Meanwhile, the team’s supposed ace, Marcus Stroman, only has a 3.77 ERA even after holding the Tampa Bay Rays to one run over eight innings in Sunday’s 5-1 win.

A popular choice to win the American League pennant, the Blue Jays are tied with the Rays for third place in the AL East (three games back), with an alarming minus-two run differential 26 games into the season.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Brett Cecil left Friday’s American League Division Series game against the Texas Rangers in the eighth inning with what manager John Gibbons describes as a “pretty significant tear in his calf”, per Scott MacArthur of TSN.

Continue for updates.

What Cecil Means to Toronto Bullpen

The Blue Jays lefty took over in the eighth for Marcus Stroman, who allowed three earned runs (four total) on five hits over seven innings. Cecil allowed a leadoff single to Delino DeShields, then retired Shin-Soo Choo and Prince Fielder before allowing an RBI single to the pinch-hitting Napoli that tied the game at four.

Cecil’s attempted pickoff prompted Napoli to take off for second, thus creating the rundown that led to the injury.

Cecil has been arguably the best reliever for a Toronto bullpen that had the 28th-worst ERA (5.08) in September and October, according to ESPN Stats & Info. His earned run on Napoli’s pinch hit was the first he’d allowed since June 21, a span of 31.2 innings over 37 appearances, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Joakim Soria had a forgettable time with the Detroit Tigers last season. After being shipped over in a trade from Texas he pitched poorly in the regular season (4.91 ERA), and even worse in the postseason (0-1, 45.00 ERA in two games).

Despite Soria’s travails in the old English D, the Tigers still picked up his one-year option in October. He projects to be the setup man for closer Joe Nathan in 2015.

With this pair in their bullpen, Detroit boasts the luxury of two relievers who both rank in the top 10 in saves among active players.

Owning two premium arms at the back end of their bullpen puts the Tigers in a very strong position. Elite stoppers are among the game’s hottest commodities, and needy teams are often willing to trade away their prized talent in order to secure their services. A prime example of this is the Los Angeles Angels coughing up four prospects to the Padres in exchange for Huston Street last year.

Despite the milk turning sour for Soria in Motown, his resume still places him among baseball’s best relief pitchers. Before shifting to Detroit, he was lights out in a Rangers’ uniform in 2014. Check out the righty’s numbers compared to his peers:

Soria compiled these stats while racking up 17 saves, which raised his career total to 178. This man is a lockdown closer when given the opportunity.

While the Tigers are content to use him in a setup role, other MLB teams would relish the opportunity to install him as their closer. So, which teams would be viable candidates?

The Toronto Blue Jays are one club that quickly spring to mind. The acquisitions of Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin and Michael Saunders this offseason prove that their switch to win-now mode is genuine.

Would Soria be an ideal fit north of the border? You betcha.

They are currently without a proven closer, and rumor has it that the Jays are now shopping the trade market for one.

What’s in it for Detroit?

The Tigers have dotted a lot of i’s and crossed plenty of t’s already this winter. The signing of Tom Gorzelanny earlier this week was just their latest piece of business.

But, while the 32-year-old veteran is a sound pick-up, he is not the deadly southpaw Detroit is searching for. It so happens that the Blue Jays possess just the right man.

Brett Cecil emerged as one of the best lefty relievers in the American League last season. According to Fangraphs, the 28-year-old ranked seventh in the AL in K/9 (12.83) and eighth in FIP (2.34) for qualified relievers.

Over the past two decades, a litany of lefties has been trusted to do the business for Detroit. The likes of Phil Coke, Ian Krol (who may still emerge), Daniel Schlereth, Duane Below, Charlie Furbush, Bobby Seay, Tim Byrdak, Jamie Walker, Heath Murray, Bill Krueger and others have never quite cut the mustard in a Tigers’ uniform. Cecil would provide them with the southpaw that they have been coveting for many years.

Not since the days of Willie Hernandez in the 1980’s has Detroit boasted an imposing left-hander. A quarter of a century has been more than enough time to wait for the next one. Cecil would fulfil a different role to Detroit’s former Cy Young Award-winning closer, but he could be nearly as valuable.

There would be other benefits to acquiring the Blue Jays’ lefty. He is much cheaper than Soria, and as blessyouboys.com recently reported, Detroit is currently only a few Joel Hanrahan incentives away from passing the luxury-tax threshold. Additionally, Cecil has two years of team control left until he becomes a free agent—Soria has one.

While Cecil would be a significant loss for the Jays, they would still have the arms to absorb it. Aaron Loup and up-and-comer Rob Rasmussen give them two solid southpaws out of the pen to build a bridge to Soria as closer.

Detroit also has cover if they were to lose their eighth-inning man. Closer-in-waiting Bruce Rondon, Hanrahan (100 career saves) Al Alburquerque, as well as Cecil, would give Detroit plenty of late-inning options.

Tigers’ fans with long memories will recall that the acquisition of Hernandez occurred prior to the 1984 championship-winning season. It is probably drawing a long bow to suggest that a Soria-Cecil swap would lead Detroit to the Promised Land. But, it would cap a pretty darn good offseason in the Motor City.

Unless otherwise stated, all stats in this article are courtesy of baseballreference.com

Please note that the stats in the table were Soria‘s with Texas only

Hit me up on Twitter: @jdunc1979

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Boston Red Sox are indeed struggling, but their matchup on Friday against Brett Cecil could be exactly what they are looking for. 

Brett Cecil, the Jays’ team leader in wins last year with 15, is a major cog in the “Hustle and Heart” campaign the club is running with, yet Cecil is struggling mightily with no explanation as to why. 

Last year’s success was not all that surprising when you think about.  Cecil started 17 games in 2009 and racked up seven wins. His high ERA (5.30) was expected, considering that he was roughed up a little in his three Triple-A seasons and his BABIP and BAA have risen significantly each time he moved up. 

While competition improves, so do you, right?   

Cecil, who regularly posted K rates of 10 plus per nine innings in the minors, saw that number drop to six in his final minor league warmup in 2009. That number remained steady when reaching the big club, meaning his secondary pitches are improving. 

Batters averaged a mediocre .265 against Cecil last year—unfortunately, this season is another story altogether. 

The lack of velocity (nearly a two mph loss) and an abnormally high BABIP of .412 are a recipe for disaster. Cecil is relying less on his fastball, for obvious reasons, and falling back in his secondary pitches, especially his slider. 

Those two pitches, as of right now, are not the ideal pitches for someone struggling to be fooling hitters with.   

With an obvious issue with velocity, the same problem is almost guaranteed with his slider, something that the short porches of Fenway and a Red Sox lineup will find very tempting. 

A flat fastball with a loosely wound slider is disastrous unless Cecil pitches backwards against his formidable foe. 

If he can work his changeup in fastball counts and keep them off balance, he should buy himself enough time for the Jays to take advantage of Clay Buchholz, who is having his own issues. 

It will be interesting to see what game plan the coaching staff has in place, because if they’re hoping the mid-90s fastball miraculously returns, it could be a very long night.

Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective

You can follow The GM’s Perspective on Twitter and facebook

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

According to Gregor Chisholm of mlb.com, Brandon Morrow is set to make his second rehab start tomorrow (Tuesday) as he battles back from minor elbow troubles.

Via Twitter: “Morrow allowed five runs over three innings in his first rehab start last Thursday, so the Blue Jays will hope for better results this time. The Jays will reevaluate after Tuesday’s outing, but he might need another rehab start before being activated from the disabled list.”

Even though this is indeed good news, the conventional wisdom is that Jo-Jo Reyes will be relegated to the bullpen once Morrow returns. Turns out that may not be the case.

The pitcher with a bull’s-eye on his back could very well be 2010 15-game winner Brett Cecil.

After two rough starts to begin the season, Cecil has a 0-1 record and an unsightly 7.20 ERA. Now, two games usually provides a poor measuring stick of future success, but the culprit for this recent swoon is a decrease in velocity, which has been an issue for Cecil since spring training.

Brett Cecil has never been mistaken for a flamethrower, but he does get his fastball up to 94 MPH.  This season, he’s been struggling to get it over 90, maxing out at 91 on only a handful of pitches.

That seemingly small drop in velocity has made Cecil increasingly hittable these past two games, which include an ugly 10-hit, five-earned-run performance in five innings against the Angels on Saturday. 

For a ground-ball pitcher like Cecil, losing those extra 3-4 ticks on the radar is witches’ brew that spells nothing but disaster. It softens the break on your cutter, keeps your fastball up in the strike zone and renders your changeup useless. 

Meanwhile, after getting roughed up in his first start Jo-Jo Reyes bounced back with an impressively scrappy outing against those same Angels last night.

One day after the marathon game on Saturday that ended in somewhat of a controversy, Toronto really needed Reyes to eat some innings to give their bullpen a reprieve.

Mission Accomplished, as Jo-Jo pitched seven workmanlike innings, allowing three runs (one earned) while striking out six and walking only one batter.

Another point to consider is the option factor. Reyes is out of options, so any move outside of a shift to the ‘pen would require releasing or trading him. 

Meanwhile, Brett Cecil still has minor-league options available and may be well-served with a short-term rest and demotion.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com