Lastly, Blake Treinen got non-tendered by the Oakland Athletics. While Billy Beane would’ve likely wanted to keep him, the payroll constraints forced him to cut ties with the reliever. The righty had an ERA pushing up towards 5 in 2019, but he only gave up seven earned runs in 2018.
Rumors have linked him and the Yankees, but the Red Sox clearly need to upgrade their bullpen. If Treinen can find his 2018 form, he can take over the closer role for Boston and stabilize the back-end of the bullpen.
#Yankees one of teams interested in #Athletics’ Blake Treinen, sources tell The Athletic. Wrote Tuesday about OAK’s willingness to move Treinen and other non-tender candidates. https://t.co/f5wHdir05C
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 29, 2019
The key for him to reverse his 2019 woes is to decrease his home run and walk rates. In 2018, he posted a 0.2 HR/9 and 2.4 BB/9 while in 2019, they were 1.4 HR/9 and 5.7 BB/9. He was walking more batters in 2019 and his ERA indicates they scored often.
The number of homers he gave up in 2019 was the same number of earned runs he gave up in 2018. Overall, the key for Treinen is to get him to figure out what went wrong this past season, then he can go back to being a dominant late-inning reliever.
He is relatively old, 31 years old, so he may look for a longer-term deal because a bad season could derail him from making any serious money. If he can find his prior form, he can be one of the best relievers in MLB at a cheap cost.
If he is looking for a 3-year deal worth a total of around $20 million, the Red Sox should be all over that. He would be a cheap addition to their bullpen and could be the nail to close out games. Out of all of the relievers left on the market, Treinen probably has the most potential. If the Red Sox can acquire him, they better thank the A’s for non-tendering one of the better relievers in baseball.