After many days of speculation, finally on Thursday evening the Washington Nationals agreed to terms on a 3-year $15 million dollar contract with former San Diego RHP Shawn Kelley. According to media reports Kelley will earn $4 million next season and $5.5 million in 2017 & 2018.

The 31-year-old Kelley (32 in April) pitched for San Diego last season and provided the Padres with a 2.45 ERA, 2.57 FIP and 63 strikeouts against only 15 walks in 51.1 innings pitched. The Padres acquired him from the Yankees last winter in a small swap for a minor league pitcher, as his superficial numbers in the Bronx (4.46 ERA in 105 innings) did not match up with his 3.33 FIP and 11.8 K/9 rates. Over the course of his 7-year career, Kelley owns a 3.67 ERA, 10.2 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 1.1 HR/9 rates in 284.1 innings pitched, all working in relief.

Kelley does three of the four most important things for any reliever particularly well – he strikes out hitters, limits walks and generally keeps the ball in the park.  Unfortunately he does not generate a ton of the 4th, namely ground outs, although he did see this jump to 42.7% in 2015. He attacks hitters with the typical reliever repertoire of a 4-seam fastball in the low-90s and a hard breaking 83-84mph slider. Somewhat unusually Kelley throws more sliders than he does fastballs, yet does not struggle with a platoon-split against left-handed hitters, holding them to a career .666 OPS verses a .711 OPS against righties.
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The Washington Nationals will have a tremendous amount of turnover in their middle relief corps next season, as pitchers David Carpenter, Craig Stammen, and Matt Thornton are probable to depart as free agents. This leaves Kelley to pitch meaningful innings for Washington in the 7th and 8th, helping bridge the gap to the team’s closer, whomever that might be. There is some risk associated with Kelley’s health, as he has undergone two Tommy John surgeries in the past, which likely kept his salary demands depressed compared to others in the midst of the skyrocketing reliever salaries this winter.

Shawn Kelley might not be a major name throughout baseball or well-known to non-diehard fans, but Washington just signed an excellent reliever to bolster their relief corps. If the team uses him with caution to help his chances of staying healthy and keeps him in middle relief, Kelley should be one of the best 7th inning set-up men in baseball. Even acknowledging the injury-risks associated with him, Kelley signing with Washington is one of the best value signings thus far this offseason.

NatsGM Grade ->      Solid B

Friday afternoon it was announced that the Washington Nationals had come to terms with left-handed relief pitcher Oliver Perez on a 2-year $7 million contract. This signing is the first, in what is expected to be several moves this offseason, as the Nationals’ front office attempts to overhaul their disappointing bullpen ahead of 2016.

The 34-year-old lefty posted a mediocre 4.17 ERA with 51 strikeouts against 15 walks over 41 innings pitched in 2015. Perez was terrific in the early part of the season, posting a 3.10 ERA, 3.09 FIP and 37 strikeouts in 29 innings for Arizona before being traded to Houston in August. The move to the Lone Star State did not go well for Perez, who provided the Astros with a 6.75 ERA and 14 hits allowed in only 12 innings pitched. During his 13-year career Perez has made 438 appearances, including 195 starts and possesses a 67-83 record with a 4.44 ERA, 1.459 WHIP, 8.2 H/9, 9.4 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9.

It dilates the blood vessels in the penile region and ensures more blood to pills viagra the reproductive organs during sexual arousal. levitra sale http://robertrobb.com/pounding-flake-over-internet-privacy/ Consuming this pill aids facilitate the flow of blood into the heart and around specific regions in the body. It order cialis no prescription is just the same type of medicine with same power you can take without having any risk. Do not start using Kamagra just because you are not able to perform buy cialis in india satisfactory intercourse. In spite of his struggles late last season, the Nationals are intrigued by Perez due to his success against left-handed hitters, holding them to an .185/.235/.283 batting line in 2015 and a career .681 OPS. Unfortunately at this point in his career he needs to be a lefty specialist, as right-handed hitters punished him to a .310/.417/.465 line last season. Perez should replace Matt Thornton as the left-handed relief specialist and will form a nice pairing with LHP Felipe Rivero as the southpaws in the Nationals bullpen in 2016.

While this is a smaller signing in what is expected to be a frenetic offseason, the Nationals did well to secure Perez’s services to help bolster their bullpen the next two seasons. Perez is a veteran reliever with a long track record of retiring left-handed hitters, something the current roster needed prior to this acquisition. Furthermore, Washington has lacked a true left-handed relief ace in recent years and his unique delivery should give new manager Dusty Baker a valuable weapon against left-handed hitters in the later innings. Assuming the team shields him as much as possible from righties, Perez should continue to retire lefties successfully enough to make this look like a smart free agent signing two years from now.

NatsGM Overall Grade ->    B-