Reliever Ryne Stanek has drawn interest from a number of teams, including the Cubs and Red Sox, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (X link). Earlier this week, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com also connected the right-hander to the Mets.
Stanek, 32, has the profile of a survivor. He had a forgettable season with the Astros just ended. He recorded a 4.09 ERA over 50 2/3 innings with a strikeout percentage of 23.9%, which was league average. He gave up walks at a slightly higher rate of 9.9% and gave up 1.42 home runs every nine innings.
Stanek is portrayed on that platform as a really unremarkable middle reliever. Both his pre-2023 performance and his velocity have greater intrigue. Two seasons prior, he had posted an outstanding 1.15 ERA over 54 2/3 frames. Stanek produced well overall from 2018 to 22, even though it would have been unrealistic to expect him to continue preventing runs at that level. Between the Rays, Marlins, and Astros, he struck out more than 28% of opponents throughout that five-year stretch, registering a 3.16 ERA.
Stanek has good reason to think he can regain that form. One of the hardest throwers in the game is still the 6’4″ guy. Like it has for the majority of his career, his fastball topped 98 mph last year. Even though he didn’t record his usual number of strikeouts, he was still difficult to hit pitch for pitch. With 14.7% of his pitches inducing a swinging strike, Stanek is in the top 50 MLB relievers (minimum 30 innings) in that category.
Stanek’s age and his mediocre performance from the previous season should keep him on a two-year contract at most. That is a component of what makes Boston and Chicago so appealing. Large bullpen investments haven’t been popular with the Cubs recently. Since signing Craig Kimbrel to a three-year contract midway through the 2019 season, Chicago has not signed a single reliever to a multi-year contract, as can be seen on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker. Jed Hoyer, president of baseball operations, recently gave a general speech on the danger involved in making significant investments in the bullpen due to the unpredictability of many relievers.
Despite the arrival of Craig Breslow as the new chief baseball officer, who comes from the Cubs front office, Boston has not been as reluctant to spend on the relief crops. It appears that the Sox are operating under financial constraints thus late in the winter. Neither team should be prevented from signing Stanek by an agreement.
It’s arguable that the Cubs require more additions to the relief corps than the Sox. Adbert Alzolay, Julian Merryweather, and Mark Leiter Jr. are the leaders of Chicago’s bullpen. Even though the team produced merely mediocre performance the previous season, it could be a weak link on a roster that is otherwise well-rounded. In addition to John Schreiber, Justin Slaten, a Rule 5 choice, and a few starter/reliever hybrids, Boston possesses two productive veterans at the back end in Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin. Though there have been rumors of a trade including Jansen and, to a lesser extent, Martin, Boston appears not to be close to finalizing a deal.
