This is a five part series on players I’d try to acquire via trade to boost our team for next year.
These will likely be short posts. I try not to be too verbose and mainly focus on just getting my point across.
First up is a favorite of mine, Brad Ziegler
With Pat Neshek likely gone, I turn to an old favorite of mine, Zeigler.
One reason I like him is like Neshek, he’s got a funky delivery that’ll give opposing hitters a different look out of the ‘pen. Brad uses a submarine delivery, which helps keep the ball low.
Here’s his stats for the past three years.
| Year | IP | ERA | FIP | WHIP | K/9 |
| 2012 | 68.2 | 2.49 | 3.21 | 1.092 | 5.5 |
| 2013 | 73 | 2.22 | 3.40 | 1.137 | 5.4 |
| 2014 | 67 | 3.49 | 3.70 | 1.254 | 7.3 |
He didn’t have his best year last year, but that’s ok. That’ll likely decrease Arizona’s asking price.
One thing I really like about Ziegler is he can pitch to both sides of the plate, meaning he won’t just be a LOOGY or a ROOGY.
Last year he allowed a .279 average vs. righties and a .183 average vs. lefties. That .279 may seem high, but Randy Choate, our LOOGY, allowed a .385(!) average to righties, making him the ultimate inefficiency, a one batter pitcher, unless the opponent is trotting up several lefties in a row. Given that’s not often the case, give me a guy who can stay on the mound versus both types of hitters.
To some, this may seem like an incremental improvement, and it may very well be, but if you make enough of those, you may end up with a much better team overall.
Heck, Tony La Russa, who’s now in charge of Arizona, loves his situational relievers, give *him* Choate and take Ziegler off his hands!
As always, thanks for reading.
