Which Free Agent Relievers Have Best Projections for 2018?
There is every indication that we’ll see a bunch of relievers coming off the board in the coming days at the Winter Meetings. FanRag’s Jon Heyman lists a few of the large group of arms that agent are predicting will be part of a run.
Agents predicting a run on relievers now. Lots of good ones to go: reed, shaw, neshek, kintzler, cishek, nicasio, swarzak, watson, hunter, belisle, oh, perez, mcgee, and of course davis and holland.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 11, 2017
The Cubs kicked off the spree by signing former Dodgers relief ace Brandon Morrow, who might get a shot to close if the Northsiders don’t bring back Wade Davis. In addition to Morrow, Ken Rosenthal hints that the Cubs will sign another late-inning reliever.
#Cubs close on Brandon Morrow, per @MLBBruceLevine. Had mentioned last week they were considering him to close. Likely will sign one other late-inning reliever as well.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 10, 2017
So which relievers project to be the best in 2018? Here are Steamer’s projections for all relievers in 2018.
| Name | ERA | G | IP | WHIP | K/9 | BB/9 | FIP | |
| Wade Davis | 3.48 | 65 | 65 | 1.24 | 10.43 | 3.61 | 3.58 | |
| Joe Smith | 3.53 | 35 | 35 | 1.25 | 9.03 | 2.86 | 3.61 | |
| Anthony Swarzak | 3.55 | 45 | 45 | 1.2 | 9.57 | 2.73 | 3.56 | |
| Bryan Shaw | 3.58 | 55 | 55 | 1.28 | 9.16 | 3.22 | 3.62 | |
| Francisco Liriano | 3.63 | 10 | 10 | 1.3 | 10.14 | 3.8 | 3.71 | |
| Tommy Hunter | 3.7 | 30 | 30 | 1.23 | 8.97 | 2.67 | 3.7 | |
| Luke Gregerson | 3.71 | 10 | 10 | 1.26 | 8.91 | 2.95 | 3.67 | |
| Juan Nicasio | 3.75 | 55 | 55 | 1.26 | 9.71 | 3.25 | 3.79 | |
| Brandon Morrow* | 3.77 | 65 | 65 | 1.25 | 9.12 | 2.89 | 3.79 | |
| Greg Holland | 3.77 | 10 | 10 | 1.3 | 10.13 | 3.94 | 3.85 | |
| Jake McGee | 3.85 | 10 | 10 | 1.25 | 9.5 | 3.1 | 3.92 | |
| Bud Norris | 3.89 | 10 | 10 | 1.29 | 9.26 | 3.23 | 3.91 | |
| Matt Albers | 3.94 | 10 | 10 | 1.32 | 8.3 | 3.1 | 3.94 | |
| Zac Rosscup | 3.94 | 10 | 10 | 1.28 | 10.39 | 3.73 | 4.04 | |
| Trevor Cahill | 3.97 | 20 | 20 | 1.37 | 9 | 3.91 | 3.98 | |
| Jesse Chavez | 3.98 | 10 | 10 | 1.26 | 8.75 | 2.62 | 4.01 | |
| Fernando Rodney | 3.98 | 10 | 10 | 1.39 | 9.22 | 4.28 | 4.08 | |
| Zach Duke | 4 | 10 | 10 | 1.41 | 8.11 | 3.99 | 4.21 | |
| Pat Neshek | 4.01 | 10 | 10 | 1.2 | 8.92 | 2.31 | 4.02 | |
| Shae Simmons | 4.06 | 10 | 10 | 1.41 | 9.14 | 4.36 | 4.16 | |
| Brian Duensing | 4.07 | 10 | 10 | 1.35 | 8.14 | 3.3 | 4.21 | |
| Addison Reed | 4.08 | 40 | 40 | 1.25 | 8.89 | 2.64 | 4.02 | |
| Oliver Perez | 4.09 | 10 | 10 | 1.32 | 9.87 | 3.87 | 4.24 | |
| Peter Moylan | 4.11 | 25 | 25 | 1.41 | 7.5 | 3.57 | 4.22 | |
| Steve Cishek | 4.12 | 10 | 10 | 1.35 | 8.56 | 3.53 | 4.15 | |
| Koji Uehara | 4.13 | 10 | 10 | 1.21 | 9.42 | 2.63 | 4.21 | |
| Brandon Kintzler | 4.16 | 10 | 10 | 1.38 | 6.36 | 2.7 | 4.21 | |
| Tony Watson | 4.18 | 10 | 10 | 1.33 | 8.02 | 3.13 | 4.29 | |
| Jorge de la Rosa | 4.21 | 10 | 10 | 1.37 | 8.21 | 3.54 | 4.29 | |
| Fernando Abad | 4.26 | 10 | 10 | 1.37 | 8.38 | 3.62 | 4.42 | |
| Luke Hochevar | 4.27 | 10 | 10 | 1.31 | 9.37 | 3.39 | 4.26 | |
| Sergio Romo | 4.31 | 10 | 10 | 1.29 | 8.65 | 2.99 | 4.38 | |
| David Hernandez | 4.36 | 10 | 10 | 1.32 | 8.69 | 3.17 | 4.36 | |
| Jason Grilli | 4.36 | 10 | 10 | 1.33 | 9.74 | 3.85 | 4.44 | |
| Seung Hwan Oh | 4.4 | 15 | 15 | 1.28 | 8.77 | 2.76 | 4.42 | |
| Lucas Harrell | 4.42 | 10 | 10 | 1.46 | 7.7 | 4.09 | 4.5 | |
| Joaquin Benoit | 4.44 | 10 | 10 | 1.38 | 8.71 | 3.86 | 4.53 | |
| Fernando Salas | 4.45 | 10 | 10 | 1.35 | 8.08 | 3.13 | 4.5 | |
| Drew Smyly | 4.45 | 2 | 9 | 1.29 | 8.5 | 2.86 | 4.54 | |
| Tyler Clippard | 4.56 | 10 | 10 | 1.36 | 9.2 | 4.03 | 4.71 | |
| Kevin Jepsen | 4.6 | 10 | 10 | 1.42 | 8.12 | 3.88 | 4.67 | |
| Mike Pelfrey | 4.64 | 10 | 10 | 1.43 | 6.28 | 3.08 | 4.6 | |
| Blaine Boyer | 4.69 | 10 | 10 | 1.44 | 6.58 | 3.25 | 4.7 | |
| Alfredo Simon | 4.7 | 10 | 10 | 1.41 | 6.93 | 3.05 | 4.72 | |
| Joe Blanton | 4.72 | 10 | 10 | 1.37 | 7.92 | 3.07 | 4.72 | |
| Andrew Bailey | 4.77 | 10 | 10 | 1.4 | 7.91 | 3.57 | 4.83 | |
| Mark Lowe | 4.78 | 10 | 10 | 1.44 | 7.81 | 3.84 | 4.89 | |
| David Holmberg | 4.88 | 10 | 10 | 1.46 | 6.22 | 3.29 | 5.05 | |
| Jim Henderson | 4.99 | 10 | 10 | 1.44 | 8.64 | 4.18 | 5.02 | |
| Huston Street | 5.12 | 10 | 10 | 1.46 | 7.39 | 3.7 | 5.16 | |
| Colby Lewis | 5.33 | 8 | 47 | 1.41 | 6.25 | 2.46 | 5.24 |
Davis obviously is the top dog on the list, but not too far off from other intriguing arms. I would love the Cubs to bring in Juan Nicasio, who projects to be similar in value to Morrow. Even Francisco Liriano is interesting if he’s willing to accept a relief role, as I can see the journeyman lefty turning into an appealing multi-inning relief hybrid. Regardless, the Cubs have lots and lots of options from which to choose when supplementing their bullpen.