On Tuesday, the Cincinnati Reds signed longtime Washington Nationals closer/set-up man Drew Storen to a one-year/$3 million contract. The pact includes a number of incentives that could potentially add another million or so ($50,000 for 15, 20, and 25 appearances; $100,000 for 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 games finished; $500,000 assignment bonus if traded). It represents the first major league signing the team has made this off-season.
A first-round draft pick back in 2009 (number 10 overall), Storen never really locked down the closer role for any meaningful amount of time. Though he did have a breakout season in 2011 (6-3, 43 SV, 2.75 ERA), he would lose the ninth-inning role, first to Tyler Clippard then to Rafael Soriano (he also briefly shared the pen with Jonathan Papelbon).
Despite the fact that he didn’t rack up monster save totals, Storen provided a strong and stable presence in the Washington ‘pen for six seasons. Unfortunately, almost one year ago (Jan. 8, 2016), his career took a turn for the worse. He was traded (with cash) to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Ben Revere (and a PTBNL).
In his first taste of the American League, the Stanford-product struggled mightily. In 38 games with Toronto (33 1/3 IP), his earned run average ballooned to 6.21 (vs. a career mark of 3.02 with the Nationals), and he became more homer-prone than ever before.
In late August, Toronto designated him for assignment before trading him to the Seattle Mariners (in exchange for Joaquin Benoit, another struggling reliever with a strong track record). He rebounded with Seattle. In 19 games (18 1/3 innings), Storen pitched to a 3.44 earned run average (equaling his season mark from 2015) while limiting home runs (just one allowed), and flashing excellent command (1.5 BB/9).
Though his time with Seattle was certainly brief, it did give some reason to believe his time with Toronto was just a fluke.
With Cincinnati, Storen has an excellent chance to reassume ninth-inning duties. While it’s possible that he will begin the season in a set-up role behind Rasiel Iglesias, it’s hard to picture him not getting his chance as the closer.
As some have noted, by allowing Storen to close, the Reds would not only limit save opportunities for Iglesias and Michael Lorenzen (thus stifling their arbitration earnings) but also boost his trade value if they decided to flip him to a contender midseason.
Regardless of which inning he ends up pitching, Storen offers the Reds some considerable upside on an affordable contract. There may not be too many more moves left for Cincinnati. However, their first one was a winner.
Scott Ferris covers all things baseball as a Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter @ScottHFerris
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