Cleveland Indians Rumors: Tribe linked to Peter Moylan

On Monday night, Buster Olney tweeted that the Cleveland Indians are discussing pursuing signing right-handed relief pitcher Peter Moylan.

The Indians obviously need to fill some holes in the bullpen after multiple departures this offseason, and Peter Moylan might be a nice fit.  The biggest concern with Moylan is his age, as he is already 39 years old.  Moylan made $1 million in 2017, which is a fair price if the Indians are willing to pay something similar to that in 2018.

Could Moylan improve the bullpen?

Peter Moylan’s best years came from 2007-2010 when he was with the Atlanta Braves, but he can still be a serviceable reliever in 2018.  In 2017, Moylan tossed 59.1 innings for the Kansas City Royals posting a 3.49 ERA with a 4.00 FIP.  This was good for 0.3 fWAR this past season.

In comparison, Bryan Shaw threw 66.2 innings holding a 3.24 ERA and a 3.94 FIP in 2016, good for 0.4 WAR.  Those are very similar numbers, and Shaw just signed a three-year deal good for $27 million.  If the Tribe could sign Moylan to a one-year deal in the ballpark of $1 million, it would be a great value.

Moylan’s Steamer projection per FanGraphs for 2018 has him throwing 65.0 innings with a solid 9.08 K/9, an ERA of 3.92, a FIP of 3.79, and a fWAR of 0.8.  For the price you’re going to get Moylan at, it will be hard to beat these kinds of numbers.

What Role Would Moylan Play?

With the Tribe, I would guess that Moylan would pitch in a typical middle relief type of role.  The back end of the bullpen is pretty much set up with Cody Allen and Andrew Miller handling most of the higher leverage situations, along with the up and coming Nick Goody.  Moylan’s role would presumably be similar to that of Zach McAllister and Dan Otero.

Next: No more Bryan Shaw hate

There are certainly holes to plug in the Cleveland Indians bullpen, and Peter Moylan may just be the answer the Indians are looking for.