The Roy Hobbs League

And we're back for round 2 of the Hobbs season 20 FA analysis.

We lead off with the Hurricane signing the best RP available.  It is hard to put a price on a pitcher like Domingo Hernandez who can throw so many innings so well, but Rattlers just did it: 5 years, $49M.  I dropped out at $40M, but I kind of wish I pushed harder.  (I'll get you for this Snake.)

Moving on to news that doesn't piss me off quite as much, Syracuse added a couple of useful relievers as well.  Angel Rijo has been plagued with inconsistency thus far in his career, but has the stuff to be a solid closer and was a steal at $2.2M.  Chico Julio is not quite as good a pitcher, but may be an even better value as a minimum wage signing.

Nashville also snagged a solid RP for a song in Damian Baines who is still solid at 38.  That second option year may not be worth picking up, but you never know.  Desi Gonzalez is a quality glove man who can pick up a few hits against righties, and has platoon written all over him.

The Jayhawks added Jose Torres to set up Candelaria.  Two years at $7.6 looked pretty good until I saw some of these other deals.  Torres has the stuff though to be worth it.

Rochester reacquired Neifi Alfonzo for a year at $3.1M.  Pricey, but he has hit fairly well the last two years in a reserve role, and has a very nice eye at the plate.

Tomfool has added three more new faces in NY.  Bert Conigliaro is yet another good RP for just over $3M.  Mikey Zeile is going to be given a shot at competing for the rotation.  He'll need win that job and show some improvement to be worth that 3 yr/$10M deal.  Nipsey Ford, on the other hand looks like good value as a SP for 2 years at $3.7M per.

The run on RPs continues (Did anyone resign a member of their bullpen this year?) in Houston with Brett McNichol signing for 2 years and $8.8M.  He picked up a lot of saves in Durham the last few years, but has been pounded pretty hard the last three.  Getting out of Durham will have to help but you have to think that his struggles with lefties may continue in Houston.

Crickett picked up a pair of old geezers for the Tampa Bay rotation.  Robb Mahomes has to be pleased to get out of the doghouse in Helena.  He still has good stuff and is a nice pickup for $4M.  Bert Maas has to be careful with left handers, but he can still get the job done and should also be worth his $5M contract.

Buffalo added Herm Crudale to its pen for a measly million bucks.  He is challenged to go for many innings, but still has good stuff at 36.

San Diego is gambling that 6 year minor league FA Charles Fisher can have success at the big league level.  He struggled at AAA last year though, and looks like a risk for $7.2 over two years.

To sum up, this was the day of the bargain bullpen arms.  Other than Hernandez, we are still waiting to see how some of the bidding wars will shake out.