The Toronto Blue Jays have made some big moves this offseason to try and contend with the big boys in the loaded American League East division, but the re-tooling is not complete. Toronto has many question marks regarding their pitching, and are currently focusing on the bullpen.
As of now, the likely candidate to be the Blue Jays closer in 2015 is left-hander Brett Cecil, a former starter who has been reborn as an effective reliever in the past two seasons. In 2014 Cecil appeared in 66 games; over 53.1 innings he posted a 2.70 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and struck out 76 batters.
Despite being pegged as a lefty specialist, Cecil actually logged more innings against right-handed hitters, and was more effective against them. Right-handers batted just .210 vs. Cecil, with a wOBA of .255; against left-handed hitters Cecil posted a .244 average and allowed a wOBA of .317.
Cecil is not much of a power pitcher, however, which is likely the reason for Toronto to investigate other options at closer aside from him. According to CBS' Jon Heyman, if they can't find a trade partner Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez is in their sights.
k-rod is on jays radar, though toronto trying to trade for a closer first
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 29, 2014
Rodriguez had a stellar campaign for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2014, going 5-5 with a 3.04 ERA and 44 saves. He also made his fifth All-Star Game appearance, and first since 2009.
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