The late-night/early-morning spot asks you about free agent left-hander Tanner Scott
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BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Last night, I asked you about a proposed deal that would send Nico Hoerner to the Yankees for left-hander Nestor Cortes. You weren’t too keen on that, as 72 percent of you gave it a big “no.”
On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I don’t normally do a movie essay. But I did announce our BCB Winter Hitchcock Classic yesterday, so check that out if you want to participate. And we hope you do. But I always have time for jazz, so those of you who skip that can do so now. You won’t hurt my feelings.
Tonight we’re featuring a music video of jazz/soul fusion by Robert Glasper and featuring Jill Scott on vocals. This is “Calls” from the 2013 album Black Radio 2.
Welcome back to those who skip the jazz.
It’s no secret that the Cubs bullpen was a problem last year. It actually wasn’t bad by the end of the season, but they were pretty much knocked out of playoff contention by a terrible May and June and the bullpen was one of the main culprits.
By the end of the season, Porter Hodge had established himself as the closer after Adbert Alzolay (now designated for assignment. sniff. I’m not crying, you are.) went down with what eventually became Tommy John surgery. Héctor Neris got pushed into the closer’s role and he just didn’t rise to the occasion. Hodge was good, but he’s also a rookie with only 43 innings to his name. We don’t know if the league will catch on to him the second time around. In any case, it doesn’t hurt to have two guys on a team that can close.
The best closer on the free agent market is the Padres’ Tanner Scott. He wasn’t actually the primary closer for the Padres after arriving in San Diego at the Trade Deadline from the Marlins, but he was the primary closer for the Fish. He saved 20 games out of 22 opportunities last year and posted a miniscule ERA of 1.75 between the two teams.
Other than being left-handed, Scott is a pretty standard modern-day closer with a fastball/slider combination. He’s got a “rising” (yeah, I know. It doesn’t actually rise) fastball that averages 97 mph and a wipeout slider.
Tanner Scott, Wipeout Sliders. pic.twitter.com/kji1OZ8Y5Q
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 19, 2023
Scott struck out 84 batters in 72 innings and allowed just 45 hits or a .179 batting average against. The one issue that Scott has had throughout his career and the one thing that keeps him from being truly elite is his control. He walked 36 hitters last season, which is 4.5 per nine innings. While Scott showed some good control in 2023, in 2021 and 2022, he walked more than six batters per nine innings in both seasons. So you can look at this as he’s improved his control from his wild younger days or you can say that some regression is coming.
Scott is also coming into his age 30 season, so he’s not particularly old or particularly young. His splits between lefties and right-handed hitters are pretty normal, although in this case, he was merely dominating against right-handers in 2024 and left-handed hitters just had no chance against him.
Scott also has a lot of experience as a setup man both in Miami and San Diego, so he could do that if the Cubs wanted him to. But with the money they’d be paying him to get him to come to Chicago, there’s no doubt they’d want him to close.
And that’s where the issue arrives. Scott is going to command a big contract on the free agent market. All 30 teams could use a quality left-handed reliever like Scott, whether they want him to close or be a set-up man. So he won’t come cheap.
In Fangraph’s free agent rankings, Ben Clemens estimates that Scott will get a contract around four years and $60 million. I have two reactions to that. The first is “Yikes. That seems like a lot of a reliever.” Relievers tend to be volatile and only the best have more than two or three years as elite closers. My second reaction is “Yeah, there’s no doubt the best reliever on the market is going to get a contract like that.” Someone is going to pony up for a fourth year.
So if the price is a 4-year, $60 million deal, should the Cubs sign Tanner Scott? Or would that kind of money be better spend on a bat or a starting pitcher?
Thank you for stopping by this evening. We hope we made you night a little more pleasant. Please get home safely. Let us know if you need us to call a ride. If you checked anything, let us get that for you. Stay warm. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow night for more BCB After Dark.