Cockcroft: Benitez traded, Hennessey to close
Ah, the trade that simply makes itself: On one hand, you've got a team fed up with its high-salaried, rapidly aging pitcher, eager to unload him no matter the return. On the other, you've got a team that had been chasing said pitcher for oh, say, six months.
Such is the story of Armando Benitez's trade to the Marlins, back to the team for whom he had his best season in 2004, a 47-save, 1.29-ERA masterpiece.
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The problem, though, is that this might have been far more appealing a trade for fantasy had this taken place back in, say, December. Flash forward to today and while two teams instantly changed how they approach closing games, there might have actually been more questions created than answered.
Here's one: If the winter reports were accurate, why didn't the Giants take Yusmeiro Petit, an interesting albeit inconsistent prospect, when they had the chance in December? Instead, they stood pat, endured two months of a 4.67 ERA and 1.50 WHIP from Benitez and then peddled him off to the Marlins for a bullpen-filler type of arm in Randy Messenger.
That doesn't speak too well to what Benitez can provide looking forward. The Marlins wound up dealing Petit to seemingly fill their closer void in the Jorge Julio trade in March, which says a lot that they ended up paying a lesser price for Benitez. Julio, after all, had a horrendous 12.54 ERA and 3.11 WHIP in 10 appearances before the Marlins got so fed up with him they spun him off to the Rockies. If taking a chance on Benitez cost less than that disaster of a gamble taken, what can he really offer fantasy owners?
I'd argue that the Marlins would have been at least as well off sticking with Kevin Gregg as their closer, and they'd be even better off with a healthy Henry Owens back in there. Still, Benitez has the name appeal, and the salary, so he'll get in the mix, no matter what Fredi Gonzalez says about Gregg having earned the right to keep the role right now. You don't trade for a guy with Benitez' salary and resume simply to be a set-up man. The Marlins already have plenty of those. What they need -- what they were trading for -- is a closer.
Moving from AT&T Park to Dolphin Stadium won't greatly impact Benitez's home numbers, but there's little reason to think Benitez the Marlin will be any more effective than Benitez the Giant. In short, a 4.00 ERA and perhaps 15 saves if he stays healthy, but in all likelihood, a disabled-list stint could be in his future taking into account the shape of his knees.
On an aside, that DL possibility is precisely why NL-only owners should keep Owens, and perhaps Gregg as well, on reserve as handcuffs.
Another question: Who closes for the Giants? Or, more accurately, who closes down the road? There's little doubt Brad Hennessey is the short-term answer, as the team's most effective reliever to date, with a 2.82 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, and the guy who has picked up both the Giants' saves on days in which Benitez was unavailable. He's worth an immediate pickup in NL-only or larger mixed formats. Hey, saves are saves.
The problem, though, is that Hennessey hardly seems a perfect long-term fit to the "intimidating, overpowering closer" description. The guy has averaged just shy of five strikeouts per nine innings for his career (4.76), and he's more reliant on changing speeds and keeping the ball down than blowing hitters away. Hennessey could be a serviceable stand-in, perhaps the rest of the year, but Joe Borowski-like numbers are likely his ceiling.
Who else could fit? Brian Wilson, a popular preseason sleeper, isn't an immediate answer. He had some arm soreness and is currently recovering from an emergency appendectomy. Kevin Correia and Vinnie Chulk don't fit the "closer" prototype any better than Hennessey, really, though each could warrant deep NL-only consideration, in that order. Your deep sleepers, to track at Triple-A Fresno: Jonathan Sanchez, who could be molded to take over by next year; or Patrick Misch, who has adapted nicely to a shift to the bullpen this year.
Tristan H. Cockcroft covers fantasy sports for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.
