Interest In Kyle Finnegan Picking Up

As late-inning relievers finally begin to come off the board, interest in former Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan has picked up “significantly,” Robert Murray of FanSided reports. The market for relievers in general has accelerated in recent days. Tanner Scott, Paul Sewald, A.J. Minter and Jose Leclerc have all hammered out agreements in the past week. Kirby Yates has reportedly reached a “tentative” agreement with the Dodgers, too.

Finnegan, 33, was non-tendered by the Nationals back in November. While his end-of-year numbers look sharp — 38 saves, 3.68 ERA — Finnegan had a brutal finish to the year and was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for an $8.6MM salary in what would’ve been his final year of club control before free agency. That was more than the Nationals were willing to pay at the time. Presumably, other clubs also balked at the price. Teams generally shop players around the trade market before cutting them loose via non-tender, and the Nats surely did that due diligence with a player as prominent as Finnegan has been for them.

As deep into the season as July 21, Finnegan boasted a 2.32 earned run average with a 26% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate. He was thriving in high-leverage spots, missing bats and limiting walks while piling up saves in Davey Martinez’s bullpen. It was a strong enough showing for Finnegan to deservingly make the first All-Star team of his career.

The subsequent 21 appearances, however, were a disaster. Finnegan surrendered runs in nine of those outings, yielding an ugly 6.43 ERA along the way. He was hampered by a .411 average on balls in play, but his struggles were attributable to far more than just a simple downturn in batted-ball luck; Finnegan’s strikeout rate plummeted to 15.7% over that stretch, while his walk rate inflated to 9.8%. He logged an 11.8% swinging-strike rate through July 21 but only a 9.1% clip from that point forth. His opponents’ contact rate jumped from 77.6% to 81.9%. In particular, their rate of contact on pitches off the plate soared. Finnegan’s velocity held strong, averaging 97.2 mph in both samples, but his command was clearly not as sharp in the season’s final two-plus months.

Finnegan was connected to the Cubs back in December. Chicago just finished runner-up to the Dodgers in bidding for the previously mentioned Scott and is still seeking bullpen upgrades. Others known to be poking around the relief market at the moment (but not necessarily targeting Finnegan, specifically) include the Reds, Yankees, D-backs, Mets and Braves — to name just a few. Most clubs this time of year feel there’s still room to add to their bullpen, though not every team has the remaining financial flexibility to do so on a reliever of some note, like Finnegan.

A one-year deal a bit shy of Finnegan’s projected arb salary feels feasible. It’s also at least plausible that he could ink a two-year pact at a lesser annual value, allowing him to surpass the total of his projected arbitration salary. Non-tendered players rarely strike multi-year deals, but it’s happened before, and Finnegan was a higher-profile cut than most.