• Right-handed reliever Casey Janssen has signed with Acereros del Norte of the Mexican League, the team announced. The 35-year-old Janssen pitched in the majors for most of 2006-16, a 533-inning stretch in which he logged a 3.63 ERA, 6.18 K/9 and 2.77 BB/9. Nearly all of Janssen’s pro career has been spent in Toronto, where he was particularly strong across 172 frames from 2011-13 (2.46 ERA, 8.9 K/9, 1.99 BB/9 and 56 saves). Janssen spent 2015 with the Nationals and some of last season in the Boston organization, which released him in August.
• One of Janssen’s ex-Blue Jays teammates, Josh Roenicke (another righty reliever), has also joined the Mexican League. Roenicke will compete for a spot with Pericos de Puebla, club president Jose Melendez announced (Twitter link). The 34-year-old last took a major league mound in 2013, when he threw 62 innings with the Twins. In 220 1/3 big league frames with four teams, Roenicke has combined for a 4.17 ERA, 6.86 K/9 and 4.76 BB/9. He spent the past three seasons at the Triple-A level with four other organizations.

Janssen has signed minor league contracts with Boston and San Diego in 2016 but has yet to appear in the majors this season.  He posted solid numbers at the Triple-A and low-A levels for the Sox, delivering a 2.87 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 3.00 K/BB rate over a combined 15 2/3 innings at both levels.

Best known as a longtime fixture in the Blue Jays bullpen, Janssen served as Toronto’s closer from 2012-14 before losing the job after struggling in the latter half of the 2014 season (due in part to an illness picked up during an All-Star break vacation).  He posted a 4.95 ERA over 40 IP out of the Nationals bullpen in 2015 as his fastball velocity and ground ball rate declined for the second straight season.

Janssen spent spring training with the Padres, but San Diego released him in late March when it became apparent he wouldn’t crack the roster. He had yet to sign with another organization since.

The 34-year-old pitched at the major league level most recently with the Nationals in 2015. He was unable to make up for a decline in fastball velocity that has worsened over the years. Despite minimizing baserunners (38 hits and eight walks in 40 frames), he was touched for five long balls and suffered from sequencing misfortune. The result was a 4.95 ERA.

Before that, Janssen had compiled an impressive eight-year run with the Blue Jays. Over 493 frames, he worked to a 3.52 ERA with 6.7 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9. At his best, though, from 2011 through 2013, Janssen struck out about one batter per inning with around two walks per nine while carrying a 2.46 ERA.

Janssen, 34, posted a 4.95 ERA, 6.1 K/9 and 3.38 K/BB rate over 40 innings out of Washington’s bullpen last season.  ERA indicators (4.08 FIP, 4.60 xFIP, 4.19 SIERA) were a bit more favorable as Janssen had a very low 62.5% strand rate, though his 29.4% grounder rate was far below his 45.8% career mark.  While Janssen has never been a power pitcher, his average fastball velocity dropped for the fourth consecutive year (down to 88.5 mph in 2015).  After averaging 8.7 K/9 with Toronto from 2010-13, Janssen has managed just 5.8 K/9 over the last two seasons.

9:36am: It appears possible the Padres have agreed to terms with veteran righty Casey Janssen, perhaps on a minor league deal. Janssen currently has a locker at the Padres’ Spring Training facility, MLB.com’s Corey Brock tweets. Janssen is an ACES client.

The 34-year-old Janssen spent 2015 in the Nationals bullpen, pitching 40 innings while posting a 4.95 ERA, 6.1 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9. The Nats declined their option on him after the season. Janssen, who collected 20-plus saves with the Blue Jays in each season from 2012 through 2014, has maintained his walk-limiting abilities in recent years but has suffered a steep decline in his strikeout rate, likely due in part to a dip in average fastball velocity from about 92 MPH in 2011 and 2012 to below 89 MPH last year. He’s also become a fly ball pitcher, with his ground ball rate dropping from 47.9% in 2013 to 29.4% last season and his home-run rate doubling during that time.

Those factors would appear to make Janssen quite vulnerable going forward, but given his solid control and his history as a closer, it’s not surprising he found a landing spot. After trading Craig Kimbrel to the Red Sox, the Padres currently have Fernando Rodney (who, like Janssen, is a veteran with a dicey recent history), penciled in at closer. It seems possible that they could turn to Janssen in the role if he makes the team and Rodney falters.

Janssen, who turned 34 in September, signed a one-year, $5MM contract with the Nationals last winter that contained the $7MM mutual option which was bought ought today. The former closer opened the season on the disabled list due to tendinitis in his throwing shoulder, which subsequently limited him to 40 innings of work this year. In those 40 frames, Janssen tallied just a 4.95 ERA with 6.1 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and a career-low 29.4 percent ground-ball rate. His fastball velocity, which registered between 91 and 92 mph at Janssen’s peak with the Jays, sat an average of just 88.5 mph this year.

Last season, Janssen struggled tremendously in the second half after coming down with a dreadful case of food poisoning that caused him to lose eight pounds in less than 12 hours. Matters weren’t helped by the fact that he spent two days on an IV to regain fluid in his body and then proceeded to pitch on five of the next eight days for Toronto. The hope was that an offseason of regular rest and workouts would get him back to the form he displayed from 2011-13 when he compiled a 2.46 ERA in 172 innings of work despite Toronto’s hitter-friendly home environs, but he instead was another piece to an underwhelming bullpen that served as one of a disappointing D.C. team’s greatest flaws.

As for McLouth, who turned 34 in late October, the 2015 season was a lost cause. He spent the year recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder and didn’t appear in a game. That’s obviously not the way that the Nationals or McLouth hoped to see his two-year, $10.75MM contract end — especially considering the fact that shoulder woes limited him to a .173/.280/.237 batting line in just 162 plate appearances for the 2014 club. Given the injuries to Denard Span this season, a healthy McLouth would’ve served as a valuable depth piece for since-dismissed manager Matt Williams, but McLouth will instead likely be looking at a minor league deal this offseason as he hopes to make a roster in Spring Training and restore some value with a healthy 2016 season.

Here are a few more notes from the NL East:

• The Mets have more important matters at hand, but offseason decision aren’t far away. One such call involves reliever Addison Reed, who Marc Carig of Newsday says could be tendered a contract through arbitration. The club initially expected only to keep him for the present season after adding him over the summer, with his salary ($4.9MM this year) representing an obstacle, but Reed has performed quite well since coming to New York.
• Another relatively recent Mets bullpen trade addition who could be retained is lefty Jerry Blevins, per Carig. Though he missed most of the season due to injury, the organization has “some interest” in a reunion, depending upon how he progresses in his rehab from his most recent forearm fracture.
• Mets manager Terry Collins has told friends he’ll most likely be hoping for a two-year contract this winter, Jon Heyman of CBSSports reports (in a notes column filled with other bits of information). There’s little doubt at this point that he’ll be asked back, and might have enough pull to demand a longer deal, but Collins seemingly does not intend to remain in the demanding role for too much longer.
• The Mets intend to use Michael Conforto as their everyday left fielder next year, says Heyman. That’s no surprise, given his productivity thus far, but it speaks to the difficulty of clearing the way for a reunion with Yoenis Cespedes. New York also has Curtis Granderson, Michael Cuddyer, and Juan Lagares under contract for next year (or beyond).
• While the Braves are expecting somewhat less turnover this winter than last, the front office is nevertheless working hard to get ready for the offseason, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes. “We feel we’re going to be significantly better going into 2016 than we were going into 2015,” said president of baseball operations John Hart. “We have a lot of work to do as we go through the winter. We don’t know how it’s all going to play out. When we go into our meetings, it’s not like we’re facing no dollars, no options and no flexibility. Also with some of the deals we’ll be making, we won’t be trying to move away from bad contracts. That in itself will put us more in the open field running.”
• Nationals reliever Casey Janssen says that he expects a turnaround in 2016, as James Wagner of the Washington Post reports. While Wagner says that it’s unlikely the club will pick up its end of a $7MM mutual option, Janssen says he believes “you can make a case either way” for how the team should proceed. He took his share of the blame for a rough year, but noted that he often faced heavy usage. Looking ahead, Janssen expressed optimism. “There’s no doubt in my mind I’m gonna have a great season next year,” he said. “You take out the three or four games that I didn’t pitch my best I had a solid year after that. Obviously you can’t take those away. Those are real. But, there’s no doubt in my mind that the passion is there and the ability is there. There’s going to be a ton of drive there for me this offseason to not let that happen again and get back to what I know and get back to be the pitcher that I know I can be.”

• The Nationals aren’t expected to pick up Casey Janssen’s $7MM club option, reports Bill Ladson of MLB.com in an analysis of the Washington roster. Janssen appeared in 48 games for Washington, throwing 40 innings of 4.95 ERA ball with 6.08 K/9 and 1.80 BB/9. The fly ball pitcher is best known for his command. He was the Blue Jays closer for parts of three seasons prior to joining the Nationals.
• Closer Jonathan Papelbon is “all but gone,” per Ladson. Papelbon was embroiled in the late-season scuffle with franchise star Bryce Harper. While it’s hard to get a read on the situation from the outside, it’s not surprising that the club could prefer to end the story for good. Ladson also views fellow closer Drew Storen as a change of scenery candidate. Storen pitched to a 6.75 ERA after Papelbon was acquired. If both relievers are traded (or cut in the case of Papelbon), the Nationals will need to acquire a new closer.
• Daniel Murphy’s days with the Mets are almost certainly over, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. However, it would be a mistake if the club didn’t extend a qualifying offer. Based on input from agents and executives, Sherman thinks Murphy will sign a three-year deal in the $30MM to $40MM range. Sherman also has a “strong sense” that the Mets won’t extend a qualifying offer. New York has developed a reputation for penny pinching despite playing in a huge market.  The biggest risk is that they pay Murphy $15.8MM for one season. Per Sherman, it’s a rate that a New York club should be able to easily afford, especially when the alternative is a still unproven youngster like Wilmer Flores or Dilson Herrera. Murphy was worth over $20MM this season according to FanGraphs.

A few notes on some the Blue Jays…

• Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi spoke with White Sox reliever Zach Duke about the Blue Jays’ interest in him this offseason. Duke, who signed on with the South Siders for three years and a total of $15MM, said the interest between him and Toronto was mutual. “I talked with [Blue Jays GM] Alex [Anthopoulos] quite a bit,” Duke told Davidi. “I talked to a few guys on the Blue Jays, too, and I was pretty interested. Toronto was definitely a huge consideration for me.” Davidi notes that the Jays also contemplated topping Chicago’s offer to David Robertson (four years, $46MM) but weren’t comfortable with how much they’d have to backload the deal to make it work.
• Davidi also caught up with former Blue Jays closer Casey Janssen, who is now with the Nationals after signing a one-year, $5MM contract this winter. As Davidi writes, failed extension talks during the 2014 season likely played a role in Janssen’s departure from the organization that he had spent the past 10 years with. Janssen said that he left talks up to his agent for the most part, but he never got the sense that the Blue Jays had serious interest.
• It’s been three years since Johan Santana tossed a 134-pitch no-hitter for the Mets — the first no-hitter in their franchise’s history. Santana, however, pitched in just three games following that milestone, as shoulder injuries and a ruptured Achilles tendon have kept him off the field. Now with the Blue Jays on a minor league deal, Santana tells Sports Illustrated’s Phil Taylor that he wouldn’t change anything about that night if he had the chance. “It’s easy to criticize things after they happened,” says Santana. “You don’t have a crystal ball to say what’s going to happen. I told [Mets manager] Terry [Collins] I felt fine, and I did. Even if an army had come to get me, I wouldn’t have come out of the game. I love this game too much.” Santana says he’s not certain if his comeback attempt with the Blue Jays will result in him returning to a Major League mound, but he’s hopeful of being able to do so in any capacity. “Starting, relieving, just to pitch again,” the two-time Cy Young winner tells Taylor. “Coming back is a challenge and I love challenges. Is it going to happen? I don’t know. But I’m taking my chances and I’m giving it everything I have.”

• Rehabbing Royals starter Kris Medlen is headed to extended Spring Training to begin throwing against live batters, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports. That leaves him on track for a rehab assignment in May. Kansas City has $8.5MM riding on the righty’s ability to return to form after his second Tommy John surgery.
• The Reds are missing two key cogs in backstop Devin Mesoraco and righty Homer Bailey. As Michael Hunt reports for MLB.com, manager Bryan Price says that Mesoraco — still not on the DL despite a 17-game absence from his usual catching duties — is still not ready “to try it out just yet,” adding that Mesoraco is “coming along slowly.” There are longer-term concerns with regard to Bailey, of course, and surgery is said to be on the table. “We’re probably going to know in the next one-to-two days what our plans are with Homer,” Price said. “You spend a lot of time when you make a diagnosis, fact-finding and making sure everything you see is as it appears. That’s been the time consumer, making sure it is what we think it is and finding the best way to treat it.”
• Marlins starter Jose Fernandez is working his way back from Tommy John surgery, of course, and recently faced hitters in a live BP session for the first time. You can check out the video of his outing, courtesy of FOX Sports Florida.
• After a pause in his rehab, Nationals infielder Anthony Rendon is preparing for another Double-A appearance in the coming days, MLB.com’s Bill Ladson reports. The issue has not been with his knee, which caused him to hit the DL to start the year, but with tightness in his side. That’s good news for the club, obviously, as is the fact that reliever Casey Janssen appeared in an extended spring game. He is set to begin his own run up through the minors in short order, per Ladson.
• Injured Tigers starter Justin Verlander is set for a third MRI on his right triceps area early next week, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports (Twitter links). Meanwhile, reliever Joe Nathan underwent his Tommy John procedure yesterday, Fenech tweets, with Nathan saying that it went well. It figures to be a long road back for the 40-year-old, but indications are that he’ll try to return to the big leagues.

Here’s more from the NL East…

• The Mets are confident that they can land a left-handed reliever before Opening Day, but even if they do bring in someone from the outside, Rule 5 lefty Sean Gilmartin has a good chance of making the club, per ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin. Gilmartin, 25 in May, was the Braves’ first-round pick in 2011 but was traded to the Twins for Ryan Doumit last offseason. Gilmartin posted a combined 3.71 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 145 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A for the Twins last season, but they made the at least somewhat curious decision to leave him unprotected in this year’s Rule 5 Draft. With the Mets this spring, Gilmartin has allowed five runs in 8 2/3 innings with an 11-to-5 K/BB ratio. Last year in the Minors, Gilmartin held lefties to a miserable .201/.219/.235 batting line.
• Marlins manager Mike Redmond tells Tom D’Angelo of the Palm Beach Post that he “lost a few nights of sleep” over the decision to cut Reed Johnson, who was released earlier this morning. Redmond spoke highly of Johnson’s influence on the team’s young hitters last season and voiced an opinion that while he expects Johnson to get picked up by another club, he also can see him transitioning to a coaching or even managerial role in the future. Redmond called the 38-year-old Johnson “a guy who has truly earned everything he’s been given in this game.” D’Angelo notes that Jordany Valdespin, Don Kelly, Donovan Solano and Reid Brignac are competing for the final two bench spots in Miami. The Marlins are prioritizing taking someone who can play shortstop for one of the two spots.
• Tom Schad of the Washington Times spoke to Nationals right-hander Casey Janssen and was told that the setup man isn’t sure if he’ll be ready for Opening Day. Janssen underwent an MRI on his right shoulder yesterday and while the results haven’t been released yet, Janssen said he doesn’t believe the test indicated a significant injury.

His lack of defensive versatility makes him difficult to roster. The club intends to use Yunel Escobar  at second base with Danny Espinosa as a utility infielder. Uggla has an opt out, so he’s unlikely to remain with the organization if he’s assigned to the minors. Per Uggla, he wouldn’t feel comfortable in a reserve role. Once Anthony Rendon returns from injury, it’s hard to imagine the Nationals finding a place to keep Uggla.

• Reliever Casey Janssen will undergo a MRI on his sore pitching shoulder, reports James Wagner of the Washington Post. Manager Matt Williams described the injury as “generally it’s in his lat…it’s not something that’s normal soreness for him.” That’s worrisome because he missed time with a lat injury late last season. He’s also dealt with other shoulder injuries in the past. Janssen signed a one-year, $3.5MM over the winter and is expected to serve as the eighth inning reliever for the Nationals.
• GM Mike Rizzo won’t be tinkering with the roster much in the coming days. When asked if he could add players before the opener, he told reporters, including Mark Zuckerman of Nats Insider (on Twitter), “We’re satisfied.  We like the team we have.” The injury bug has bitten multiple Nats player, including Denard Span and Rendon.
• The Nationals may allow star pitchers Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg to walk via free agency, writes Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post. The reason has nothing to do with their performance. Both pitchers received Tommy John surgery in the past. Per Boswell, the “life expectancy” for the reconstructed elbow is eight years. Jeff Zimmerman of FanGraphs estimates that risk of re-injury increases sharply after just 400 to 600 innings. In either event, the injury history may partially explain the club’s willingness to add Max Scherzer over the offseason.

The 33-year-old Janssen was one of the best remaining options on the relief market and has spent the bulk of the past three seasons serving as Toronto’s closer. His stats took a tumble in 2014, though some of that decline may have been attributable to a violent case of food poisoning. Janssen reportedly lost eight pounds in a single day as a result of that episode, and he likely rushed back to the mound too soon; Janssen spent two days on an IV to rehydrate his body and the next day began a stretch of five appearances in eight days.

Overall, he posted a 6.26 ERA in the second half that caused his overall mark on the season to balloon to 3.94. Janssen showed his typically excellent command in 2014, walking just 1.4 hitters per nine innings, but his strikeout rate curiously dipped, even during his healthy first half. Janssen averaged just 5.5 K/9 in 2014 — a decline of three strikeouts per nine when compared to his previous four seasons of work.

A rocky 2014 notwithstanding, Janssen’s work dating back to the 2011 season is nothing short of outstanding when judged as a whole. In that time, he’s worked to a 2.77 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 1.9 BB/9 and a 43 percent ground-ball rate. He saved 83 games for Toronto in that stretch and should give Nationals manager Matt Williams an experienced safety net for closer Drew Storen. However, Storen posted a sensational 1.12 ERA in 2014 and took over the ninth inning late in the season after Rafael Soriano struggled. His ERA and the fact that he closed out the year with a stretch of 20 innings without allowing an earned run likely still makes Storen the favorite for saves in 2015.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the deal (on Twitter). The Washington Post’s Barry Svrluga broke down the financial terms (Twitter links). Rosenthal later tweeted the details about Janssen’s incentives.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Each of the three free agents come with performance concerns. Rodriguez, 33, was the best of the group with 44 saves. However, he’s allowed an above average rate of home runs in his last three seasons – all spent at homer friendly Miller Park. He’s a better fit for a pitcher friendly park, which may be why the Brewers have yet to re-engage his services.

Both Soriano and Janssen lost ninth inning privileges last season. Soriano, 35, actually had a solid season based on his peripherals, but a few costly, late season blow-ups led to Drew Storen taking over as closer. As a command and control pitcher, Janssen has always been an atypical closer.

The trio is unlikely to do much better than the two-year, $15MM deal Sergio Romo signed with the Giants. In some ways, Romo was better last year than any of the remaining free agents, and he’s younger too. Like Soriano and Janssen, Romo lost the closer role mid-season.

With Tyler Clippard moving to Oakland (presumably, GM Billy Beane won’t re-trade him before the season), the most obvious trade candidate is Philadelphia’s Jonathan Papelbon. His contract is an additional impediment to a trade – he’s owed $13MM this season with a $13MM vesting option (48 games finished). While Morosi didn’t mention it, some clubs have reportedly expressed concern about Papelbon’s clubhouse presence. He missed the end of last season after an unusual crotch grabbing incident.

Rodriguez’s relative youth may surprise some; he’ll turn 33 in January. It may feel like he should be in his upper 30s, but that comes with the territory when you cut your teeth as a 20-year-old in the midst of a World Series run. K-Rod’s ERA has been 3.04 or lower in four of the past five seasons (a 4.38 in 2012 being the lone exception), and it has, in fact, been 3.04 or better in all but two of his 13 big league seasons. fWAR was down on K-Rod quite a bit this season, as his FIP of 4.50 was rather pedestrian. However, that number doesn’t account for his eye-popping 23.3 percent homer-to-flyball ratio. Rodriguez’s career mark in that field is 9.9 percent, and even if he’s more homer-prone now (and the past three seasons suggest he might be), it can be reasonably expected for his HR/FB to drop by as much as 10 percentage points. xFIP normalizes HR/FB when projecting a 2.91 ERA for Rodriguez, and even if the true talent level is something a bit higher, Rodriguez would have value. He’s the youngest of the three relievers in question and also had the best ground-ball rate (43.9 percent) in 2014.

Soriano is the elder statesman of this group at the age of 35. He, too, has just one ERA blemish under his belt over the past five seasons — a 4.12 mark in an injury-shortened season with the 2011 Yankees. Over the past three seasons he has a 2.84 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9. Soriano throws the hardest of this bunch (91.5 mph average fastball in 2014) and was having far and away the best season of the group as of mid-August. Soriano’s ERA was under 2.00 entering play on Aug. 15, but he limped to the finish line, allowing 12 runs in 14 2/3 innings over his final 16 games. While that offers cause for concern, some clubs may just write it off as poor luck (he did have a .367 BABIP in that stretch).

Janssen, who turned 33 in September, was in the midst of a characteristically strong season when he caught a violent case of food poisoning. He reportedly lost eight pounds within a day’s time and was never fully recovered, which was a contributing factor to his 6.46 second-half ERA. Even when Janssen was healthy, his K/9 rate was down this season, however, and he does throw the slowest of this trio. However, Janssen has also shown the best command of this group in recent seasons, and he’s missed plenty of bats in previous years. Plus, his recent trials have come in the AL East, whereas Soriano and Rodriguez have both worked in the National League in recent years.

All three of these relievers could help a bullpen, but it doesn’t seem that all three will end up with a closer’s job. Clearly, this post is just a mere glimpse into each reliever’s profile, so feel free to do a bit more of your own research before answering…