Did Richard Bleier do enough for the Baltimore Orioles to tender a contract?
2019 salary- $572,500 MLBTR projected salary- $1.1 million
Bleier is a left-hander with a track record of success in the major leagues and isn’t too far removed from major shoulder surgery, so there’s an argument to keep him around in 2020. However, he will be 33 years old next season, he doesn’t strike people out, and he’s coming off a disappointing season.
Bleier owned a 3.4% walk rate, a home run rate under 1/9 IP, and produced a groundball 60% of the time, but the soft-tossing lefty allowed opponents to hit .291 against him. Averaging less than five strikeouts per nine innings means a lot of balls in play with an average (at best) defense behind him.
The late-season success of lefty Tanner Scott and a higher possibility of Paul Fry turning things around could give the Orioles enough confidence to let Bleier go. The $1 million or so in savings could be used to bring in multiple low-cost flyers, if needed.