Welcome to the Blue, Blake Treinen!

As they say, "we are now on the board."

After watching several topflight free agents get signed, it's nice to finally have a deal under our belt. Sure... It ain't the signing we were hoping for, but beggars can't be choosers. The Dodgers are at least doing something. And that something is a new reliever to put in the bullpen. According to Jeff Passan on twitter, the Dodgers have signed right-handed relief pitcher Blake Treinen:

Right-hander Blake Treinen is in agreement with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a one-year, $10 million deal, sources tell ESPN. Treinen had multiple offers in that range and chose the Dodgers.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 11, 2019

The best part is that it's only a one-year deal.

As you may know, Blake is one year removed from a fantastic All-Star season. In 2018 he went 9-2 in 68 appearances, with 38 saves and 100 strikeouts. Treinen also placed sixth in Cy Young and 15th in MVP voting that season. Unfortunately, he would regress, losing his closing spot on the A's the following season -- after having experienced soreness in his right shoulder in June then a stress reaction in his back in September. There's no word on whether he's a future potential surgery risk, but given that recent history you've got to be a little worried. Nevertheless, he's a nice arm that has some recent history of greatness, so I'll take it.

Here are some articles about Blake Treinen and this recent signing I thought worth checking out:

• Per Connor Byrne at MLB Trade Rumors -- "Dodgers To Sign Blake Treinen"

Oakland couldn’t have expected Treinen to be that effective again in 2019, but it surely didn’t think his numbers would fall off a cliff. That’s exactly what happened, though. The 31-year-old put up a 4.91 ERA/5.14 FIP with 9.05 K/9, 5.68 BB/9 and a 42.8 percent grounder rate during an injury-limited, 58 2/3-inning showing. He also blew five saves on 23 attempts, which led the A’s to strip him of the closer role and hand it to Liam Hendriks. Furthmore, Treinen saw his swinging-strike rate fall by almost 6 percent and his home run-to-fly ball rate climb by 12 percent.

• Per Brooks Baseball:

His sinker generates an extremely high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers' sinkers, is thrown at a speed that's borderline unfair, has an obvious tail and has some natural sinking action. His fourseam fastball is blazing fast, generates more whiffs/swing compared to other pitchers' fourseamers, has some natural sinking action, results in somewhat more flyballs compared to other pitchers' fourseamers and has slight armside run. His cutter is thrown at a speed that's borderline unfair and has some natural sink. His slider is thrown extremely hard, has exceptional depth and results in more flyballs compared to other pitchers' sliders. His change (take this with a grain of salt because he's only thrown 1 of them in 2019) is thrown extremely hard, is basically never swung at and missed compared to other pitchers' changeups, results in more flyballs compared to other pitchers' changeups and has some natural sink to it.

• Here's an interview with Blake, dated October 2, 2018, via Bill Ladson at MLB.com:

When I went to Oakland, I think the cerebral approach [helped me]. I was trying some things that haven't been part of my focus in my career. This guy named Michael Fisher, who is in the Oakland area, had scouting reports on what to throw and where to throw the ball for a higher success rate. It has been huge for me. It's not buying into the elementary thought of just throw your best pitch all the time. You have to earn certain pitches. You have to dictate the count and when to throw things. You have to force your hand and not let the hitter be comfortable. It has been a huge help learning how to throw a cutter and learning how to locate a four-seamer off my sinker.

In celebration of Blake's recent signing I made two fantasy custom Baseball cards of him. Check both of those out at the very top of this post.

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