Teams showing interest in free agent right-hander Brad Keller According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, he is both a starter and a reliever. It’s unclear which teams are involved, but Sherman wrote that the Yankees haven’t emerged as serious suitors yet.
Keller is having a breakout year in the Cubs bullpen. The 30-year-old right-hander threw 69 2/3 innings of ball with a 2.07 ERA. By season’s end, he became Craig Counsell’s most trusted leverage man. Keller finished the year with 25 shutouts and three saves while only giving up three leads. He came out strong in the second half, allowing one run in 27 2/3 pitches while striking out 35 batters. In the postseason, he added two saves and a walk while pitching 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball.
While underlying metrics aren’t all that dominant, Keller posted solid peripherals across the board. He struck out 27.2% of his opponents and walked 8% of his opponents. Keller’s ground ball percentage was 56.5%, which ranked 10th among relievers with 50 or more innings. The only area of concern is the swing shooting percentage of 10.8%, which is slightly below the league average of 11.5%.
Keller’s performance will obviously make a lot of teams interested in him as a reliever. As we noted in our Top 50 Free Agents article, it makes sense for some clubs to consider him a rotation-conversion candidate. Keller has extensive experience starting up. He was a starter for most of six seasons as a Royals member. The 6-foot-5 right-hander had some success early in his career as a ground ball specialist in KC’s rotation at backfield.
His numbers dropped significantly from 2021-23 and he underwent surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome before the ’24 season. Keller didn’t have much success that year in limited MLB games with the White Sox and Red Sox. He was forced to sign a minor league contract with the Cubs last winter. Keller looked rejuvenated in a backup role, earned a roster spot in training camp and quickly worked his way into the upper echelon of the bullpen.
While thoracic outlet surgery may unsettle some clubs, there is reason to be optimistic if he does return to the starting lineup. He continues to use a five-pitch mix out of the bullpen. He has had no issues handling left-handed hitters this year, holding them to a .223/.293/.277 batting average with a 26 percent strikeout rate in 123 games. Keller doesn’t have raw command, but shows good enough control to get into the middle innings as a starter. While he obviously won’t be able to maintain last season’s 97.2 mph average fastball velocity for longer, it’s not unreasonable to imagine him going 94-95 over five-plus innings.
MLBTR projects Keller will receive a three-year, $36MM contract. This increases the likelihood that he’ll sign somewhere as a starter. This move has become commonplace in recent seasons. Garrett Crochet, Seth Lugo, Michael King, Clay Holmes, Reynaldo Lopez and Jordan Hicks are some of the pitchers who are returning to the starting lineup after years of relief pitching.
Warriors reportedly ready to offer Jeff Hoffman Same opportunity, until a reported physical caused them to abandon the 45-48MM deal altogether. Luke Weaver September said he would be willing to accept an offer to be a starter. It’s not without risks – Hicks & Ajay Pook is one of those pitchers who simply can’t be cut due to command or injury issues, but even with a result like Lopez or Holmes converting, the ROI would be between $12-$14MM per year for a three-year deal.
