Oakland Athletics to Sign Yusmeiro Petit: Fantasy Fallout

The Athletics agreed to a deal with relief pitcher Yusmeiro Petit on Wednesday. What impact does his signing have for himself and his new teammates?

We went days without any news on the MLB Hot Stove. The last deal was Doug Fister going to the Texas Rangers. Before that was the Mariners trading for Ryon Healy. We finally get some news, albeit not featuring a major name. The Oakland Athletics are likely to sign reliever Yusmeiro Petit to a two-year deal.

Petit spent most of his career in the National League before signing with the Los Angeles Angels in 2017. He wasn’t used much as the closer, despite the Angels’ multiple injuries, but he did record four saves.

Petit pitched in 91.1 innings, the most since 2014. He recorded a 2.76 ERA and 0.953 WHIP, both career bests. He also posted a 10.0 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and 0.9 HR/9. The last time he posted those numbers are better was, again, 2014.

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It’s surprising that a pitcher would spend all of that time in the NL and pitch better in his first season in the American League. But it’s also nice to see that the 33-year-old can still post reliable numbers over a full season’s worth of work.

My colleague Brad Kelly wrote about Blake Treinen being a sleeper in 2018. Treinen joined the Athletics at the trade deadline as a part of the Sean Doolittle/Ryan Madson deal. He recorded 13 saves with a 2.13 ERA and 1.158 ERA in his 38.0 innings with the A’s.

I agree with Kelly in that Treinen will be a sleeper this season. Petit doesn’t have much closer experience, only six career saves. He will likely be the set-up man for Treinen. I recently wrote a piece highlighting the benefits of drafting relievers, not just closers. Petit could be an important piece of your fantasy team, like a Chris Devenski or Chad Green.

Petit made 59 relief appearance. He made one start on July 29 and went just four innings. In those 59 games, he went more than one inning in 33 of them. Managers are looking for relievers to pitch in multiple innings to conserve the other arms in the bullpen and shut the opposing offense down.

Petit posted acceptable ratio stats against three of the four AL West opponents. The only team he struggled against was the Houston Astros. But, to be fair, so did the rest of the league. If he can handle the teams and batters he’s supposed to, then he’ll have more success in 2018.

The A’s now have a solid bullpen with Treinen and Petit combined with the existing arms in Santiago Casilla, Ryan Dull and Emilio Pagan. I think Petit earned a spot in a prime position in the bullpen and should reach 80 innings again.

Next: Is Whit Merrifield a top-tier second baseman?

Petit may not be drafted in standard leagues. However, with injuries unpredictable, he may be in line for some saves in the Athletics bullpen throughout the season. Treinen is definitely a sleeper but Petit is someone to stash for bullpen depth.

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