Alex Colomé, once one of baseball’s best relievers, has a new team. The 2016 American League All-Star and 2017 American League saves leader with the Seattle Mariners, has signed with the Washington Nationals.
Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reported the news on Twitter.
Nationals have signed reliever Alex Colomé to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. 34-year-old righty has 159 career saves, most of them with Rays, but struggled last two years with Twins and Rockies.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) January 27, 2023
Pitching primarily for the Tampa Bay Rays but also the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox, Colomé was an elite releiver from 2016-2020. In that stretch, he put up a 2.62 ERA, 1.107 WHIP, struck out 272 batters in 274.2 innings and recorded 138 saves.
The last two seasons, though, have been a much different story.
While with the Minnesota Twins and Colorado Rockies in 2021 and 2022, respectively, Colomé had a 4.82 ERA, 1.518 WHIP, only 90 strikeouts in 112 innings and locked down 21 saves.
Despite his recent struggles, this is a good signing for Colomé. First of all, it’s a minor league deal. So, if Colomé’s struggles from the last two seasons persist in camp, it will be easy to part ways with him. It will also be easy to part ways with Colomé during the season if he makes the team but struggles once the games get going. And given that the Nationals were 55-107 during the 2022 season, it’s safe to say that not much is expected. So, it’s a good time to see it a career revival is possible.
And if Colomé does pitch well, one of two things can happen. One, while unlikely given how unlikely how things look now, Washington could be a decent team in 2023. If that happens, a team can never have too many good relievers. But if Colomé pitches well and the Nationals struggle, they could likely get something for him at the trade deadline (or before) in a deal.
[Mark Zuckerman on Twitter]
