RADIO
BALLER MOVE: Target ~275
CURRENT ADP: 285
ANALYSIS: Carson Smith was traded from the Mariners, where he was in the mix for saves last year, to the Red Sox, where he is behind Craig Kimbrel and probably Koji Uehara. If you just want relievers for the sake of saves, Smith might not be someone to watch all that closely. If you want someone who can deliver great stats while still sniffing at the ninth inning though, he may be your guy.
Last year, Smith had the fifth best FIP and xFIP out of all qualified relief pitchers, nestled nicely around Aroldis Chapman, Zach Britton, Ken Giles and Kenley Jansen. He also struck out 92 in 70 innings last year, so it isn’t like he rides out grounders and can’t provide a ton of Ks. He limits walks enough to not get into serious trouble with them, and just generally dominates with a 93 MPH fastball and 85 MPH slider (while also sparingly mixing in a changeup). If you need cheap ratio help and like tallying up Ks without paying for a guy like Betances, Smith is a solid option.
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