After 8 seasons in Jersey blue, Jamie "Mungo" Saenz became a free agent and eventually signed a 3 year, $19 million dollar deal to switch coasts and pitch for the Seattle Pikes. Jersey was the only team and organization he had ever known after joining the Jersey organization in April 2010. Ownership wanted to keep him but salary restraints and the fact that the D-Bags have a knack for producing a high level of major league quality middle relief pitching, the fans had to watch their closer, 2-time All-Star and 2017 Reliever of the Year leave.
Jose Ruiz stepped in last year, saved 40 games and was elected to the All-Star team. He struggled this season blowing 2 saves and having 4 losses pinned on him before handing the reigns to the young Gerald "Top Dog" Johnson. While Johnson has an electric fastball that can reach 99 on the gun, first time closing duties aren't always a success. Johnson was lights out as the setup man before taking over the closer role. Since he has blown 5 of 14 save chances and left GM Josh Swain with question marks what to do with his closer role. The team's 15 blown saves leads the entire BSA, and in a race as tight as we have this season, losing games in 8th and 9th is not something a team like Jersey can afford to do.
In a casual conversation with Aaron Blank, GM of the Baffin Island Beavers, Blank made a comment on how old his relief pitching had gotten. With Daniel Morris and Saenz at 34, Tapia at 35, J-Rod and James Kelly 33, and Pedro Castillo at 31, the bulk of the relief corps is 33 or over. With the Beavers struggling mightily this year, and at the time were sitting 15+ games under .500, Swain simply asked about Saenz and his large $9M dollar team option for next season. Talks progressed and eventually a deal was in place for Mungo to be sent back to Jersey for a pair of young middle relievers.
Those relievers are Pedro Vega and Antonio Ramos. Vega was discovered as an 18 year old in 2013 and has slowly worked his way up through the Jersey system spending multiple seasons at every level before seeing action in the Jersey bullpen last season as a 24 year old. Now at age 25, Vega throws 2 above average pitches and his fastball reaches the mid-to-upper 90's. His arm isn't nearly as live as Saenz's arm, but at 10 years younger he could be a nice cheap bullpen fixture on a team who will probably have to re-tool their bullpen in the near future.
Ramos actually came from Baffin Island when Jersey traded starting pitcher Dan Macias to the Beavers after the 2017 season. Macias would pitch one year in Baffin before deciding to hang them up. Ramos is also 25 and your typical hard throwing bullpen arm. He has averaged just a shade under 12 K/9 in his minor league career and his knack has been giving up the long ball, but being in Baffin should help that tremendously.
For all intents and purposes this move for Jersey looks like a rental, as Saenz's $9 million dollar option next season seems like a stretch for Jersey to be picked up, but if Saenz keeps up his great numbers he has put up in Seattle and Baffin this year, you never know what will happen. For the season Mungo's stat line looks like: 4-2, 15 saves. 1.93 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and is striking out 11.6 K/9. He will step into the closer's role immediately and being added to the CL's 2nd best bullpen (statistically wise) should make a good pen even better.
"We hope this is a move that helps push us over the hump," GM Swain exclaimed, "If we had only won a third of those 15 blown saves we would be sitting in 1st place with the best record in the CL. The fans are excited to have him back and the veterans are as well." Saenz will go back and wear his #99 jersey that he wore for all 8 seasons in Jersey. Welcome back Jaime!
GO D-BAGS
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