By Mason Nesbitt

For the last couple of weeks the Dodgers have reportedly been linked with Pittsburgh Pirates’ closer Joel Hanrahan.  John Perrotto reported that the Pirates would want Chris Capuano along with another player in exchange for the hard-throwing closer.  Capuano (12-12, 3.72 ERA) is certainly expendable considering the Dodger’s stockpile of starting pitchers after the signings of Greinke and Ryu. It is hard to believe the Dodgers would include another major league ready player in the deal with the exception of one of their bench utility players: Punto or Hairston maybe.  That said, would it be an upgrade for the Dodgers to bring back the six foot four pitcher they drafted in the second round of the 2000 draft.  If they brought Hanrahan back it would be to close; is he a better option than Brandon League or Kenley Jansen?

Hanrahan over the last two seasons has appeared in 133 games (127.4 innings)  with ERA’s of 1.83 and 2.72 respectively…saving a combined 76 games while blowing only 8 such opportunities. In 2012 he made a little over $4,000,000 while striking out 10 per nine with a .184 batting average against.

Jansen who’s first year as the Dodger’s closer was cut short by heart problems saved 25 games in ’12 with a 2.35 ERA striking out nearly 14 batters per nine with a k/bb ratio of 4.50.  On a sour note the 6’5 righty blew seven saves, however, opposing batters hit only .145 against Kenley who made a little under $500,000 in ’12.

Finally, there’s Brandon League whom the Dodgers have named as their closer entering the 2013 season after signing him to a 3 yr./$22,500,000 deal this offseason.  League was acquired from the Mariners at the trade deadline in ’12 and saved 15 games between the two teams with an ERA of 3.13.  In 2011 League saved 37 games with an ERA of 2.79 while blowing 5 saves (6 blown saves in ’12).

League’s strikeout to walk ratio is worrisome (1.64) and his batting average against (.243) definitely doesn’t blow your socks off.  I think it’s safe to say that Hanrahan would be an upgrade over League, however, I’m not so sure that Hanrahan is a huge upgrade over Kenley, if at all.  This leads to the question, why isn’t Kenley closing?  Why did the Dodgers agree to pay League $7,500,000 a year when they already had arguably a better closer on their roster who is making over $7 million less.

Last season Kenley had a better ERA, better k’s per nine, a much better k/bb ratio, lower batting average against, and more saves than League (keep in mind that Jansen’s season was cut short).    It will be interesting to see how Mattingly uses Jansen to start the season….7th inning…8th inning…which inning will Belisario pitch?  In the end, Jansen deserves a shot to close again for the boys in blue and if League doesn’t consistently shut the door he will certainly get that opportunity.

Stats from fangraphs.com and mlb.com

Salary info from spotrac.com and mlb.com