What the Blue Jays are getting in reliever Joaquin Benoit

The Joaquin Benoit acquisition gives the Blue Jays legitimate upside without surrendering any assets of value to the current roster

Within moments of Devon Travis crossing home for the game-winning run in the bottom of the 12th on Tuesday night, it was announced that the Blue Jays had made their second deal of the day.

After starting the day by acquiring outfielder Melvin Upton Jr., the Blue Jays ended it by landing veteran right-hander Joaquin Benoit from the San Diego Padres in exchange for Drew Storen and cash considerations.

This is a transaction that sees two similarly struggling relievers getting a fresh start, and while this is not a significant splash for the Blue Jays, it could help to solidify the floor of their bullpen with a veteran presence.

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Benoit turned 39 yesterday and has appeared in 687 regular season games over 15 years for five different organizations. He also made four consecutive playoff appearances between 2010 and 2013, losing to the San Francisco Giants as a member of the Detroit Tigers in the 2012 World Series.

“I like it, he can fill a late-inning role, he’s a veteran guy, he’s still got a good arm,” John Gibbons told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. “This time of year, with some of the struggles we’ve had down there, throw a veteran in there that knows what he’s doing and knows how to survive, that kind of thing. Hopefully he’ll end up doing just what Grilli’s done.”

He certainly knows the role of a late inning reliever, and has not pitched any earlier than the eighth inning in his 26 appearances this season for the Seattle Mariners. His 5.18 ERA is troubling, but over a sample size of just 24.1 innings and with a walk rate of 5.5 batters per nine innings that is a career outlier, there is reason to believe Benoit’s season could normalize.

Benoit remains a high-strikeout arm, recording 28 this season to go along with a 10.0 K/9 since 2010 that has remained relatively stable. He’s been bitten by home runs in 2016, allowing four already, but his home run to fly ball ratio of 15.4% is well above his career average of 9.9% and should regress. He is forcing ground balls at a rate of 40% this season.

One way in which Benoit differentiates himself from Storen’s struggles in his velocity, which hasn’t taken a dip despite his age. His fastball, which Benoit throws just over 50% of the time, is still averaging close to 94 miles per hour. He also features a slider and changeup, with the latter having been a very valuable pitch in recent seasons as he throws it roughly one-third of the time.

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Looking for Benoit to return to his 2013-to-2015 form, where he posted a 1.98 ERA in 186 outings, may be too optimistic a target. His experience should improve Toronto’s bullpen floor, however, while still leaving room for a high-impact arm should the Blue Jays choose.

There is value in age and experience, as well, regardless of the lack of a stat category for those traits. Like LaTroy Hawkins last season for the Blue Jays, Grilli and Benoit will have the opportunity to captain the younger arms around them.