Cody Allen
Like Herrera, Cody Allen fits right into the large tier 1B/tier 2 grouping of relievers that is available this year. Allen has been the Cleveland Indians’ closer for the past few seasons, and he’s been quite good. Since 2014, he has a 3.03 ERA and has averaged 29 saves while totalling a K/BB of 3.40. Like Herrera, Allen has some postseason experience, including a flawless 2016 postseason ERA of 0.00 during the Indians’ run to the World Series which ended in a Game 7 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Allen is another player who may get overlooked in the large mess of relievers available this offseason. His name doesn’t carry the same weight as Kimbrel, Britton, or teammate Andrew Miller, and his stats may be slightly inferior to those of Herrera, Ottavino, and several others. But make no mistake, Allen is a proven, quality reliever that would be an asset to any team in the league. Yet, he strikes me as someone that teams may put on the back burner early on in the offseason while instead focusing on the bigger names like Kimbrel, Britton, and Miller, only turning to Allen as they fall out of the running for the more premier names.
The Minnesota Twins would do well to not overlook Allen like this. If they show interest in him early on in the offseason and try to be one of the first to submit him an offer, the Twins may be rewarded with a quality reliever while other teams focus in on the guys with more name recognition.