Even the best teams in baseball can never have enough relief help.
Having a deep bullpen is a very valuable thing.
For that reason, fans can expect to see tons of free-agent relievers get signed to deals once the MLB lockout ends.
Adam Ottavino will be one of those guys.
The righty spent the 2021 season with the Boston Red Sox, and it was a decent campaign for him.
He definitely did enough to prove that he’s still capable of bringing value to the table at this stage of his career.
Several teams could use his services in 2022.
Here are a few landing spots that would make sense for him.
3. Los Angeles Angels
The Los Angeles Angels have had bullpen woes for years, and that story was no different in 2021.
The team’s relief staff ranked 24th in the majors in 2021 with a 4.59 ERA.
The organization has done a nice job of improving its bullpen so far this offseason, as L.A. re-signed Raisel Iglesias and inked Aaron Loup to a deal before the lockout started.
But the Angels shouldn’t stop there.
A deal for Ottavino would be another step in the right direction for Los Angeles.
The team has two generational talents in Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, and MLB fans would love nothing more than to see those guys in the postseason in 2022.
In order for that to happen, L.A. is going to need to have a serviceable bullpen next season.
2. New York Yankees
Would Ottavino have any interest in re-joining the team that traded him away before the 2021 season?
That remains to be seen.
But it has been a quiet offseason for the New York Yankees, and the club is going to have to get busy after the lockout ends.
New York needs to improve this offseason because that’s exactly what many of the AL’s other contenders are doing.
Ottavino spent two seasons with New York before being traded away.
The results were outstanding in the first year, as he posted a 1.90 ERA over 73 relief appearances.
He complemented that mark with a 235 ERA+, 3.44 FIP, and 1.31 WHIP.
He fanned 88 batters in 66.1 innings along the way.
His second season with the Yankees was less impressive, however, as he pitched to a 5.89 ERA over 24 relief outings.
But he’s certainly capable of performing at a higher level than that.
It’ll be worth monitoring whether or not there’s any interest between him and the Yankees this offseason.
1. Red Sox
Of course, the most obvious landing spot for Ottavino is the team he spent the 2021 season with.
The 36-year-old appeared in 69 games for the Red Sox in 2021, and the results weren’t bad.
He registered a 4.21 ERA, 3.96 FIP, and 113 ERA+.
Boston didn’t do much to address its iffy bullpen situation before the lockout went into effect, so the team is going to have to make some noise once everything gets going again.
A deal for Ottavino would make some sense.
Ideally, he wouldn’t be used as a setup man going forward (which is how he was used in 2021), but he’s definitely capable of providing some quality innings as a mid-innings reliever.
The veteran has made it clear that he would love to return to Boston.
Time will tell if that happens.
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