Joe Blanton is one of those guys that you either really really like or you really really don’t; not as a person, as he is absolutely a great guy and a great teammate, but professionally.

The Dodgers first acquired Blanton from the Philadelphia Phillies on August 2, 2012 after the waiver trade deadline (for cash) as a starting pitcher. In his first stint with the Dodgers, Blanton was… well… not good. In his 10 starts with the Dodgers, the then 31-year-old Bowling Green, Kentucky native posted a less-than-stellar 2-4 record with a 4.99 ERA, which led to him not being re-signed after the season ended.

Things got even worse for Blanton in 2013 when, after signing a two-year / $15 million contract with the Angels of Anaheim, he was unconditionally released on March 26, 2014 with a full season remaining on his two-year contract. Five days later the Oakland A’s signed Blanton to a minor league deal and sent him to Triple A Sacramento where he made two starts with the River Cats. That, too, was a disaster and on April 13, 2014, Blanton announced his retirement from baseball.

At the urging of his good friend and fellow pitcher Zach Duke, Blanton announced that he would attempt a comeback for the 2015 season and on February 13, 2015 he signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals. Blanton eventually worked his way back to the big leagues with the Royals, posting a 2-2 record with a respectable 3.89 ERA. It was during his time with the Royals that Blanton, a career starter, was moved to the bullpen. It was a move that would change his life forever.

Even though Blanton was designated for assignment by KC on July 28, 2015 to create a roster spot for trade-deadline-rental Johnny Cueto, his brief time in the Royals bullpen caught the eye of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who immediately signed the (then) 34-year-old righty. The Pirates never looked at Blanton as a starter and instead went all-in with him as a reliever and it resurrected his baseball career.

Blanton’s excellent bullpen work with the Royals and Pirates had also caught the eye of Dodgers and on January 19, 2016, they signed the 35-year-old 11-year MLB veteran to a one-year/$4 million free agent contract. It proved to be one of the best free agent signings by Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi in their brief time in Los Angeles. And while Blanton, who turned 36 years old on December 11, struggled during the 2016 National League Championship Series against the eventual World Series Champion Chicago Cubs by giving up a devastating grand slam home run to pinch-hitter Miguel Montero followed by a solo home run to Dexter Fowler on consecutive pitches, the plain and simple truth is that the Dodgers wouldn’t have even been in the postseason were it not for Joe Blanton.

In his 75 relief appearances in 2016, Blanton posted a 7-2 record and a 2.48 ERA over his 80.0 innings of work. During that time he struck out 80 while walking 26 for a K/BB ratio of 3.08 and a K/9 rate of 9.0, all this while allowing only seven home runs.

Blanton’s 2.48 ERA in 2016 was the lowest among all Dodger relievers not named Kenley Jansen.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

On Monday, it was being reported by MLB Trade Rumors that the Minnesota Twins were “on the hunt” for bullpen help and mentioned Joe Blanton as one of their primary targets. And while it is difficult to believe that the hard-throwing right-hander would be able to duplicate what he did for the Dodgers last season, he most certainly is someone who the Dodgers should seriously considered bringing back. In fact, without him the Dodgers currently do not have a legitimate eighth-inning guy to get to Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen.

“I think that the arms are there, it’s just more of somebody’s got to emerge, sort of what Joe Blanton did last year,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts during last Saturday’s FanFest event at Dodger Stadium. “When you look at Pedro Baez, (Luis) Avilan, (Adam) Liberatore, what Grant (Dayton) did last year for us, you look at the other guys, other arms potentially that might be out there… (Josh) Ravin. So we’ve got a lot of options. It’s just more of who’s going to step up and give us a chance to pitch those innings.”

Joe Blanton enjoying victory cigars with Dodgers Assistant Hitting Coach Tim Hyers (left) and Quality Assurance Coach Juan Castro after the Dodgers clinched their fourth consecutive NL West Division Championship on September 25, 2016. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Here’s a thought: Why not fill the Joe Blanton void with Joe Blanton? Granted, the results may not turn out like they did last season. Then again … maybe they would.

But one thing is certain, by every indication Joe Blanton won’t be available much longer.

Pull the trigger, Andrew.