JAN. 25: Topkin has the breakdown of Tolleson’s incentives package as well. Tolleson will earn $50K upon appearing in his 35th game, $75K for his 40th and 45th appearances, $100K for his 50th appearance, $150K for his 55th, $200K for his 60th and $250K for appearances 65 and 70.
JAN. 23: The deal, which has now been announced, will pay Tolleson $1MM, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). It also comes with up to $1.15MM in incentives, per Topkin (via Twitter).
JAN.17, 6:30pm: The deal, if completed, will be a Major League contract, Topkin tweets.
5:30pm: The Rays are close to an agreement with former Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
The soon-to-be 29-year-old right-hander was non-tendered by Texas last month after a poor 2016 campaign but was excellent as recently as 2014-15. In that two-year run of success, Tolleson logged a 2.88 ERA with 9.1 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 across 144 innings of relief. Tolleson’s strong performance earned him a ninth-inning role with the Rangers for most of the 2015 campaign, and he racked up 35 saves that season as the primary closer in Texas.
However, the 2016 campaign was disastrous for Tolleson, who saw his ERA spike to an outlandish 7.68 mark over the life of 36 1/3 innings. Tolleson did pick up 11 saves, but he eventually ceded his ninth-inning job to teammate Sam Dyson, who enters the season as the projected closer in Texas once again. Tolleson was eventually outrighted by the Rangers and elected free agency in search of a better opportunity. Topkin notes that while Tolleson missed time with a back injury in 2016, he’s now said to be healthy, which one would think gives him a decent shot at cracking the Rays’ big league bullpen, even if the deal proves to be of the minor league variety.
Should Tolleson return to form in his new surroundings, the Rays will have the added bonus of being able to control him for another season. Tolleson finished the year four years, 109 days of big league service time, so he’ll be eligible for arbitration again next winter and wouldn’t reach free agency until after the 2018 season (unless the Rays elect to cut ties with him sooner).
Nice!!!!
Good pickup, hopefully he’s ready for a bounce back year
I like this signing. Good buy low deal. Now just go sign Sergio Romo and Trumbo or Carter.
Trumbo would be way to expensive for the Rays. As for Carter, do the Rays need another low average hitter (albeit he does hit a lot of home runs)? I think the biggest thing the Rays need help with right now is their bullpen. While targeting a high OBP hitter would be great, I think at this point (after signing Rasmus and Ramos), relief pitching should come first.
Trumbo would be way to expensive for the Rays. As for Carter, do the Rays need another low average hitter (albeit he does hit a lot of home runs)? I think the biggest thing the Rays need help with right now is their bullpen. While targeting a high OBP hitter would be great, I think at this point (after signing Rasmus and Ramos), relief pitching should come first!
Totally agree on the bullpen. My thought with Trumbo was because they bid on Bautista maybe they would go for a one or two year deal for Trumbo. Carter’s OBP actually isn’t bad, he walks at good clip, he is just low average, all or nothing. The Rays really need a right handed power bat though. The Rasmus signing surprised me since they already had a couple lefty sluggers in Dickerson and Miller. Carter could be a good platoon partner for those two at 1B and DH.
Very interesting, Carter’s OBP was actually a bit higher then I originally thought. I definitely wouldn’t be upset if the Rays could grab him. The Rays definitely do need some more pop from the right side of the plate, agree there. The more I think about it, Carter sounds pretty good. I read somewhere that you could probably ink him for about 2-5 million, which is definitely doable. As far as Trumbo, man I would be stoked to see him in a Rays uniform. However, I feel like to get him, it could seriously dry up the resources the Rays have, and with McGee gone from the bullpen, there hasn’t really been a lights out left handed pitcher. I like Romero, but he is pretty wild. So personally, I think at least a decent left handed reliever is top priority, but you can certainly throw a bone to Carter or Trumbo to see if they bite.
Umm, guys,… Trumbo already signed back with Baltimore.
Dates
His fastball is a little flat but he loves pitching up in the zone which can cause his balls to be hit for extra bases
Tampa has experience helping pitchers utilize high fastballs effectively, but last year’s home run boom snakebit them. Hopefully they have a good plan to adjust that after last year.
Good low risk signing. Now if Cash could learn how to manage a bullpen and a pitching staff in general…
Marc Topkin is reporting it’s a big-league deal
twitter.com/TBTimes_Rays/status/821504097299861504
Good pickup. Hopes he returns to 2015 form
Smart low risk move by TB. I don’t know how he’ll do on the road in the AL East but cheap enough with experience and some good past results to be worth the shot. I think any team would be smart to sign as many of these type of guys available as possible. Then hope to have a cheap good bullpen or some quality trade chips.
Great pick up for the rays with toll, box and colume at the back end of pen
Rays needs a quality leadoff hitter
Hopefully kk stays healthy
Logan is the lead off hitter.
was
I will miss Logan
Logan we will miss you
Logan we will miss you..