Jesse Chavez Rumors

Athletics, Jesse Chavez Avoid Arbitration

By [January 12, 2015 at 11:47am CST]

The A’s and right-hander Jesse Chavez have avoided arbitration for the 2015 season by agreeing to a one-year, $2.15MM contract, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Chavez is a client of Sosnick/Cobbe Sports.

The 31-year-old Chavez enjoyed an excellent breakout season that came as a surprise to many, given his previous struggles out of the bullpen. Injuries to Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin forced Chavez into the rotation early in the season despite the fact that he had just two MLB starts prior to the 2014 campaign. However, he responded by pitching to a 3.45 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 42 percent ground-ball rate in 146 innings. Chavez appeared in 32 games — 21 of them starts; he ultimately shifted back to the ‘pen following the acquisition of Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel and Jon Lester. With that group now out of the picture, Chavez could again find himself making some starts to open the 2015 campaign.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Chavez to earn $2.5MM via arbitration in his second time through the process. Chavez currently has four years, 108 days of Major League service time, meaning that he’ll be arbitration eligible for the third and final time next offseason before hitting the open market after the 2016 campaign.

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A’s Avoid Arbitration With Jesse Chavez

By [January 7, 2014 at 3:17pm CST]

3:17pm: Chavez's one-year deal is worth $775K, reports MLBTR's Tim Dierkes (Twitter link).

12:27pm: The A's and Jesse Chavez have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal, according to Jane Lee of MLB.com (via Twitter).  Chavez is represented by Sosnick/Cobbe, according to the MLBTR Agency Database.

Terms of the deal are not yet known, but MLBTR's Matt Swartz projected the reliever to earn $600K through arbitration.  Chavez, 30, turned in a 3.92 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 35 relief appearances last season for the Athletics.  Oakland acquired the right-hander from the Blue Jays in August 2012 for cash considerations shortly after Toronto designated him for assignment.

The A's now have seven arbitration eligible players to go.

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Athletics Acquire Jesse Chavez

By [August 24, 2012 at 1:14pm CST]

The Athletics announced that they acquired right-hander Jesse Chavez from the Blue Jays for cash considerations. Oakland's 40-man roster is now full.

Chavez, 29, posted an 8.44 ERA with 11.4 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 21 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays this year before getting designated for assignment. He has spent most of the season starting games at Triple-A, where he has a 3.98 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 95 innings. The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks made the Blue Jays an offer for Chavez earlier this year, but Toronto declined.

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Blue Jays Designate Jesse Chavez For Assignment

By [August 6, 2012 at 11:00am CST]

The Blue Jays have designated right-hander Jesse Chavez for assignment, according to the team's website. Toronto recalled Chavez from Triple-A Las Vegas over the weekend and he pitched one scoreless inning in the Blue Jays' 3-1 win over the Athletics on Saturday.

Chavez, 28, has an 8.44 ERA with 11.4 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 21 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays this year. He has spent most of the season starting games at Triple-A, where he has a 3.72 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 77 1/3 innings. The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks made the Blue Jays an offer for Chavez earlier this year, but Toronto declined.

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Blue Jays Reject Offer From Japan For Jesse Chavez

By [May 26, 2012 at 8:53am CST]

The Blue Jays have rejected an offer from the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks for pitcher Jesse Chavez according to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. The Hawks offered Toronto $1MM and would have paid the right-hander $3MM over two years. Chavez's agent Paul Cobbe declined to comment.

Chavez, 28, has pitched to a 3.72 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 58 innings across ten Triple-A starts. He owns a 5.36 ERA in 152 2/3 big league relief innings with the Pirates, Braves, and Royals. He's been involved in trades for Akinori Iwamura, Rafael Soriano, Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth. Toronto removed Chavez from the 40-man roster this offseason.

The Hawks released Brad Penny a few weeks ago and are presumably looking to replace the pitching depth.

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Removed From 40-Man: Jesse Chavez, Brian Bixler

By [December 14, 2011 at 2:40pm CST]

We'll keep track of which players are removed from 40-man rosters right here…

  • Right-hander Jesse Chavez cleared waivers and the Blue Jays outrighted him to Triple-A, the team tweeted.
  • The Astros designated Brian Bixler for assignment, according to Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The Astros, who needed roster space because of today's trade, had claimed Bixler from the Nationals last month. The 29-year-old appeared in 79 games for the Nationals in 2011, playing all three outfield positions, shortstop, third base and first base. He posted a .205/.267/.265 line in 94 plate appearances. 
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Blue Jays Acquire Ben Francisco

By [December 12, 2011 at 11:47am CST]

The Blue Jays acquired outfielder Ben Francisco from the Phillies for minor league lefty Frank Gailey, announced the team.  The Jays also designated reliever Jesse Chavez for assignment.

Francisco, 30, hit .244/.340/.364 in 293 plate appearances for the Phillies this year.  As a right-handed hitter he's gotten a disproportionate share of at-bats against lefties in his career, but he hasn't done markedly better against them.  Francisco is set to earn an estimated $1.5MM through arbitration in 2012, and perhaps the Phillies would have cut him loose had they not found a trade partner.  He'll be under team control for 2013 as well if the Blue Jays want him.  With Francisco filling the role of Toronto's fourth outfielder, Rajai Davis may be expendable.

Gailey, 26, posted a 3.41 ERA, 7.4 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, and 0.6 HR/9 in 74 relief innings across High and Double-A this year.  A Philadelphia native, Gailey must be excited about the deal.

Chavez, 28, spent most of 2011 with the Royals' Triple-A affiliate.  There he posted a 3.75 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 in 57 2/3 innings.  The Blue Jays claimed him off waivers from Kansas City in late October.

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Blue Jays Claim Jesse Chavez

By [October 21, 2011 at 2:35pm CST]

The Blue Jays announced that they claimed right-hander Jesse Chavez off of waivers from the Royals (Twitter link). The Royals designated Chavez for assignment ten days ago when they claimed Aaron Laffey off of waivers.

The Royals acquired Chavez from the Braves in the summer 2010 trade that sent Kyle Farnsworth and Rick Ankiel to Atlanta. The right-hander had two stints with this year's Royals team, but spent most of the season at Triple-A Omaha, where he posted a 3.75 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 57 2/3 innings of relief work. He provided the Pirates with a solid season of relief in 2009 and hasn't been able to replicate that success at the Major League level since.

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Royals Claim Laffey, Designate Chavez

By [October 11, 2011 at 2:13pm CST]

The Royals announced today they've claimed lefty Aaron Laffey off outright waivers from the Yankees and designated reliever Jesse Chavez to create a 40-man roster spot.

Laffey, 26, posted a 3.88 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 1.18 HR/9, and 48.1% groundball rate in 53 1/3 innings for the Mariners and Yankees this year.  He wasn't any better against left-handed hitters.  Earlier today, Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues wrote that Laffey was an expected victim of the Yankees' upcoming 40-man roster crunch.

Chavez, 28, had joined the Royals at last year's trade deadline in the Rick Ankiel/Kyle Farnsworth deal.  He struggled mightily in the Majors this year but had a 3.75 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 in 57 2/3 Triple-A innings.  Chavez averaged 94.5 miles per hour on his fastball the last few years, but that dropped a full two miles per hour this year in the Majors.

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Braves Acquire Ankiel, Farnsworth

By [July 31, 2010 at 3:19pm CST]

The Braves have acquired Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth from the Royals in exchange for Jesse Chavez, Gregor Blanco, and Tim Collins. Atlanta also received an unknown amount of cash in the deal.

Ankiel, 31, missed over two months with a quad strain this year, but will bring a much-needed .261/.317/.467 batting line to Atlanta's outfield. He is still owed just over $1MM for the remainder of the season, and there's a $6MM mutual option for his services next year that could instead be bought out for $500K.

The 34-year-old Farnsworth is back for a second stint with the Braves, and has pitched to a 2.42 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 44.2 innings this year. He is owed $1.64MM through the end of the season, and Atlanta could buy out his $5.25MM option for next season for $500K. 

Chavez, 26, was acquired in the Rafael Soriano trade during the offseason. He had not performed as expected, with a 5.89 ERA and 7.1 K/9 in 36.2 innings this year. Blanco, 26, is a career .252/.361/.309 hitter in 633 big league plate appearances with experience in all three outfield spots. Both he and Chavez are under team control for another four seasons.

Collins, 20, was acquired in the Yunel Escobar-Alex Gonzalez trade earlier this month. He has struck out 15.4 Double-A batters per nine innings this year, and boasts a 2.35 ERA in his minor league career. 

CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler first reported the deal while Ed Price of AOL FanHouse added details (Twitter link). A Royals press release confirmed the deal.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

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