The Diamondbacks have agreed to an extension with right-hander Brad Ziegler, the pitcher himself announced on Twitter. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that it's a two-year, $10.5MM contract with a club option for a third-year. Rosenthal reports that Ziegler's deal will pay him $4.5MM in 2014 and $5MM in 2015, and his $5.5MM option contains a $1MM buyout. He is a client of Icon Sports Management.
Ziegler, 34, is coming off a season in which he posted a 2.22 ERA and filled in as Arizona's closer, saving 13 games and falling one out short of matching his career-high of 73 1/3 innings. He was originally acquired by the Diamondbacks in July 2011 in what looks to be a lopsided deal in hindsight. Arizona sent Brandon Allen and Jordan Norberto to Oakland to land the side-armer. Ziegler has rewarded GM Kevin Towers with 162 1/3 innings of 2.27 ERA ball with 5.6 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate north of 70 percent.
Dating back to 2002 when batted ball data began being tracked, Ziegler's 66.1 percent ground-ball rate is the highest among all Major League pitchers with at least 300 innings pitched.
MLBTR's Matt Swartz projected Ziegler to earn $5MM in his final year of arbitration eligiblity, so he likely took a slight hit to his 2014 salary in exchange for multiple years in an environment that he enjoys. Towers has shuffled his bullpen this offseason by acquiring Addison Reed from the White Sox in exchange for Matt Davidson and trading Heath Bell to Tampa Bay in a three-team deal. Ziegler, Reed and J.J. Putz should form a solid core to handle the late innings for manager Kirk Gibson.
Initial reports that an extension with Ziegler was a possibility surfaced in September. Later that same month, he told reporters that it didn't matter to him whether he pitched in the eighth or ninth inning. With Reed and Putz both on board, Ziegler seems likely to return to the setup role in which he has thrived for most of his career.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Is it bad that when I first read this headline, I thought they LITERALLY “extended” him?
Yeah it is
Yes, seek help.
Ziegler a great ERA with only 5.8 K/9…
That’s what happens when you produce grounders as well as he does.
Ziegler is a good reliever but they paid FA price to extend him into his 34, 35 and 36 (option year) seasons.
Congratulations to Ziegler, great guy. Very friendly to all the kids during Spring Training. If you ever catch a ST game, make sure to say hello to him.
That deal looks better and better.
I do love spending on relievers.
Love this. Saves the team money over the long run, while making sire not to let anyone else try and poach him. If he pitches to his norms through 2014 and 2015, then the 2016 option is a steal. If he regresses substantially and is only an “average Joe” by the end of 2015, the team can simply let him go and likely still gets positive value out of him.
James havent seen much from you on here. Whats your opinion on the Trumbo Trade?
I think the Diamondbacks gave up far too much for a player that may or may not be an upgrade over what they already had.
That said though, I’m willing to wait and see what he does in the desert. If he can hit .240, with 35 HR and drive in 100 RBI while providing lineup protection for Goldschmidt, and not costing the team too many runs in LF, then it might not turn out so bad.
The OF depth that the team was working from is now all but gone. I’m not a fan of that. Trading away Skaggs also limits the team in terms of depth should any of their starters (like McCarthy) get injured. Skaggs was also their best chip for acquiring a rotation upgrade via trade if they wanted to try and make a move.
On the whole, I do not like the trade. But it’s a move I am willing to wait and see on – though only for a bit.
This is the best move KT has made all off season. I dont see Ziegler regressing even pitching into his 34, 35, and 36 seasons. The guys rock solid.
Suprised, he kind of lowballed them.
Always happy to hear some good news about the Chatham A’s kids turned pro. Good deal for both sides here.
check.check
I can’t imagine there’s any people with less brains than the people that run this website.