Marlins right-hander Henderson Alvarez has switched representation and is now a client of agents Rick Thurman and Rafael Nieves of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, tweets Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. Alvarez is the second notable pitcher to switch agents today, as Fernando Rodney joined the Octagon agency earlier this afternoon.
The 25-year-old Alvarez, Miami’s Opening Day starter, has been limited to just 22 1/3 innings in the Majors this season due to shoulder injuries, but he’s currently in the midst of a rehab assignment. Formerly a client of Praver/Shapiro, Alvarez was one of six players traded from Toronto to Miami in the Jose Reyes/Mark Buehrle/Josh Johnson blockbuster back in 2012. He’s made steady progress since debuting in the Majors with the Blue Jays in 2012, as his ERA has dropped from 4.85 in 187 innings in 2012 to 3.59 in 107 innings in 2013 and finally 2.65 in 187 innings last year.
The jury is still out on how much Alvarez will contribute to the Marlins in 2015, though obviously his absence has contributed to the current state of affairs in Miami. The loss of innings in 2015 has undoubtedly harmed Alvarez’s second trip through arbitration, however — the first that will be handled by his new agents at BHSC. Alvarez agreed to a one-year, $4MM contract last winter and will be eligible for arbitration twice more when he hits the open market following the 2017 season. He’ll be entering just his age-28 season at that point, so if he can remain healthy in 2016-17, he’ll be an uncommonly young free agent (barring an extension, of course).
For information on more than 2,000 Major League and minor league players, check out MLBTR’s Agency Database. If you see any notable omissions or errors, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
Why every time a player changes agents a 4 paragraph article is written up is beyond me.. I can understand some interest when a player drops Boras.. But first Rodney (who we all know will be playing on a minor league deal next year) and now Alvarez who can’t even smell free agency yet.. Let’s concentrate on the position by position trade market analysis.. That 3rd base article from yesterday was by far the best article I have read on any site all week and I am a cancer patient who does nothing but sit at home on his computer all day reading baseball articles and watching old episodes of House M.D.