As Pedro Moura of the Orange County Register recently pointed out on Twitter, Brett Anderson has accumulated enough innings that he’s reached the incentive portion of his one-year contract with the Dodgers. The left-hander’s deal calls for a $10MM base, but Anderson received an extra $300K for reaching both 150 and 155 innings, and he received an additional $350K upon reaching 160 and 165 innings. Currently sitting at 168 2/3 innings, Anderson will receive another $350K for reaching 170 and 175 innings, and he’ll earn $400K for every five innings he amasses beyond that point, up to 200. Obviously, he won’t reach the 200 inning maximum given the limited amount of time left this season, but Anderson’s already secured an additional $1.3MM and could conceivably earn an additional $1.5MM or so before season’s end, making for a very hefty payday.
More from the NL West…
- The Padres have shuffled their scouting department, reports MLB.com’s Corey Brock. Logan White, hired last winter to be the team’s director of pro scouting and serve as a senior adviser to general manager A.J. Preller will now focus on amateur and international scouting in addition to his role as a senior adviser. In his place, west coast regional scouting supervisor Pete DeYoung will be promoted to director of pro scouting. DeYoung’s promotion creates another opportunity, and area scout Josh Emmerick will move up the ladder into DeYoung’s former position. Brock’s column details several other changes further down the line in San Diego’s scouting department as well.
- Rockies pitchers Jon Gray and Jorge De La Rosa are done for the season, manager Walt Weiss told reporters, including MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (Twitter links). Gray’s shutdown was planned, per Weiss, as he’s hit his innings limit for the season. The former No. 3 overall pick posted a 4.33 ERA in 114 2/3 innings while pitching in the hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League. His struggles weren’t aided by moving to Coors Field midseason, as Gray totaled a 5.53 ERA in his 40 1/3 innings at the Major League level. All told, he’s pitched 155 innings this season — a notable increase from the 124 1/3 he tossed in 2014. As for De La Rosa, he was scratched from his most recent start due to tendinitis in his Achilles tendon, and the club apparently won’t risk further aggravation of the issue. The 34-year-old made 26 starts and tallied a 4.17 ERA with 8.1 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 in 2015 — the first season of a two-year, $25MM extension he inked with Colorado last August.
- Weiss acknowledged to Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post that his job security with the Rockies is uncertain. “Hey, it’s a legitimate question,” Weiss told Kiszla upon being asked how he’d sell the front office and ownership on retaining him for the 2016 season. “because you’ve got to defend what you’re doing if you haven’t won. … We haven’t won yet, but I feel like there’s a foundation of respect and trust in the clubhouse with this coaching staff. Guys on this team feel the need to show up and compete every day. … I don’t expect people to give that a whole lot of credence. But, for me, when I look in the mirror after every game, that’s what me and the staff hang our hat on.” The Rox have lost 271 games in Weiss’ three seasons as manager, though as Kiszla notes, that’s hardly something for which Weiss can be faulted. Weiss has had little help in terms of pitching talent, among a slew of other problems. Kiszla notes that if the front office — or perhaps, ownership — believes contending in the near future is possible, though, Weiss could land on the chopping block due to his teams’ poor performances over the years.
Scouting? Have the Padres had anyone from their ballyhoo’d DR academy make it to the majors yet? All the huge bonuses they’ve given these Dominican kids and none of them have panned out. They should start at the top and dump Preller before he trades away whatever remaining prospects they have.
Preller is under contract through 2019.
Big league players aren’t seeking motivation, so perhaps it is time to stop calling these payday increases “incentives” and instead call them by their real name: performance bonuses.
Agreed.. I wonder how good players like Bruce Rondon would be if their salary was only tied to performance bonuses..
Rondon is the exception that proves the rule. I should have said that very few big league players require motivation. Performance bonuses are normally used to hedge against a player’s inability to perform, not a lack of motivation to perform.
Padres front office moves: deck chairs on the Titanic?
Juggling the scuba team that’s checking the wreckage.