11:58am: Thatcher’s deal calls for him to earn a $1MM base salary if he’s in the majors with an additional $1.2MM available through incentives, Cotillo tweets.
9:53am: It’s a minor league deal with a spring training invite, according to Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer (on Twitter).
8:30am: The Indians and Joe Thatcher have reached agreement on a deal, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. The left-hander spent last season with the Astros. It’s not immediately clear whether the pact is of the minor league or major league variety.
Thatcher, 34, pitched to a 3.18 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 across 43 appearances last season. The southpaw was added to Houston’s 40-man roster as an Article XX(B) veteran right before Opening Day. In July, he was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for another pitcher and subsequently elected free agency. He circled back to the Astros in August, however, and wound up finishing the year on the varsity squad. In an admittedly small sample size, Thatcher finished out the season strong. In seven fall appearances (3.2 IP), Thatcher allowed just two hits, fanned four, and walked only one batter.
The signing of Thatcher marks the Indians’ third free agent signing in 48 hours after they added Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis on Wednesday.
Wow. Welcome to the team with all the 34-year-olds on one year deals.
This could be a solid signing as he could be a great guy in the pen for them, I think they need to try and make a trade for someone like drew smyly from the Rays (or a lefty starter in general since they are dominantly right handed) for the rotation and maybe even try to sign a bigger outfield bat to pair up with Brantley and then the Indians look like a solid contender in the central
Not exactly ground breaking but okay arm if he doesn’t break down like 2014.