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Rockies Extend Adam Ottavino

By charliewilmoth | December 21, 2015 at 11:58am CDT

DEC. 21: The Rockies have officially announced the deal (Twitter link).

DEC. 19, 1:55pm: The deal was actually completed earlier this week, Nick Groke of the Denver Post tweets.

12:44pm: The Rockies have agreed to terms with reliever Adam Ottavino to a three-year, $10.4MM extension, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter links). The deal includes yearly salaries of $1.3MM, $2.1MM and $7MM and contains no options. Ottavino is a client of All Bases Covered.

USATSI_7335176_154513410_lowresThe 30-year-old Ottavino had Tommy John surgery in May and missed most of the 2015 season. We was projected to make just $1.6MM in his second year of arbitration eligibility, and he would have been eligible for free agency following 2017. The extension, then, provides him with a considerable guaranteed payday in exchange for delaying his free agency eligibility by a year.

Before his injury, Ottavino was a valuable cog in the Rockies’ bullpen, most recently posting a 3.60 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 65 innings in a fine 2014 campaign. He was off to an even better start in 2015 before his injury, striking out 13 batters in 10 1/3 innings, posting an excellent 63.2% ground ball rate in a small sample, and increasing his average fastball velocity to over 95 MPH.

Needless to say, it might be awhile longer before he’s able to contribute at a top level again, which is perhaps one reason why the Rockies felt an extension made sense from their perspective — as it stood, Ottavino’s recovery period would have consumed a meaningful chunk of the remainder of the Rockies’ team control over him. Again via Heyman (on Twitter), Ottavino says he’s recovering well and will return at some point near the middle of the summer. Assuming he’s eventually able to return to something resembling his prior form, though, his $10.4MM deal doesn’t seem exorbitant given the rising costs of good setup men on the free agent market.

It’s possible that the terms of Ottavino’s extension were partially inspired by the White Sox’ recent deal with Nate Jones, which is similar in many respects. It’s the differences between the two hard-throwing righties’ deals, however, that are most striking. Like Ottavino, Jones had a recent Tommy John surgery (although Jones actually returned to action last season and pitched well, while Ottavino’s recovery is ongoing) and was in his second-to-last year of arbitration eligibility.

Jones, however, was projected to make less next season, which perhaps explains why Ottavino got a more significant guarantee ($10.4MM vs. $8MM) over three years. Jones’ contract also contains two team options, plus the possibility of a third if he continues to have UCL trouble; Ottavino’s deal does not include any such options. There are doubtless many differences between the two pitchers’ situations (perhaps including differences in medical reports to which we aren’t privy). But probably the most crucial one is that Jones’ injury troubles occurred before he entered his arbitration seasons, while Ottavino’s occurred after he entered his. The divergence between the two contracts, then, illustrates what a difference timing can make.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Colorado Rockies Newsstand Transactions Adam Ottavino

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8 Comments

  1. No Soup For Yu!

    10 years ago

    Looks like a straight up win for Ottavino at this point, given that no one knows how he’ll look coming off of Tommy John. Could end up being a win for Colorado though if he comes back strong.

    Reply
  2. greatd

    10 years ago

    Banking a lot on a 30 year old reliever but guess it takes a bit more to keep pitchers at coors.

    Reply
    • Joe McMahon

      10 years ago

      Yeeeeeeeah, $3.3M a year is not “banking a lot” on anything, it’s basically pennies.

      Reply
  3. Ray Ray

    10 years ago

    So they get rid of Axford, Brothers, and Kahnle, for practically nothing AND extend the injured guy for three years? Seems right in line with the Rockies FO so far this off season. I wonder when (not if) they are going to give away Corey Dickerson for some magic beans or flip Charlie Blackmon for some free maintenance on the right field party deck. God it makes so mad/sad/puzzled that I have picked the Rockies as my team sometimes.

    Reply
  4. TheMichigan

    10 years ago

    NUMBER 0 LIVES!!!

    Reply
  5. Selkies

    10 years ago

    Remember Ottovino was killing it prior to his injury.

    Reply
    • Ray Ray

      10 years ago

      Remember Rex Brothers was killing it in 2013. Then Coors caught him and he fell off a cliff. I like Ottavino and I hope he is successful, but history says otherwise.

      Reply
  6. cderry 2

    10 years ago

    Glad to see Octavia Spencer get another gig. She was great in The Help.

    Reply

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