10:15am: Sherman tweets that the contract is a two-year, $16MM deal. MLB.com’s Jason Beck hears the same (Twitter link). Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press tweets that Pelfrey’s physical is scheduled for today.
10:08am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears differently (Twitter link), as he’s been told the contract is a two-year deal.
9:15am: MLive.com’s James Schmehl reports that the contract is a one-year deal that will pay Pelfrey roughly $8MM. The deal is pending a physical.
9:08am: The Tigers are in agreement on a contract with free agent right-hander Mike Pelfrey, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Pelfrey is represented by agent Scott Boras.
Pelfrey, 32 in January, is coming off a three-year stretch with the Twins that saw him struggle in a return from Tommy John surgery in year one, battle further arm injuries in year two but bounce back to deliver solid, if unspectacular results in his final season in Minnesota. His 2015 campaign included 164 2/3 innings of 4.26 ERA ball with 4.7 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 51 percent ground-ball rate. Pelfrey’s addition figures to round out a Tigers rotation that will also include Justin Verlander, Jordan Zimmermann, Anibal Sanchez and Daniel Norris.
While Pelfrey struggled throughout most of his time in Minnesota, the 2015 season saw his average fastball velocity climb back to 93.3 mph — its fastest mark since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2012. Pelfrey’s ground-ball rate was also the highest it’s been since his TJ operation, and if he can maintain a mark north of 50 percent, that should play well with a strong defensive double-play tandem of Jose Iglesias and Ian Kinsler behind him in Detroit. (Of course, the corner infield situation — Miguel Cabrera and Nick Castellanos — certainly leaves something to be desired, from a defensive standpoint.)
Tigers GM Al Avila recently indicated that Detroit would look to add another starter in addition to Zimmermann, who signed a five-year, $110MM contract, however a back-of-the-rotation arm was the implied likelihood. I speculated at the time that Pelfrey would fit the bill, given his 2015 results and the typically strong relationship between the Tigers and Boras.
Detroit could have elected to pursue more upside to fill out its rotation, but the team is still eyeing bullpen upgrades and already projected to have a roughly $152MM committed to just 11 players even before this signing. Pelfrey’s contract will push the payroll to about $160MM (plus another $6.5MM or so for league-minimum players), bringing the team within striking distance of last year’s record $172MM Opening Day payroll.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Good job Avila if you got him for a good price
Are you paying him
And there’s the inning eater..
Yes good innings eater if it was 2011 but he has been almost useless since then save one small time last season. You can really tell Avila came right from Dombroski with this move.
Not so great an innings eater. He’s notorious for never lasting through the 6th inning.
164.2IP in 30 starts this year works out to 5 and a half innings per start. If he’s an inning eater, then he’s on a diet.
If you take a look at his starts (or if you’d suffered through them all as I did as a Twins fan) you’ll notice that he usually he will occasionally make it 7 innings, and a few times even 8 innings; but most of the time he’s not getting deep into games. Making matters worse frequently after having one of those 7 or 8 inning games he’s followed it up with a short start. The few times he put together two (and one time three) consecutive 7+ inning outings he’s gotten absolutely shelled the next game and not been able to make it out of the 4th. He’s more likely to tax your bullpen than eat innings and save it
Pelfrey? Mehhhhh
Interesting move. He averaged less than 6 IP per start last year, and he’s not particularly good. There’s some logic to it for a 5th starter/swing man–except he’s never relieved. Wonder what the thinking is from the Detroit side.
He almost started the season as a reliever (until Santana’s suspension) which probably would have been the best use for him. Most of the time he’s pretty good going through a line up once. If he was used 1 or 2 innings at a time and could just go all out for that short spurt; I think he’d be nearly unhittable. Unfortunately he wasn’t a team player enough to buy into giving that a shot, pouted, and the Twins moved him back to the rotation
If he is the #5 it’s a decent signing
TJ in 2012, shut down due to injuries in 2014 after 4 starts, extremely high ERA…$8 million that could’ve gone to the bullpen or OF.
2 steps forward, one step back.
Corner infield not corner outfield.
Just wow
I can understand needing a serviceable veteran to eat up some innings in your rotation. But Pelfrey has been considerably below average the last three seasons and to pay him $8 mil seems like a considerable overpay. If it was going to be a one-year deal for him I would have expected something more along the lines of $5-6 mil plus incentives or the possibility of vesting into a 2nd year option.
below average?
he was worth 2 war last year. you obviously dont pay attention.
No, he was a 1.4 WAR last year. -.7 in 2014, -.3 in 2013. Yes, according to the 2015 market, he is worth $8 million.
Quick quiz for you: What was the average WAR of SP with 120 or more innings last year? (Hint: The other guy isn’t the one who should pay attention!)
fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=5203&posit…
BAM
That’s great and all.
Median for starters with 120IP last year was 2.4
Average was ~3.2
So, explain how Pelfry wasn’t below average?
Tick, tick, tick, tick …
fWAR, yes, but bWAR he was lower. fWAR has trouble with pitchers like Pelfrey, who have very low K but extremely low HR rates. Those are two of the three primary numbers for their FIP-based analysis.
Pelfrey is, at best, average. ERA+ of 97 is slightly below average. His FIP (4.00) was slightly higher than league average (3.96). His innings totals were low for 30 starts. He’s subpar.
So everybody with all your alphabet soup regarding ave/below ave. needs to be put in perspective. Where does he fall when compared with #5 starters?
Also the $8MM figure needs to be value adjusted for how much does it save Detroit for not having to have a rookie start his clock 1 or 2 years earlier.
He falls in as much more expensive than a fith starter. IMO, Ken Ryan could have given you similar numbers for league minimum. Shane Greene could have rebounded. If there is a budget limit, there was a multitude of better directions to go.
Matt Latos might have been a better gamble for this amount. Alfredo Simon would have been cheaper! I couldn’t care less what any WAR metric says he should be paid, as long as he was paid it by somebody elses home team. If it costs 8MM/year to sign a bum, then develop what you have!
Ouch!! Tough crowd.
With this move, the Tigers have all the tools they need to participate in some baseball games this year.
I would have rather seen that 16MM go to the bullpen. Evidently, Avila doesn’t believe in power arms for the rotation.
$8M for Pelfrey?! Man…it’s good to be in MLB in 2015.
Just wait till next year and the dry market. Stras is going to get 250
I guess if Brett Anderson is worth $15.8 million and Greinke $35 million, then yeah, $8 million for Pelfrey.
Wow. Maybe he gets healthy and pitches well, but as a Twin this guy was inconsistent at best.
8 million????? Who the hell do they think they signed?
Mike Pelfrey: arguably not good at baseball, makes $8M a year.
Tom Brady: American icon, extremely fantastically excellent at football, makes $9M a year.
Why would anyone today push their kids to play anything else but baseball?
Not everyone goes pro and a lot more football players get free college educations than baseball players pretty simple. Tom Brady also makes 9 Million by choice that isn’t his market value.
But factor in that football is incredibly dangerous. And that your average baseball career lasts longer due to the minors.
Football also regulates under a cap somewhere in the $140 million range I believe that includes salaries for a 53 man roster, any players on IR and I believe the 10 man practice squad also counts against the cap. Veteran players are more willing to take way below their market value to ensure the best team possible and to stay with a team.
Baseball, on the other hand, has an unofficial cap line (luxury tax, which isnt even a cap for the big spending teams) and as such, players are usually seeking as much money as possible unless they are trying to stay/sign with a specific team.
he was worth 2 war last year.. not bad for 8mil
I swear, people kills me stating the amount of money someone is making. Like, 8 million, for Pelfrey? That’s like someone, coming to your job and saying, ” Mark, you’re not worth the money this company is paying “. That’s financially none of your business ..
This signing tells me a few things. #1: Fister wants at least $10MM or only the West Coast. #2: Avila is sticking to his guns of saving the kids to develop in AAA and then be ready in 2017 or late 2016. #3: Avila is keeping as many $$$ in reserve possible to get hopefully 2 solid BP pieces. #4: The Winter Meetings will be quiet for Detroit unless something really good presents itself with them coming to Avila.(Iggy to San Diego??)
Pelfrey made 30 starts in 2015 and any SP will have a few bad outings. His ERA drops to 3.19 from 4.26 if you remove 3 starts. I know you need to take the good with the bad, but this tells me he kept his team in the game for most of his starts and gave them a chance to win. Had 10 starts of 7 or more innings and 14 total of 6 or more. Had 20 starts of allowing 3ER or less runs.
Now 2 years at 8 mil sounds a lot better. Please be this.
Except it is 2 years 16M
Sorry, it’s 2 years at $8 EACH.
Eh
2 years 16M? Whaaa lol Boras is a genius
You can understand that WAR is a terrible stat when you look at Jose Iglesias.
WAR may not be prefect, no metric ever is, but its the best we have at the moment.
Key word being “we.” Teams have much better tools.
Exactly… WAR is terribly flawed. It really should only be used for comparisons between players who play the position, but people like to be lazy and just use it as the end all of stats.
Nice write up, but you should check stats before commenting how bad the corner infielders are. Cabrera had a .996 fielding percentage with range, Castellanos had a .966 with a semi-limited range. I wouldn’t call those numbers anything even near suspect.
I guess Im not sure what the Tigers are doing. Are they all in 2016 or not? The Zimmerman signing gave them 2-3 extra wins they didnt have before, but its not enough. The folks over at Fangraphs have the Steamer projections for each position, and it doesn’t look good for the Tigers. They need to find another 10 wins between now and the end of spring training.
Their projections are just projections… Didn’t they have Boston having 85+ wins last year?
Right, and projections are not made in a vacuum. As for the “They”, you must include every single baseball organization, whether they use your “tremendously flawed” WAR, or other metrics.
The same site that had the Nats SP projected to blow everyone away.
How did the Steamer projections do with the Astros and Cubs last year? How about Texas and Toronto? Did they project Boston to be in last place?
The owner says, “spend whatever it takes to win a championship”! So, you sign Mike Pelfrey? UGFKM. They better sign O’Day, Madson, Sipp, Soria and Bastardo.
this disappoints me. tons of other Sp to spend money on …Pelfrey?!!
Would you rather spend 12-15 million a year on someone who is the same pitcher as Pelfrey or 8 million on Pelfrey
Did Boras put Ilitch under a spell?
Why not wait until Feb and get the best leftover #5?
This is like going to a dealer lot where there are dozens of the car you want at a reasonable price, but then paying 20% extra because you like the pinstriping on one particular car. Why?
Because Avila is a student of Dombroski
DD would have never signed Pelfrey because of his low strikeouts.
Boras has pictures …
Pelfrey doesn’t even have pinstriping.
Only lazy writers and people not paying attention would say Cabrera at 1b is scary. He’s an excellent 1b and close to a gold glover. His range was a huge problem at 3b, but at 1b it’s just the norm, he has great hands, a cannon of an arm for turning two, and a massive wingspan that gives his infielders a huge target. He’s a huge plus on their infield. Only Castellanos at 3b is dicey.
Lazy “Journalism” is now the norm, especially when sports are often the entry level jobs in the profession. So you get a lot of young people dreaming of a Pulizer Prize doing remotes from a war zone instead of routine stuff regarding player moves in a sport in which they have no interest.
Miggy is not a liability at first, but please, don’t even try to say he is among the best fielders at his position. Like Castellanos, he lacks range.
Range at first base? The most important factors at first are reach, scoops arm strength and accuracy. Cabrera has all of these. Defensive metrics are worthless for first basemen. They only look at fielding percentage and range. Most national commentators don’t watch the player, they look at the paperwork.
Mike Pelfrey must have the best agent in sports. His absolute ceiling is utter mediocrity, yet he keeps scoring somewhat lucrative MLB deals. Got a $4-5 million deal off of TJ surgery from the Twins, was awful, then scored a two-year deal at more AAV. He was either bad or sub-average for the Twins both seasons, then rakes in another two-year deal at even more AAV.
If they were interested in burning $8M per season for Pelfrey, why not instead spend it towards pursuing O’Day or someone else?
EDIT: I see Boras is his agent. Another job very well done for Boras.
Boras is his agent.
Yep, noticed shortly after posting.
As a Tigers fan, I have to imagine you’re annoyed at this seeming waste of $8MM per season when there are other areas to address.
The $8MM figure needs to be value adjusted for how much does it save Detroit for not having to have a rookie start his clock 1 or 2 years earlier. He gives the Tigers the luxury of not rushing one of the kids up from AA or AAA. That was one of Avila’s main goals and I am not sure how many other SP you could get for $8MM or how many prospects it would cost to trade for one.
Ken Ryan or Kyle Lobstein would have done as well, IMO, but neither has any high ceiling, so it doesn’t matter when the clock starts. Actually, it already has. Sean Greene is my preference over Pelfrey. I sure hope they haven’t guarenteed him a rotation spot. (tho i am not going to be happy if he is an 8MM long reliever.)
Maybe he can be a good mentor. Trying to look on the bright side.
As a Twins fan, I can only warn you for the world of hurt you are in for. Pelfrey is the nothing but dead weight. The guy is like 6’8” and throws the ball 92 mph. I am so happy he’s out of the Twins rotation.
Wow he has had one good season In his career. As a mets fan he was an utter disappointment. I’ll pitch for 2 million a year and I’ll pitch better then him. Terrible contract
He was terrible for Twins the last two years. Good luck Tigers!
Kind of a head-scratcher for me. Not sure why Matt Boyd or Buck Farmer can’t give you a 4.52 ERA and 1.50 WHIP for the next two years for 510K per year
They would indeed and at 1 year instead of 2.
ugh thats ugly. You are not going to win a WS with this guy on your staff. I would have rather signed some minor league free agents or someone like Dillon Gee.
When he’s on he’s capable of a quality start but just have him ** ON A SHORT LEASH ** because things can unravel quickly with this guy!
Let’s see what Fister signs for, if he signs for less or the same, it was a big reach on Pelfrey. On the other hand if Fister want considerably more, I guess I can live with Pelfrey, we do have some other positions to fill.
I think the logic was that Pelfrey was basically Rick Porcello at less than 1/2 the price. The only fielder they have that is below average on defense is Castellanos. They figure they can turn Pelfrey into an above average guy with the defense. Perhaps put Romine in there at 3rd for Pelfrey starts.