The Dodgers have announced the re-signing of infielder Howie Kendrick to a two-year contract. Reports suggested the deal will pay the veteran $20MM.
New details on the payout have been reported today by Jon Heyman (Twitter links). Kendrick will receive $10MM annually in each year of the contract, half of which will be deferred. But Heyman suggests that the deferrals won’t significantly reduce the contract’s value.
The 32-year-old Kendrick will also cost the Dodgers the opportunity to add another draft pick. He previously declined a $15.8MM qualifying offer, which obviously did not pay off in the end. But it’s hard to fault Kendrick and his reps for that decision, as he seemed to be in line for a much bigger payday; MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes, for instance, predicted that Kendrick could land $50MM over four years.. (And it isn’t as if the downside scenario is all that bad.)
Bringing back Kendrick not only plugs in a talented veteran, but effectively adds to the Dodgers’ already impressive depth. Going back to 2010, Kendrick owns an excellent.289/.332/.418 slash. His steady contributions at the plate have been accompanied by good-enough work in the field and on the bases, making him an above-average regular.
While Kendrick says he’s “thankful” to be returning to L.A., he also tells Bob Nightengale of USA Today that he was shocked at how his market played out. Interest was minimal despite his long track record of sturdy production, said Kendrick, with the QO-driven draft compensation seemingly proving a significant impediment.
“I figured there would be quite a few suitors for me, and nobody was really calling,” said Kendrick. “Here it is, getting close to spring training, and you keep hearing the same thing over and over. Nobody wanted to give up that draft pick. It was a shocker.’’
Indeed, while market peculiarities probably also played a role — including relatively low demand and several trade candidates — it is hard to deny the impact of the qualifying offer. Ben Zobrist was heavily pursued and earned a $56MM guarantee, while a lesser (albeit shortstop-capable) player in Asdrubal Cabrera earned nearly as much as Kendrick. While fellow QO recipient Daniel Murphy fared better, his own $37.5MM deal also came in shy of expectations.
Kendrick paid a high price to test the market especially if his deal contains deferred payments. OTOH, he has earned $38 million and it is technically still a raise over 2015.
If they think they’ll possibly want to come back, I wonder if the players on the QO bubble ever consider taking it and working out an extension for a year or two.
Maybe, keeping in mind that a player accepting a QO goes right back into that situation again after the following season. Possibly we are beginning to the dollar value of the draft pick. Around $4-5M?
@rayraner, I agree totally. He rolled the dice and lost and paid a high price for doing so.
While I agree with many that the Qualifying Offer system needs looking at, I find it very hard to feel sorry for a player who rejected a 15.8 million dollar one year deal in the hope of getting an even bigger deal and more years.
Kendrick is worth more but baseball is littered with players who are paid less than they could make on the open market. Loads of younger that haven’t hit free agency are an example of that. It sucks but there are plenty of rules out there preventing many other players from making “free market” value.
So given that… I’m kinda sick of reading the “Poor Howie” articles written by some in the media who don’t seem to think that 15.8 million for one year of work is a tidy sum.
He a older vet but with Turner at 3rd and don’t know how his knee will hold. It good to know they have ultey be a option if Turner couldnt play or needs like 2 days off a week. All good to have depth. Plus every bench if can play other spots it not like they are only 2nd baseman. So not a bad sign
Maybe its the draft pick or maybe the draft pick is a convenient cover. The market for position players played out very strangely, and had me thinking 1986-87 all over again. Several guys having to return to their former team at salaries below what were projected because nobody else seemed interested
I doubt that there was collusion. I think this year’s class was so deep that teams may have had their fill of spending already.
I remember that frustrating time in the 80’s when no one would bid on a free agent. Andre Dawson begged Dallas Green for an offer. Cubs signed him for just $500K.
Makes me wonder what the market for Desmond will be when he eventually signs.
And now you understand why players hire Scott Boros as an agent more than Larry Reynolds, who has no major clients.