The Dodgers have signed veteran righty Louis Coleman to a one-year deal, his representatives at Frontline Athlete Management announced. He’ll receive $750K in the MLB contract, per Devan Fink (via Twitter).
Set to turn 30 on Opening Day, Coleman has spent his entire career to this point with the Royals, but was designated and eventually released earlier this winter to clear the way for Ian Kennedy. He had agreed to a $725K arbitration contract, meaning that Kansas City will remain on the hook for thirty days of salary (or a shade less than $119K). Los Angeles will also have the chance to control him for two more years via arbitration.
Coleman appeared in only four big league games last year and struggled in 2014 as well. But he posted strong results at Triple-A, with a 1.69 ERA and 8.9 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 over 64 frames, and has put up some interesting results in the past.
Over a three-year run from 2011-13, Coleman was rather quietly excellent. He tallied 140 1/3 innings of 2.69 ERA pitching, racking up 10.3 K/9 vs. 3.7 BB/9 while surrendering less than seven hits per regulation game. Though his fastball sits in the 89 to 90 mph range and he otherwise relies heavily on just one offspeed pitch (a slider), Coleman has been able to generate huge swing and miss numbers at times.
s/o to my man Devan Fink! Kid’s a great reporter, I worked with him briefly on a Facebook blog– He’s going to be something good.
Potentially nice addition for the Dodgers here. Coleman has the ability to be dominant as a righty specialist. Just has to keep the ball down with his arm angle. Hope he has success. Always been a fan of the guy
A MLB contract. Interesting. Presumably this means the Dodgers can’t designate him without the risk of the player declining the assignment and returning to free agency. If so this makes him essentially a glorified camp invite.
I believe the Royals ended up designating him at the start of last year during Spring and he cleared waivers so I am guessing that even if he doesn’t make the team out of Spring, he would clear waivers again and the Dodgers could stash him as a bullpen depth guy they could call up during the season.
That said, I could see Coleman making the team out of Spring Training over a guy like Yimi Garcia or Baez may end up in the minors, if they struggle in Spring.