The Royals are closing in on a two-year deal with third baseman Mike Moustakas, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports (Twitter links), with Jon Heyman tweeting that it’s a done deal. He is expected to be guaranteed $14.3MM in the contract, per Flanagan, with $5.6MM coming in 2016 and $8.7MM for the following year.
With the move, Kansas City has avoided an arbitration hearing with the 27-year-old and precluded any need for future arb negotiations. Moustakas could still partake in long-term talks, of course, but this agreement buys up all of his remaining arbitration eligibility without adding any team control.
In that regard, Moustakas joins teammate Lorenzo Cain in locking in a raise but failing to reach a lengthier accommodation with the reigning World Series champs. Josh Donaldson, J.D. Martinez, and A.J. Pollock are other prominent players who have landed two-year, arb-only pacts as a way to help bridge 2016 salary disputes.
The $5.6MM price point set for the coming season represents the exact midpoint between the sides’ $7MM and $4.2MM filing figures. And it lands just a shade below the $5.7MM salary that MLBTR projected earlier in the winter. Moustakas, a client of the Boras Corporation, had earned $2.64MM in his first turn at the arb process last year.
Moustakas was long considered a significant prospect, but largely disappointed in his first four years in the majors. But a late surge for the surprising 2014 Royals raised hopes that he’d found his groove, and his 2015 campaign suggests he did. Moustakas not only turned in another strong defensive campaign, but surged to a .284/.348/.470 slash and career-high 22 home runs in a performance that dwarfed anything he’d done previously.
With age and glovework on his side, a repeat of that strong effort won’t be needed for K.C. to make out on this new contract. But there’s every hope that Moustakas has matured at the plate and established a new performance baseline, having decreased his reliance on pulling the ball and found success against left-handed pitching.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Crap, I’m a Detroit fan.
Crap? That’s an overpay compared to J.D.’s big bat, Gold Glove consideration, and extra year to prove his worth.
$14.3 million is an overpay for solid defense, .284/.348/.470, and 22 HRs while playing the more exclusive position (when compared to J.D.)? I hate to see what you’re gonna call J.D.’s contract if $14.3 is overpaying.
This is overpaying. Moose has had one good year so far and that’s it. He didn’t look like he should’ve been in the majors a lot of the time the previous couple of years. He has a pretty good glove and decent arm. Makes great plays and stumbles on the brain dead ones. I’d be perfectly fine with them getting rid of him for better options but it won’t happen. I’d say they overpaid by about 4 millions at least over the 2 years.
The dollar amount of this deal is basically irrelevant. It’s not really an overpay nor an underpay. It’s basically what Moustakas will probably earn anyways for the next two years.
Also I don’t see what JD Martinez has to do with Moustakas. Martinez is a better player on a different team at a different position.
i got moustakas ranked between 11 and 14 last season at 3B. he is ok. cant think of anything else to say about him.
Interesting trend going on. Cain, Mousetakas, JD Martinez, all settled for their last two arbitration years, but did not extend further. The 2018 free agent class was thought to be kind of weak. Knowing that could it be these players would rather enter free agency and cash in than take a longer extension? Are the teams even looking at longer term deals? 2018 could be very interesting, as several recent FA’s have opt outs that hit in that year as well.
I think Moose has earned this extension and his numbers show he has improved defensively and grown offensively. If those trends continue, he will command a decent sized contract come Free Agency. Not a bad move by KC but if he were playing for a larger market team, I think the numbers would have been significant;y higher.
People don’t seem to get understand these deals. It’s not an extension. It’s just taking care of this years arbitration and next years arb both right now. It’s not a ‘market size’ thing either. It’s what he earned based on performance in relation to his peers.
Good deal for both sides. I expect Moose to hit around .275, 20 HR, 80 RBI, and play above average defense… Certainly #s worth 7-8 million per. For those of you saying it is high on the dollars, when he hits FA, as long as he doesn’t pull a Jay Bruce and massively regress, he’s looking at 15-20 million per year over 4-5 years.