Right-hander Dillon Gee has an opt-out clause in his contract that will allow him to become a free agent if he is not added to the 40-man roster tomorrow, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan writes. (FOX’s Ken Rosenthal reported the March 15 date back in December.) According to Flanagan, the Royals have been impressed by Gee’s early results as well as his bullpen sessions, making him a good bet to land with the club. Gee, 29, has yielded a run on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts thus far in camp and could be in line for a bullpen role, where he’d also serve as rotation depth, per Flanagan. The 29-year-old’s contract contains a $2MM base salary and contains $700K worth of incentives based on relief appearances and $3.3MM worth of incentives tied to rotation work. Though he struggled through a down season last year in the Majors and at Triple-A, Gee has a track record as a dependable starter, having pitched to a 3.91 ERA in 639 2/3 innings with the Mets from 2010-14. As Flanagan points out, the Royals have an easy 40-man move to accommodate Gee, should they choose, as lefty Mike Minor can be transferred to the 60-day DL. Here’s more from the Central divisions.
- The transition from Dave Dombrowski to Al Avila in the Tigers’ front office last year was completed in secret, but that hasn’t stopped Dombrowski from remaining friends, Bob Nightengale of USA Today writes. In early August, Avila received a phone call from owner Mike Ilitch, and Avila (after receiving a host of assurances that the Tigers would be able to commit more heavily to analytics, scouting and the international market) agreed to take the Tigers’ GM job during that conversation, three days before Ilitch fired Dombrowski. The situation was “awkward,”as both Dombrowski and Avila describe it — Avila had been Dombrowski’s assistant GM, and the two had worked together for decades in both the Tigers and Marlins organizations. Still, the two remain friendly. “I’m really happy for him,” Dombrowski says. “He’s always worked hard, very knowledgeable, and has been very loyal. I know it was awkward, but I’m glad he got this opportunity.”
- Cardinals starter Michael Wacha makes an interesting extension candidate, writes Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Frederickson quotes Wacha saying that he isn’t aware of any extension discussions. It’s easy to imagine why there might be mutual interest in a deal, though — an extension could potentially keep Wacha in St. Louis longer, and, as Frederickson implies, would begin to increase in cost just as the Lance Lynn and Jaime Garcia deals are set to expire. Of course, long-term deals for pitchers can be risky (Garcia’s long-term deal, for example, hasn’t gone perfectly), and Wacha has been in the league long enough that an extension would likely require a fairly significant commitment. The last starting pitcher with between two and three years of service time to receive an extension was Corey Kluber, who got $38.5MM guaranteed from the Indians following his 2014 Cy Young season.
Dombrowski >> Avila
It’s really not even close..
Please stop commenting on posts forever
Yeah except the fact that the Tigers probably would have won a title had Dombrowski did anything with the bullpen. 2 years and not a damn thing when that was the only thing lacking. Good riddance, as soon as Avila took the job he started working on the problem. Looking forward to this season.
Can you please go away. You’re the worst homer I’ve ever seen in my life!
Almost all of your comments seem biased towards the Red Sox
Avila got a TOR pitcher for 110 mil
Dombrowski got on for 217 mil
Price is obviously better than Zimmerman but Zimmermans value is wayyyyyyyyy higher due to his contract.
Now that is not necessarily true. You can’t base a lot of a player’s value on his contract. Price’s value is way higher than Zimmermann’s regardless of how much they are getting paid.
In my opinion you can base it on contracts. look at a guy like Joey votto who is probably a top 5 hitter in the league. If the Reds were to trade him without eating any salary, they would get absolutely nothing of importance back. Then look at someone like Michael Brantley who is nowhere near votto’s level of talent but could deplete another teams farm since the contract isn’t an albatross.
There’s more to value than trade value. Miguel Cabrera probably has little trade value, due to his contract. His value to the Tigers, however, is immense. Few, if any, are going to be more valuable to an offense, or to ticket sales. As shown by his injury last year, the team struggles without him.
I think Wacha needs prove he’s got his mojo back before the Cards feel good about an extension. Just hasn’t seemed to get back into a consistent groove. Saw him in person last Sunday and was hit around. Marco Gonzales is looking better than him right now.
Wait to extend Wacha, while he pitched well last year, he was inconsistent at times. He’s got a high ceiling, but I don’t know if he’s hit it yet.
Thank you bravesfan
Wacha was only inconsistent after the all star break. Sign him to a long term extension. He is the next Wainwright.
Gee for $5m or Kennedy for $70m?