Yankees righty Dellin Betances was one of several players who couldn’t agree to terms with his team on a pre-arbitration salary over the offseason, and George A. King III of the New York Post reports that the relief ace ended up being renewed at the league minimum of $507.5K. New York had offered Betances $540K, but dropped it down when he declined (on the advice of his agent) to agree to that amount. To be clear, he’s not complaining; the small protest was, of course, his only recourse. Betances, 28, will be in much better standing next winter, when he’ll reach arbitration for the first time. Though he doesn’t have a big history of saves to bring to the arb table, he has racked up quite a few innings for a reliever and has all the other numbers (including holds) needed to run up a significant tab.
Here’s more from the American League:
- The Astros are readying Evan Gattis for duties behind the plate in the near future, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports. Gattis broke in as a backstop, of course, but the 29-year-old didn’t see any time there last year, as Houston utilized him almost exclusively as a DH (with 11 outfield stings also mixed in). Houston has relied on a combination of Jason Castro and Erik Kratz at the catching position to open the year, having acquired the latter after presumed reserve Max Stassi was lost to injury. He’s expected back before long, but the opportunity to plug Gattis in at times could open some interesting roster possibilities for the Astros.
- While the Rangers already utilized some significant prospect capital to add Cole Hamels last year, the organization could be in a position to do the same for another quality starter at this year’s trade deadline, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. The club’s blue chip youngsters surely won’t be parted with lightly, but Rosenthal says that they could be pried loose if a top-quality, controllable rotation piece can be had over the summer.
- The Twins may be looking at a reasonably protracted absence from closer Glen Perkins, as LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. According to Perkins, his shoulder troubles arose only recently, but he doesn’t expect to be ready after his 15-day minimum DL stint has passed.
- Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval has undergone an MRI on his ailing left shoulder, with results expected tomorrow, team president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters. He’s already been placed on the disabled list, of course. One major factor seemingly underlying Sandoval’s on-field struggles, of course, is his ongoing battle with weight, and Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald provides interesting insight from Sandoval’s former trainer, Ethan Banning. According to Banning, who worked with Sandoval in the winters before the 2011 and 2012 seasons, the former Giants star had to participate in concerted training efforts to cut back the pounds he had added over both of those offseasons. Per Banning, Sandoval’s struggle relates not to exercise but eating habits. He expressed confidence that the 29-year-old can overcome the issue, but suggested that he’ll need concerted oversight to make it happen.
So in other words, Sandoval has to want to care.
The simp[e truth for the Red Sox, no one is going to pay for Sandoval. One bad contract for another is possible but why bother. At this point, acknowledge the mistake and realize it will be a scar for a couple of years and release him. He needs to improve to get a regular spot but he won’t improve unless he gets a regular spot…. end the catch 22.
There are things you can do to make an employee so miserable he will quit or want to change. In Pablos case you can try and void his contract. He will fight this and might win, but this will humiliate him somewhat since it will get a lot of press. He does have a wife and family for example, and people can be jerks. Next you can DL him for being too fiat to play. This will also be fought but there is a good chance they win. If they win they can insist on him rehabbing at a place like API, and any refusal will be grounds for another attempt to void his contract, or at least suspend him. Suspension probably has the best chance of being upheld. When he finally gets to the point where he is ready to come off the Dl and go on the active list, you send him to the lowest minor league level possible for rehab starts, and let him take those long bus rides .
Maybe it does not work, but they tried being nice and reasonable, so its time to get tough
Voiding Sandoval’s contract would be impossible and no team would dare try. The simple fact is Sandoval isn’t the worst contract flop in history. If lack of effort could be used to nullify a player’s contract then some team would have tried many years ago.
Maybe not the worst ever, but very very up there. He was signed for $95MM and was by most metrics the very worst player in baseball last year. I would not be the least bit surprised if he was released tomorrow.
Most other players signed to horrible contracts that big at least have some modicum of value.
Josh Hamilton?
Na, Vernon Wells was much worse than Hamilton’s. And if we want to go back a bit, how about Albert Belle’s Baltimore contract or Bobby Bonilla’s Mets deal? And of course I would be remiss to not mention Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle for the Rockies.
Jason Schmidt’s three year deal with the Dodgers comes to mind.
Belle’s contract with Baltimore was worth every penny for the time he was healthy. He had to retire early due to arthritis in his hip, and the O’s kept him on the roster because the insurance policy the team took out on his contract covered most of the cost. He was a Grade A tool, but a fantastic player who was on track for the HOF before his career was cut short.
Andruw Jones with the Dodgers.
Vernon Wells was pretty bad. That is a good comp.
Not the worst ever, but close
The Red Sox also have some responsibility here. Both front office and fans have publicly bashed and abandoned their player (for what purpose, I don’t understand). Sandoval obviously has an issue with food and weight gain (do you think he doesn’t know?). Is taking this ‘public’ vs keeping this in the clubhouse the right approach (if your goal is the best possible outcome for both sides?) if your goal is to blame others and take no personal responsibility, you are acting out a perfect plan.
I am getting kind of getting tired of Red Sox fans taking every possible angle to blame ‘others’ rather than own up to decision made by your team… Bad contract yes. Did Pablo ‘not’ fulfill his end of the deal, sure. If you are this fed up with him, release him and eat what’s left on his contract … Simple. No need to treat the person the way you are.
Btw he is not a worthless ballplayer (there is no chance he wouldn’t get claimed by multiple teams). Is he a horrible value for what’s left of his $95mm? Absolutely. But that is on the red sox front office NOT Pablo… (I don’t recall any articles when the signed him about what a horrible signing that was at the time (the rest of us wondered what you guys were going to do with defense in having Sandoval and Ramirez on the field at the same time, but hey… It’s your money)
[re voiding contract because ‘weight’] If the Angels could not void josh hamiltons contract (when they had a drug use clause ‘in the contract’) there is NO chance of voiding panda’s contract..
It’s likely 80 % dead money now.. Go on an start developing your club, roster and short-medium term talent. If Sandoval is not part of the equation, be done with it.
Bad contracts are part of the risk a team takes with free agents. I personally think international ‘uber contracts’ are even riskier (the only reason Sandovals contract is worse than Castillo’s is because Castillo is younger, but hasn’t proven he can do ‘anything’ for $65m(?))
If you think back to when they signed Castillo. Which was the bigger gamble, Sandoval or Castillo? (For me it was Castillo)
The Red Sox have been reckless with their money for years… It’s your bed. Own it. Don’t blame the players for signing for the best deal they could (at times when they have maximum value)
Anyway, sounds like Boston needs another stupid team with ‘more’ $ than them to bail them out of their own stupid contracts (eg remember when the Dodgers bailed out the Red Sox of the Crawford/Beckett/Gonzales ‘contracts’? If I recall correctly that was $260 mm ..)
Good luck. But as an outsider looking in, these fingers Red Sox fans are pointing to players should be pointed to your own front office …
The Red Sox and probably no other MLB franchise (except for the Lorias) would attempt such a thing. Those types of shenanigans do not go unnoticed by players and would greatly harm their abilities to sign certain free agents or extend their own players.
I’m not understanding why Dellin Betances turned down the raise. His protest is for the team to pay him LESS money? If that is the case then I’m sure every team will want 40 protestors on their rosters. Yes he will probably get paid very nicely before too long, but what if he gets severely hurt this season like Greg Holland? He won’t be getting those big arbitration salaries AND he will be sitting at home wishing he had that extra money. At the very least, he could have taken the extra $32,500 and donated it to a charity of his choosing. He would feel good about himself, get fantastic publicity, and probably get some extra endorsements out of the deal and of course a worthy charity would get some much needed funds. Instead he is protesting by allowing the team to keep more money. This type of protest is just nonsensical.
Agree 100%
Maybe someone should remind him and his agent that it was his union that negotiated ‘his’ CBA (he should also call gerrit Cole and ask why gerrit didn’t walk away from the $34k in protest).
Anyway betances should call his union and ask their advice. I am pretty sure they would say ‘you can not agree, you can be pissed, but you should have taken the check (signed what they offered) before you walked out of the room.’
Could the Yankees have offered more? Sure. Should they have offered more? ‘Totally’ up to them (per the ‘collectively bargained’ CBA).
I am sure betances, if he has a down year would be more than willing to give money back as well (of course he wouldn’t… Nor would anyone else.)
Honestly, he should find another agent. Boras is an asshole (he is also the best at getting the best deals for his players), but boras does understand the role and purpose of the CBA.
Betances should have taken his money and the ‘agent’ should have taken the heat for ‘whatever point they think they want to make’ (they don’t have any position whatsoever). In the end betances is pissed, he is out $32.5k and he is wrong. Good advice ‘mr agent’
“11 outfield stings?”
Am I missing something?
He played in left 11 times, idk whats to miss
An informal definition of ‘sting’ would be carefully planned operation. So the Astros were being careful about deploying him in the OF. Or it could just be a typo of ‘stints’. Probably just a typo of ‘stints’.
Not for nothing – the Red Sox should have done their homework better when giving out this huge contract. Not just player skills but also lifestyle etc…
Nail on the head right there.
He will be the most expensive guy on the bench for the Paw Sox.
May I present “reasonably protracted” as a new contender for most meaningless weasel words used on this site