8:26pm: Bonilla received a $575K guarantee on his deal, tweets MLB.com’s Adam Berry. Considering the right-hander’s lack of big league experience, the minimal guarantee isn’t much of a surprise.
5:25pm: The Pirates announced on Tuesday that they’ve designated left-hander Jeff Locke for assignment and signed right-hander Lisalverto Bonilla to a Major League contract. The 29-year-old Locke has long stood out as a non-tender candidate due to his recent struggles and his projected $4.2MM salary for the 2017 season (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz).
[Related: Updated Pittsburgh Pirates Depth Chart]
Locke functioned as a serviceable back-end starter for the Pirates from 2013-15, pitching to a 3.98 ERA with 6.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 with a ground-ball rate north of 51 percent across 466 innings. However, Locke also averaged fewer than six innings per start in that time, and his numbers declined in 2015 before taking an even more drastic downward turn in 2016. This past year, Locke logged a lackluster 5.44 ERA with a diminished 5.2 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 and a career-low 47.2 percent grounder rate. Right-handed opponents teed off against Locke this year as well, hitting him at a .299/.368/.508 clip in his 127 1/3 innings.
Presumably, the Pirates marketed Locke to other clubs to gauge interest in him and will continue to do so over the next week, but if no deal materializes then Locke will be released into a dismal market for free-agent starters. If it comes to that, it’s certainly plausible that Locke will end up with a 40-man roster spot and perhaps a smaller base salary than his arbitration projection represented in addition to some incentives based on innings pitched. There will be no shortage of teams on the hunt for cheap rotation arms, and Locke is just one year removed from that previously mentioned solid three-year run. (Speculatively speaking, the Marlins could make sense as a landing spot, as former Pirates special assistant/pitching guru Jim Benedict is now in the Miami front office.)
As for Bonilla, the 26-year-old once rated as one of the better prospects in the Phillies and Rangers organizations — he went from Philadelphia to Texas in the 2012 Michael Young trade — but saw his career stall in the upper levels of the Rangers’ system. He landed with the Dodgers on a minor league deal last winter and enjoyed a nice season pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, where he recorded a 3.97 ERA with a 118-to-40 K/BB ratio in 111 innings (13 starts, 18 relief appearances).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
yankees should pick LOCKE up
About time
Oh noooooo! Kidding, with the scarcity of pitching, the Bucs will find him another home easily. Will miss his one out of 6 good starts.
He would look good in a Cub uniform
No, no he would not.
Be careful about what you ask for.
To bad they don’t need starting pitching at all with their current rotation.
GIGO
He will go to Miami, Calling it
I think so too. Not sure if I should like it, though.
Nobody trades for Locke. They can have him cheap in a week or less.
Not too sure about that. Healthy lefty will always be in demand.
My dad who’s a Pirates fan will be thrilled to hear about this move
Pirates have FINALLY done what was needed three yrs. ago. Locke has been nothing but a minor leaguer in a majors uniform. His productivity has been slipping every yr.
Hey thats my uncle!
Not really, i stole that line from the spiderman movie
Thanks for clarifying because I thought it was true.
Locke is probably best suited to be a reliever, ideally for long stretches. He’s shown he isn’t a starter. If he goes to the bullpen, no way could he close out a game. So it would have to be long relief.
I bet he’s out of baseball in a year or two but will probably make just as much selling Kias. Kidding. But it’s easy to make over 200k annually, sometimes over 300k, selling Kias. My buddy does it.
Locke has battled ever since coming up. Was an All Star in 2013 and ended the year being booed off the field by the Pittsburgh faithful after his last start. Didn’t even make the squad out of spring training in 2014. No respect from management or fans. I’m glad he’s out of Pittsburgh because it’s what’s best for him.
Locke’s pitching deserves no respect lol.
But if anyone wants a starting LHP that can go 5 innings maximum and has a quality start 1 in every 6 outings, Jeff Locke is your man.
Surprisingly Locke’s career resembles Cashner’s who just signed a 10M deal.
actually Locke’s QS rating before ’16 wasn’t near that bad.. not that good but at or above 50% most years..
during his career as a starter he averages about five and a half innings.
Have liked Locke since he came up. While his overall numbers have gone down the last couple of seasons, he has looked very serviceable at times. For all the praise that the Pirates staff gets for pitchers though, they could not repair him.
Can’t repair? He reached his peak lol. He just stinks. Made an all star team though. Somehow.
18 starts
2.15 ERA
8-2 record
109 innings
You being obtuse?
I’m fairly certain this guy is also the punter for the Vikings. At least he has a back up gig.
Hope he goes to the Halos
I’ve thought Locke to the Angels was a perfect fit for a while. He could be a decent #5 for them.
Would be a great sign for teams looking to fill out a back end of the rotation guy and at a cheap price. Has a GB% that’s ridiculous and shows he can produce outs given a league-average infield behind him. Change of scenery can bring him back to his 2013 All-Star form and bring his ERA down at least a full point just by looking at his xFIP.
Santa came early for Pirates fans this year. Locke and Charlie Morton came to the Pirates in 2009 in the Nate McLouth trade. It took six years to get rid of Morton and seven to dump Locke. Attempting to pass either one off as a pitcher (let alone a major-league pitcher) was an insult to fans. It is sad that Houston will try to foist the recently-signed Morton on their fans as a pitcher and sadder that someone will do the same with Locke.
“Like”
Thanks. I “like” my comment also. Wish it wasn’t true.
Right, because that’s what MLB teams are trying to do.
Another beleaguered pirates “fan” that holds personal grudges against players.
Have never met the man, so I have no reason to hold a personal grudge. I have, however, watched him “pitch” for too many years. If you had watched him, you would have been able to make a more accurate comment.
the last piece of the nate mcclouth trade…
“solid 3 year run”….say what?
It’s for the best. Locke’s destiny was always on the island.
Locke to Angels plz
Jays should pick this guys up and use him as a LH specialist out of the bullpen !
Maybe he can become the next Andrew Miller/ or Zach Britton !!!
I can see Locke end up with the Mariners.
I went to the St. Louis Game vs Pirates in St. Louis Oct 1, 2016, First to see a baseball game and visit a Stadium other than Fenway Park, two to see a National League game, and Three to see Jeff Locke whom I considered a friend as I played with / against growing up in Laconia, NH. I said Hello to Jeff in the Bullpen, received a hello gesture by waving his hand but then turned immediately around. It’s terrible to see this as I was genuinely excited for him but the respect I got back in return wasn’t. Jeff and I played against each other in High school, I was from LHS, and Jeff from Kennett , I always enjoyed playing against him as his curveball always ran in tight making for a difficult time.. Then I played against Jeff in American Legion Baseball I played for Wilkinson Smith Post 1, and Jeff played for Plymouth, NH Post.
My Message if Jeff reads this is Remember those whom you played with, and stop selling your pitches that’s why every hitter has had success. Jeff received pitching instructions from John Albert Bagonzi Jr, whom pitched for the Red sox, and then began teaching baseball in Woodsville NH.
I hope an American League team will consider Jeff and to continue to use 2016 as a growing year and stepping stone to reach what is in store in the future. All the best Jeff.
Adrian Fitts – Laconia NH