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Archives for January 2017

Diamondbacks To Sign Chris Iannetta

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6:10pm: Iannetta will receive $1.5MM on a one-year term, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter).

4:10pm: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a deal with catcher Chris Iannetta, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Terms are not known at this time.

Arizona had already signed veteran receiver Jeff Mathis, presumably to pair with Chris Herrmann behind the dish. Instead, perhaps, Herrmann will continue in a broader utility role, as he did last year.

[RELATED: Updated Diamondbacks Depth Chart]

The 33-year-old Iannetta hasn’t hit much recently, but was a high-quality OBP threat over the 2012-14 campaigns. If he can bounce back in the BABIP department, perhaps he’ll return to being a solid offensive force. There are also questions behind the dish, where Iannetta has wavered in pitch-framing ratings. He emerged as a top-quality framer in 2015, but fell back to receiving poor ratings last year.

Rockies Avoid Arbitration With Charlie Blackmon

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6:18pm: Blackmon will receive $7.3MM, Heyman tweets. Chatwood, meanwhile, lands closer to his projection at $4.4MM, per MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (via Twitter).

6:09pm: The Rockies have avoided arbitration with center fielder Charlie Blackmon, the team announced. Colorado also has struck a deal with righty Tyler Chatwood, wrapping up the team’s arb work for the winter.

Neither salary has been reported at this point, but both players are expected to command significant raises after strong season. MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz project Blackmon at $9MM and Chatwood at $4.8MM. The former is in his second season of eligibility, with one more to go, while the latter will be a free agent after the 2017 season.

Mets Avoid Arbitration With Jeurys Familia

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The Mets have avoided arbitration with closer Jeurys Familia, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). The righty will receive a $7.425MM salary.

The 27-year-old Familia had another strong season on the mound in 2016, providing 77 2/3 innings of 2.55 ERA pitching with 9.7 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9. Importantly, for arbitration purposes, he also recorded a hefty tally of 51 saves.

MLBTR had projected Familia to earn $8.7MM in 2017 after his productive campaign. But the second-time arb-eligible pitcher is facing a possible suspension after being charged over the offseason in a domestic violence incident. Though the charges were dropped, and the matter doesn’t technically impact his case, it may well be that the team had some extra leverage to exert.

 

2017 Arbitration Filing Numbers

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MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker is the place to go to see the arbitration contracts agreed upon thus far, as well as the figures exchanged between teams and players that were not able to reach agreement before today’s deadline to swap salary positions. Matt Swartz’s arbitration projections are available here.

After a busy day of dealmaking, 152 players (at last check) have reached agreement on arbitration salaries for the coming season. But 36 other tendered players have yet to reach reported agreements with their clubs. Of course, those players can still settle before their hearings (which will take place in early to mid-February). If the case goes to a hearing, the arbitrator must choose one side’s figures, rather than settling on a midpoint.

We’ve gathered the highest-stakes arbitration situations remaining — those where the player files for at least $4.5MM — in this post, but you can find them all in the tracker. We’ll update this list as the figures are reported:

Cubs Avoid Arbitration With Jake Arrieta

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The Cubs have agreed on a salary to avoid arbitration with star righty Jake Arrieta, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). He’ll receive $15.6375MM in his final trip through the arb process.

MLBTR’s model had projected Arrieta to earn $16.8MM, but as MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz explained recently, it seemed likelier that he’d land closer to the $16MM level when analyzing comps. The deal exceeds the $15.525MM contract reached by Max Scherzer and the Tigers before the 2014 season, though unsurprisingly Arrieta comes nowhere near the year-over-year raise achieved that year by Scherzer.

It remains unclear whether Chicago will be able to work out a longer-term arrangement with the talented righty, who is now 30 years of age. He didn’t come anywhere near repeating his 2015 Cy Young campaign in his most recent season, but Arrieta still turned in a productive year. Over 197 1/3 innings, he pitched to a 3.10 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.

Tyson Ross Nearing Decision

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Veteran righty Tyson Ross is nearing a decision on his landing spot, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports on Twitter. The Rangers and Cubs have long been said to be the leading suitors, but there are at least four other clubs with ongoing interest.

Last we heard, the 29-year-old Ross was said to be taking his time with deciding where to sign. But it seems that he has largely sorted through the various offers, which apparently have come from quite a few organizations.

It’s not yet clear just what kind of deal Ross will land, but presumably he’s seeking a one-year pact. He surely hoped to hit the open market in search of a much larger and lengthier agreement than he’ll command, but he missed all of 2016 and is still working back from thoracic outlet surgery.

Yankees Avoid Arbitration With Michael Pineda

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The Yankees have avoided arbitration with righty Michael Pineda, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). He’ll receive $7.4MM in the deal, which is $400K shy of MLBTR’s projection.

Pineda, who’ll soon turn 28, earned a solid raise over his $4.3MM salary from 2015 despite an unsightly 4.82 ERA and just six wins. He did log 175 2/3 innings and struck out 207 batters on the year (against just 53 walks), which no doubt aided his cause.

This is Pineda’s final season of club control before he reaches the open market. His K/BB tallies remain impressive, but Pineda has been hurt by surrendering a lofty BABIP (.339) and too many home runs (1.4 per nine innings).

Braves Acquire Micah Johnson From Dodgers

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The Braves announced that they’ve acquired second baseman Micah Johnson from the Dodgers in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Johnson was designated for assignment earlier this week to clear a spot on the roster for Kenley Jansen when his deal was formally announced.

In Johnson, the Braves are adding a left-handed-hitting utility option with plenty of control and perhaps some upside, too. He has been on the prospect radar for some time, though he hasn’t performed well in limited major league action.

The Dodgers acquired Johnson as part of the three-team Todd Frazier deal. At the time, he was coming off of a year in which he started out as Chicago’s second baseman, and put up excellent numbers at the Triple-A level following a demotion. But Johnson struggled at the highest level of the minors in 2016, slashing just .261/.321/.356, and saw only scant action with Los Angeles.

Speed and plate discipline have long been Johnson’s calling cards, but there are some worrying developments in both regards of late. He no longer tries to steal quite as much as he did in his breakout 2013 season, and was cut down on 11 of 37 attempts last year. Also, he surged to a 20.4% strikeout rate at Triple-A in 2016, far more than had been his custom.

[RELATED: Updated Braves Depth Chart]

It doesn’t help that Johnson isn’t regarded as a top-quality fielder and doesn’t have much pop. Still, it’s easy to see why the Braves were willing to take a shot on his talent. That’s not to say that Johnson is likely to make a serious challenge for MLB time right off the bat, as Atlanta already employs a similarly functioning player in Jace Peterson — another 26-year-old, left-handed hitter who spends most of his time at second base.

Orioles Avoid Arbitration With Britton, Machado, Tillman

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1:48pm: The Orioles and Tillman have also avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $10.05MM deal, tweets Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com.

12:20pm: Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports that Manny Machado also avoided arb with an $11.5MM deal (Twitter link). That checks in $300K north of his projection from Swartz.

11:11am: The Orioles and superstar closer Zach Britton have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a hefty $11.4MM salary for the 2017 season, reports Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (on Twitter). The Scott Boras client’s salary is an exact match with the $11.4MM projection of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. Britton will be arb-eligible once more next winter before becoming a free agent after the 2018 season.

Britton, 29, is coming off one of the most dominant seasons of any reliever in history. One of the best relievers in baseball (and arguably the best), Britton led the American League in saves with 47 and posted a comically low 0.54 ERA with 9.9 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 in 67 innings of work. He also posted an outrageous 80 percent ground-ball rate that is the highest mark in Major League history of any qualified starter or reliever dating back to 2002 when the stat was first tracked.

As can be seen in MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker, Britton was one of nine Orioles players that’s eligible for arbitration. The team has six players remaining, in the form of Kevin Gausman, Chris Tillman, Brad Brach, Jonathan Schoop, Caleb Joseph and T.J. McFarland.

Nationals, Bryce Harper Avoid Arbitration

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The Nationals have avoided arbitration with right fielder and 2015 NL MVP Bryce Harper, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that Harper will receive a hefty $13.625MM salary — a massive raise over his $5MM salary from the 2016 season. Harper’s raise shattered the $9.3MM projection of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz and stands out as the largest raise ever given to a position player that is entering his third year of arbitration eligibility. Harper will be arb-eligible once more next winter and is a free agent following the 2018 season.

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