Six players have elected to change their agencies, following agent Rafa Nieves in his recent move from Beverly Hills Sports Council to the Wasserman Media Group, according to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links).
Among the veterans making the change are a pair of closers — the Royals’ Kelvin Herrera and Alex Colome of the Rays — as well as two Pirates players, outfielder Gregory Polanco and catcher Francisco Cervelli. Two less-experienced players — each of whom has a 40-man spot but is currently at Triple-A — will also move: Athletics righty Frankie Montas and Nationals catcher Pedro Severino.
Of these players, it seems that Herrera’s situation is most interesting. The 27-year-old will be eligible for free agency one final time over the winter. He’s earning $5.325MM currently and will look to build upon that figure before hitting the open market.
Herrera’s case will be an interesting one to track, as he has slipped to a 4.19 ERA this year but has also already posted 43 strikeouts and has served as Kansas City’s full-time closer. With 24 saves in the bank — double last year’s tally — Herrera should be well-positioned to argue for a hefty raise, especially if he can drive down the earned run average before the end of the season.
Also slated for arbitration is Colome, who’ll go through the process for the first time. He, too, hasn’t been quite as dominant this year as he was last. But he’ll bring a loaded resume to the table with 37 saves in the bank from last year and a league-leading 33 added already in 2017. As things stand, Colome has a career 3.16 ERA and has also accumulated more innings than a typical closer (256 2/3) since he also has 19 MLB starts on his ledger.
As for the two Bucs regulars, they’re playing under long-term contracts. Polanco is under team control all the way through 2023, while Cervelli is locked up through 2019 under the extension he signed last year. Both Montas and Severino have seen the majors on multiple occasions, but neither has accumulated significant service time to date. The pair of 24-year-old Dominicans are still a fair ways away from possible arbitration eligibility.
As always, you can find the most up-to-date agency information in MLBTR’s database.
When I wasserman
Is that you Bruce, er Caitlyn????
Eligble for free agency one final time eh? Herrera better sign a 9 yr contract then
Obviously the writer meant arb. Everyone is quick to judge or make fun of someone else.
It is ok to have fun with a typo. Lord knows I make several of them. Just don’t get nasty about typos. Having fun with the typo is far different from the grammar police types that think a writer should quit the business if they make a mistake.
you’re*
i just think the ones that are humorous errors are ok especially when the phone more often than not creates the error. that said, why clog up space – for ones own ego perhaps. With that in mind, I won’t again respond on this.
It took me until the end of the article before it clicked that that’s what it meant. Was really bothering me before that.
Seeing only the headline via the app… it took me a few minutes to realize that Wasserman was a sports agency and not a city somewhere that people are flocking to.
Haha
I thought they were all rooming together.