With tomorrow’s deadline for exchanging arbitration figures looming, arbitration agreements are likely to flow freely — particularly with a newly universal file-and-trial stance spurring things along. As always, MLBTR’s 2018 Arbitration Projections and 2018 MLB Arbitration Tracker are the places to go for more information. We’ll track today’s deals right here:
- D-backs lefty Patrick Corbin has signed a one-year contract for the 2018 season, the club announced tonight. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that Corbin, who will be a free agent next season, will earn $7.5MM in his final season of arbitration. That comes in shy of his $8.3MM projection, though it’s nonetheless nearly twice what he made in 2017 ($3.95MM).
- The Blue Jays avoided arbitration with outfielder Ezequiel Carrera and lefty Aaron Loup, per Nightengale (Twitter links). Carrera’s $1.9MM salary matches his projection, while Loup’s $1.8125MM payday is slightly north of his own $1.8MM projection. Loup will be a free agent next winter, while Carrera is controlled through 2019.
- Nightengale also tweets that Angels catcher Martin Maldonado has agreed to a $3.9MM salary for the upcoming season, meaning the reigning AL Gold Glove winner behind the dish rather handily trounced his $2.8MM projection. Maldonado, 31, is also entering his final year of team control and will be a free agent next winter.
Earlier Agreements
- Infielder Eduardo Escobar and the Twins have agreed to a one-year deal worth $4.85MM, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. The switch-hitting Escobar will give the Twins a utility infielder with some pop and could see significant playing time early in the year if Miguel Sano is suspended. Escobar will be a free agent next offseason. His salary falls within $50K of his projected $4.9MM payday.
- The Dodgers and catcher Yasmani Grandal have settled on a one-year, $7.9MM contract for the 2018 season, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. The switch-hitting Grandal, long rated as one of the game’s top pitch framers, will be a free agent next winter. He’d been projected at $7.7MM. Nightengale also tweets that righty Pedro Baez will land a $1.5MM salary for the upcoming season, matching his projected salary on the dot.
- ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that the Yankees and Aaron Hicks have settled on a one-year deal worth $2.825MM, placing him $75K shy of his $2.9MM projection. Hicks enjoyed a breakout 2017 season and heads into 2018 as the favorite to play center field on a daily basis in the Bronx. He’s controlled through 2019.
- Meanwhile, FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that hard-throwing right-hander Tommy Kahnle and the Yankees agreed to a one-year, $1.3125MM pact for the upcoming season. Kahnle and his triple-digit fastball will be under team control through 2020. He was projected at $1.3MM.
- Braves lefty reliever Sam Freeman has agreed to a $1.075MM salary for the 2017 season, tweets Nightengale. After bouncing to the Braves, his fourth team in four years, Freeman turned in a terrific season and looks to have secured some stability heading into 2018. He’d been projected to earn $1.2MM.
- The Tigers and catcher James McCann have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $2.375MM salary for the 2018 season, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (on Twtter). McCann, who had a projected salary of $2.3MM, hit .253/.318/.415 with a career-high 13 homers and a 30 percent caught-stealing rate behind the dish in 2017. The Tigers announced the signing shortly thereafter.
- The Athletics have settled with righty Chris Hatcher for $2.15MM, Nightengale tweets, which is just $100K short of his projection. Hatcher will be arbitration-eligible once more next winter before hitting free agency following the 2019 season.
- Mariners catcher Mike Zunino will play for $2.975MM in 2018, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. He had projected at $3.2MM after an excellent bounceback season. Zunino has two more years of arbitration eligibility.
- The Cardinals have settled at $2.6MM with outfielder Randal Grichuk, Nightengale tweets. That falls just a bit shy of his $2.8MM projection. It’s not yet clear whether Grichuk will remain with St. Louis through to Opening Day, though at this point he’d be a part of a crowded outfield mix.
- Angels righty Blake Parker will receive $1.8MM, Heyman tweets. That’s within close range of the $1.7MM we projected for his 3+ service-class season. While the 32-year-old had bounced around since a fantastic 2013 season, he re-emerged in 2017. He gave the Halos 67 1/3 innings of 2.54 ERA ball with 11.5 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.
- The Rockies agreed to a $1,287,500 payday with lefty Chris Rusin, per Nightengale (via Twitter). He’ll fall a bit shy of his $1.4MM projection. Rusin, 31, is fresh off of a strong season in which he compiled a 2.65 ERA in 85 frames. He figures to be a key component of the Colorado bullpen again in 2018.
- The Astros have settled at a $1.9MM rate with outfielder Jake Marisnick, Heyman tweets. That’s just shy of his $2.0MM projection. The 26-year-old earned $1.1MM last year as a Super Two. Marisnick turned in a stunning year at the plate, slashing .243/.319/.496 slash and launching 16 home runs in only 259 plate appearances. Of course, that limited playing time also limited his earning potential.
- Righty Zach McAllister will receive $2.45MM from the Indians, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports on Twitter. Entering his third and final year of eligibility, the 30-year-old had projected at a $2.4MM rate, so he’s coming in right at expectations. McAllister ran a 2.61 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 last year over 62 innings, representing his best full season of work. He has been a steady performer since moving into a full-time relief role in 2015.
.243/.319/.496 slash is considered stunning?
For jake marisnick yes
Lol
Stunning is in the eye of the beholder I guess.
Compared to .209/.257/.331 the year before.
True
An .815 OPS is not something to sneeze at. The Red Sox had exactly one player over .800 and that was Betts at .803.
Once you combine that with his stellar defense and past offensive struggles, I’d say it would approach stunning.
Marisnick had an ISO in 2017 of .252. Who else had an ISO of +/- .252? Jay Bruce, Gary Sanchez, Mike Moustakas, Jose Abreu…you’re telling me you wouldn’t want the power potential of the aforementioned to go along with speed and Gold Glove caliber defense? Wrong. Plus, as someone else on here already mentioned, an OPS of .815 is nothing to shake a stick at. Learn to baseball stats.
Didn’t get enough of a chance vs RHP to know if it was just a lucky year, but there seems to be signs that he figured out a strategy. Generally solid vs LHP. All around nice year for Marisnick in 2017 that showed enough to warrant extra ABs in 2018?
He should be a starter on most teams based off of his defense alone. A little sad he’s blocked from getting significant playing time (barring an injury). He needs regular playing time for sure.
That’s an .800 OPS for a guy that’s an elite base runner/fielder. Damn solid
Given Coors Field and all, Chris Rusin quietly had one of the best reliever seasons for any non-closer (and maybe even including the closers) in baseball last year. Cubs gave up on him way too soon.
Chris Rusin had an era of 5.17 from 2012 to 2015. What in the hell are you talking about?
Exactly what I said. The Cubs gave up on him too early. Sometimes ERA’s in a guy’s early career aren’t indicative of what he has. Good for the Rockies for seeing it.
Nah. I think Colorado just fit him.
Four seasons is enough of a chance for one team. Good for him he turned it around with a change of scenery.
It seems like most players who have reached agreements so far are settling for slightly less than mlbtraderumors’ projections. Presumably, the amounts players make through the arbitration process are now considered large enough that players are willing to settle for just a little less, giving the team a “win,” in order to avoid the arbitration process and stay in their respective team’s good graces.
grichuk is going to be a part of st louis’s outfield, a major part
That’s not a bad thing. He has potential and if he can work out his issues he’ll contribute in a big way. They still have lots of depth to trade away from the outfield without including him.
That guy the Cardinals didn’t take, you know the one, the Angels took him just after Grichuk would look a lot better out there. Now what is that guy’s name.
You know the Cardinals didn’t draft Grichuk, right?
Beat me to it haha
Well yes, technically the cards drafted Shelby miller, but angels originally drafted grichuk and trout.
The Angels drafted Grichuk
before Trout !
Rusin’s nickname is “Swiss Army Knife”. Really happy to see him coming back to the Rockies as he was arguably their second most important bullpen member this past season.
It’ll be interesting to see if they take Antonio Senzatella and morph him into a RH version of Rusin. That’s what I would do.
50 year player & fan of baseball here. What’s an ISO?
SLG (Total Bases/AB) – AVG (H/AB) = ISO
Its isolated power stat. Measures extra base hits.
Angels avoid arb with Martin Maldonado for 1/3.9 mil
Good for Freeman and the Braves. Loved watching him go about his business. I just hope he figured something out and last year wasn’t a fluke. Seems like a likable guy.
Sam Freeman is a guy I would easily put in the bullpen next year. Dude was easily the braves best bullpen option last year. Mix him with some new bullpen guys who can shut down the back half of the game, and you got yourself a solid pen.
No doubt. Key wording is a solid pen. Should be solid, nothing outstanding though but more often than not should close games out when we have the lead which is something the braves haven’t had in a few years
“Mariners catcher Mike Zunino will play for $2.975MM in 2018 . . . after an excellent bounceback season.”
Did you look at his numbers before writing this? Bounce back from what? While not as good as 2017, 2016 was Zunino’s second best season. How does this qualify as a “bounce back” season when the season he is allegedly bouncing back from was his career high at the time?
In 2016 Zunino hardly played at MLB level.
Many of his “career high at the time” stats didn’t qualify for the leaderboard. Gotta play to make a difference. A good August and bad September is basically what 2016 was for Zunino.
2014 was his best year prior to 2017.
And 2016 was his career high in MILB appearances so it’s tough to say 2017 wasn’t an excellent bounceback season when considering his career path so far.
“2014 was his best year prior to 2017.”
Not sure how you justify that conclusion. Zunino’s OPS and OPS+ were much higher in 2016. If you don’t like rate stats, he earned much more WAR in 2016 than 2014.
I understand your point about his time in MiLB, but even playing that “abbreviated” MLB season of 55 games in 2016 he was categorically better and clearly worth more than he had been in 2014.
“ . . . it’s tough to say 2017 wasn’t an excellent bounceback season when considering his career path so far.”
I suppose you could call any season during which he is not sent down to the minors as a bounceback. But part of the point I’m trying to make is that Zunino didn’t bounce “back” to a prior level of performance in 2017, he easily surpassed his prior MLB performance and by a significant margin.
I find a big difference in a guy performing at a league average 0 WAR rate versus a guy getting his 0 WAR by not playing. If you’re not on the roster, you’re value is more negative than zero. There is something quantifiable that gets missed in my opinion.
A 23 year old catcher with 200 PA experience should also be graded differently than a 25 year old catcher with 1000 PA experience. And WAR isn’t some be-all end-all stat. FWAR likes Zunino’s 2014 more by the way.
Semantics on the term bounceback. Your point is valid but to surpass prior performance would still be considered a bounceback in my books. Just a higher bounce in this case.
“ . . . a guy performing at a league average 0 WAR rate versus a guy getting his 0 WAR by not playing.”
There is something to that. Even a 0 WAR player can make some contribution to the team while if you aren’t playing you aren’t helping, snark aside.
“A 23 year old catcher with 200 PA experience should also be graded differently than a 25 year old catcher with 1000 PA experience.”
Depends on what you mean by “graded.” The player produced what he produced, its value doesn’t vary based on the player’s age. If we are talking about future projections then—yes, you would look at those two situations differently. Age is extremely important when looking forward.
“And WAR isn’t some be-all end-all stat.”
Of course not, it’s just a quick and dirty calculation which gives some approximation of value. If you have a different method of calculating a player’s value I can be persuaded.
“Semantics . . . higher bounce in this case.”
Fair enough. I was obviously focused on the “back” aspect but yours is also a legitimate take.
Good talk. All good points.
I messed up on a “you’re” above and thought for sure my entire opinion would be dismissed for the typo.
I say graded, such as giving a grade and comparing seasons. Using WAR is too much of an approximation for me, especially given the partial season in 2016. Considering things such as age, experience, comfort levels, pressure and alternative catchers on roster all lead me to say that 2014 was a much more impressive season than 2016 for Zunino. I could’ve not mentioned age, because getting to that magic 1000 PA plateau was what I hoped to highlight there. Right around when production can start to click. Letting him crush some minors again to come back with confidence and less pressure worked out great.
If I ever find a better method, I’m sure someone will already be famous for it! WAR is a great tool for now. I prefer to average bWAR and fWAR personally. If I had more than curiosity as incentive, I’d try to factor in GP/IP/PA in some way for trying to express some value toward being in the lineup.
Jays only settled with 2 guys? More announcements to come throughout the day?
$1.9M for Carrera and $1.81 for Loup.
Donaldson, Stroman, Osuna, Pillar, Sanchez, Travis, Leone going to arbitration.
**Donaldson announcement as I typed.**
Martin, Smoak, Morales, Tulowitzki, Solarte, Pearce, Happ, Estrada all pretty locked in barring trade.
17 players for around $135M. Spent around $165M the past 2 seasons combined with GM comments seems like there will still be room for more additions. I’m counting 39 on the 40man roster right now. Couple expendables if required but that would likely be further into February.