Elvis Andrus is forgoing the first of two opt-out clauses in his eight-year contract with the Rangers, tweets Fancred’s Jon Heyman. Andrus has four years and $58MM remaining on his contract and will earn $15MM in 2019 before again being having the opportunity to opt out of his contract and explore free agency.
Andrus had already told reporters that he planned to be back with Texas in 2019, making the decision largely a formality for the Scott Boras client. This was the logical route for the shortstop, who sustained a broken elbow upon being hit by a pitch early in the season and never really rounded into form after a roughly two-month absence. Andrus, who turned 30 in August, was batting .327/.426/.500 through his first 61 plate appearances of the season when he was hit on the elbow. The injury ultimately him to 97 games, and he was clearly still feeling the effects of the injury upon return, as he batted just .256/.308/.367 when all was said and done.
That’s an enormous departure from the combined .299/.348/.457 batting line that Andrus posted in 2016-17. Paired with well above-average baserunning and a reputation as a quality defender at shortstop, that 2016-17 level of offensive output would’ve created a legitimate case opting out had Andrus managed to sustain it. Instead, he’ll hope to return to form in 2019, at which point he’ll have to consider whether he can top three years and $43MM in free agency as he heads into his age-31 season.
Elvis has not left the building.
LOL
Well, duh.
Elvis is a smart man. Guessing he could get around less half that in the open market now. NYM hired the wrong agent. Should have hired Boras.
Next you’re going to tell me Heyward won’t opt out of his remaining $800M
Exactly why opt outs are terrible for the team. Either the player does well and leaves or doesn’t and stays.
While i agree that opt outs are geared toward the player’s benefit, it’s better than full NT clauses.
Yup. Idiots who try to argue that opt outs are mutually beneficial always cite players like Ian Kennedy and Jason Heyward. Notice how they aren’t opting out.
Teams can happily give the QO or trade the player or resign him still at what is the now market price.
It’s not like teams do that by manipulating service time.
Do that as in hurt the players pocket book* —- so why not the teams.
Depends on the situation. Daniels had a hot team when he gave this contract, only two years past a WS loss. He didn’t end up winning the World Series. But I can see why he wanted to keep that team together, even if it meant over paying Andrus. Boras likely knew this and used it as leverage. A bet worth taking, but Daniels kinda lost.
I wonder if this opt out were available last year if he would have taken it. That contract looked absolutely terrible several years ago. Isn’t amazing after this down/injury year but it isn’t as bad as it appeared then
He probably would have opted out after last year if it would have been available.
Shocking!