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Players Avoiding Arbitration: Thursday

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | January 10, 2019 at 8:51pm CDT

The deadline for teams and players to exchange arbitration figures is tomorrow afternoon at 1pm ET. With the vast majority of teams now adopting a “file-and-trial” approach to arbitration — that is, halting negotiations on one-year contracts once figures have been exchanged and simply going to a hearing at that point — there will be a deluge of arbitration agreements in the next 24 hours. It’s a minor deadline day in terms of newsworthiness — outside of the largest cases, at least — as few arbitration cases will have a significant impact on their team’s overall payroll picture. From a broader perspective, though, the exchange of arb figures is perhaps more notable. With most or all of their arbitration cases out of the way, teams can focus more heavily on the trade and free-agent markets.

As always, it’s interesting to refer back to MLBTR’s annual arbitration projections. Here are the day’s deals:

  • The Tigers will pay Shane Greene $4MM for the coming campaign, Murray tweets. Entering his second year of eligibility, the 30-year-old had projected at $4.8MM, owing largely to his strong tally of 32 saves. Despite appealing K/BB numbers, though, Greene finished the season with an unsightly 5.12 ERA.
  • Righty Nick Tropeano settled with the Angels at $1.075MM. (That’s also via Murray, on Twitter.) That falls well shy of his $1.6MM projection. The first-year arb-eligible hurler was not terribly effective in his 14 starts last year and has just over two hundred career frames in the big leagues, due in no small part to a long rehab owing to Tommy John surgery.

Earlier Updates

  • Newly acquired outfielder Domingo Santana will earn $1.95MM in his first season with the Mariners, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. That’s just a touch below the $2.0MM that MLBTR & Matt Swartz had projected. The 26-year-old Santana swatted thirty long balls and had a productive overall 2017 season, but only received 235 plate appearances in the ensuing campaign — over which he hit five home runs and carried a .265/.328/.412 slash — before being dealt to Seattle.
  • The Angels are on the hook for $1,901,000 to rehabbing righty J.C. Ramirez, Robert Murray of The Athletic tweets. Ramirez will receive a nominal raise on his 2018 salary after requiring Tommy John surgery after just two starts.
  • Phillies righty Hector Neris has settled at $1.8MM, according to Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter links). He had projected at $2.0MM but will settle for a bit less in his first season of arb eligibility. Right-handed starter Jerad Eickhoff, meanwhile, is slated to receive $975K. His projected first-year salary was much higher, at $1.7MM, but Eickhoff presented a tough case since he missed virtually all of his platform season with arm troubles.
  • Southpaw Ryan Buchter has agreed with the Athletics on a $1.4MM deal, Nightengale of reports on Twitter. That lands just a smidge over his $1.3MM projection. Soon to turn 32, Buchter worked to a sub-3.00 for the third-straight season in 2018, but only threw 39 1/3 innings while working as a lefty specialist.
  • Red Sox reliever Heath Hembree will receive a $1,312,500 salary next year, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports (Twitter link). Starter Steven Wright checks in just a shade higher, at $1.375MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Both players had projected in this range, with Swartz pegging $1.2MM for the former and $1.4MM for the latter. It’s Hembree’s first time through the process and Wright’s second.
  • First-time arb-eligible righty Scott Oberg settled with the Rockies for $1.3MM, according to Nightengale (via Twitter). It’s $100K over the projected rate for the 28-year-old hurler, who turned in far and away his most productive MLB season in 2018.
  • The Yankees have a $1.2MM deal in place with first baseman Greg Bird, Nightengale was first to tweet. Though he had projected a bit higher, at $1.5MM, Bird’s relatively robust number of home runs (31 total in 659 career plate appearances) were threatened to be overshadowed in a hypothetical hearing by his rough overall stats over the past two seasons. He’ll need to earn his way back into a larger share of playing time in 2019.
  • Infielder Travis Jankowski will earn $1.165MM with the Padres, per Murray (via Twitter). He projected at a heftier $1.4MM, but the Super Two qualifier will still earn a nice raise after his best season in the big leagues. Jankowski will be looking to crack 400 plate appearances for the first time in the season to come.
  • The Nationals have agreed to a $1MM contract with righty Joe Ross, Murray also tweets. Though Ross projected at $1.5MM for his first season of eligibility, that was based largely upon the innings he accumulated over the prior three seasons. Ross made it back from Tommy John surgery in time for only three outings in 2018.
  • A pair of backstops have also put pen to paper on new salaries. Curt Casali will earn $950K with the Reds, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). John Ryan Murphy has a $900K agreement with the Diamondbacks, the elder Nightengale tweets. Casali, a Super Two, had projected for a $1.3MM salary, while Murphy projected at $1.1MM in his first arb year.
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Arizona Diamondbacks Boston Red Sox Cincinnati Reds Colorado Rockies Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels New York Yankees Oakland Athletics Philadelphia Phillies San Diego Padres Seattle Mariners Transactions Washington Nationals Curt Casali Domingo Santana Greg Bird Heath Hembree Hector Neris J.C. Ramirez Jerad Eickhoff Joe Ross Nick Tropeano Ryan Buchter Scott Oberg Shane Greene Steven Wright Travis Jankowski

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View Comments (35)
Post a Comment

35 Comments

  1. Juggy

    6 years ago

    It would be great if Greg Bird can’t perform on a higher level and turn some heads. He has such a nice swing for Yankee Stadium

    2
    Reply
    • stoth15

      6 years ago

      tired of hearing about this dudes swing, seems to me he’s the next nick johnson

      8
      Reply
      • yogineely

        6 years ago

        Seriously, as a dodgers fan who is always in nyc, I hate seeing this dude being advertised with Stanton Sanchez and judge as the new murderers row. He barely plays

        8
        Reply
      • Matthew De Lorge

        6 years ago

        Completely agree, Bird is made of glass apparently, and there is a lot to compare with good ole’ Nick. Bird has a lot more power potential than Nick did, but also the same potential to break his leg sitting down on the couch.

        8
        Reply
      • joepanikatthedisco

        6 years ago

        At least Johnson could hit. Injuries aside, a career 123 OPS+ (111 w/ NY) is nothing to sneeze at.

        4
        Reply
      • ShieldF123

        6 years ago

        Don’t slander the good name of Nick Johnson like that. At least he could hit when he was healthy

        4
        Reply
        • Orangejedi23

          6 years ago

          And field

          3
          Reply
      • mbrunette48

        6 years ago

        Which means Bird will be league average hitter after he leaves NY, just like Nick Johnson.

        Reply
    • spot45

      6 years ago

      Yeah nothing more needed in the rf band box.

      Reply
    • southpaw2153

      6 years ago

      Never did, and I still don’t, understand the love for Nick Johnson. He was terrible defensively and he was a fat lump of crap with minimal power. Only thing he did well was work the count.

      I expect the Yankee hate from non-Yankee fans, but I didn’t see Yankee fans killing Bird when he hit some big HRs off Miller and Giles during the 2017 playoffs.

      Yes, Bird has something to prove, but the ability is there. Yankees need his lefty bat in that lineup and I’m hoping he finally puts it together this year. Even Judge has claimed that all the young guys that came up through the minors together always considered Bird the best hitter of them all.

      Keep hating, I’m going to enjoy it when Bird proves everyone wrong.

      P.s. He is a decent defensive 1st baseman. Better than meathead Voit, for sure.

      Reply
      • xabial

        6 years ago

        “P.s. He is a decent defensive 1st baseman. Better than meathead Voit, for sure.“

        Voit is a meathead? Bird is a slug. Bird is slow. as molasses. Also remember that in the 2017 playoffs.

        Voit had a .333/.405/.689 batting line and 14 home runs over 39 regular season games for the Yankees. I’ll spare us the time of Bird’s stats — ok maybe not .199BA 11HR

        6
        Reply
        • southpaw2153

          6 years ago

          Yes, because foot speed is such a huge part of any 1st baseman’s game. Lol. Go back to studying, young lady.

          2
          Reply
  2. nop990

    6 years ago

    Jankowski is an outfielder

    Reply
    • nuschler22

      6 years ago

      Nonfiction

      Reply
    • JohnnyMcStickySubstance

      6 years ago

      #fakenews

      Reply
  3. xabial

    6 years ago

    Greg Bird getting a raise is everything wrong with Arb.

    And you projected him to get even higher than 1.2M? lol

    9
    Reply
    • thegreatcerealfamine

      6 years ago

      I’m waiting for the post talking about “he needs more at bats”, “you obviously don’t watch the games”, and the old “he’s just 26”. The comparison to Nick Johnson from earlier is quite appropriate.

      8
      Reply
      • Begamin

        6 years ago

        $20 says you wouldve given up on Hicks too if we could turn the clock back to 2015.

        absolute no nothing fool. tell me whats wrong with saying that a young player with a good amount of potential needs more ABs before you can correctly evaluate his abilities. i’ll wait

        2
        Reply
        • Bocephus

          6 years ago

          Bird can’t hit, can’t field, can’t run, and above all can’t stay healthy.

          6
          Reply
        • Matthew De Lorge

          6 years ago

          Actually Bird is the best fielding 1B on the team and gets around the bag quite well. As far as his running and health you are 100% correct. His hitting I am not going to just agree with you on because he has shown signs of being a good hitter and sucking.

          I wonder how much of it is health related, how much is pressure he is putting on himself, and how much is the injuries eroding any ability he has to hit?

          1
          Reply
        • driftcat28 2

          6 years ago

          He can field and run though…I’ll give you the hitting case because last year was atrocious, and obviously the health issues. I’m giving Birdy one more year to put something together before writing him off completely

          1
          Reply
        • Begamin

          6 years ago

          +Bocephus
          Regardless of what you think, your response has nothing to do with assertion i made. You did not “tell me whats wrong with saying that a young player needs more ABs before you can correctly evaluate his abilities”. Why even reply to me?

          Reply
        • Begamin

          6 years ago

          +driftcat28
          I with you on giving Bird one more year. If he disappoints then move on. As of now I think it is too early to judge him one way or the other. He hasnt really had a proper crack at it if you look back at his career. Anyway, the Yankees’ offense is so good they can afford to take risks like putting Bird/Voit at 1B. 1B can be a black hole for offensive production and they still might score the most runs per game on average this year (they were 2nd last year even with injuries to the majority of their best hitters. Judge, Sanchez, Gleyber, Didi, etc.)

          That being said, i think its worth questioning how much his prior injuries were affecting his hitting abilities. I wouldnt make a conclusion about his hitting one way or the other because of it.

          Reply
        • Bocephus

          6 years ago

          If some other organization wants to give the AB’s more power to them.

          5
          Reply
        • Begamin

          6 years ago

          +Bocephus
          The Yankees are one of the few organizations that can let 1B offense do nothing and still have the best offense.
          More power to the Yankees if they want to give Bird/Voit ABs.

          Reply
  4. RedKing22

    6 years ago

    Ugh, I don’t really think JR Murphy is worth bringing back. The defense is there, but the offense is just not good enough. I’m sure we would’ve been better off bringing a couple catchers in on Spring Training invites and weed out the competition for the backstop job.

    Reply
    • costergaard2

      6 years ago

      JR caught the last pitch Mariano ever threw…

      6
      Reply
      • RedKing22

        6 years ago

        Wow that’s a fun fact actually, I assumed it was McCann. Pretty big moment for JR I’m sure. But in terms of his serviceability, AZ is better off without him.

        Reply
  5. aussiegiants53

    6 years ago

    The use of the word smidge has made my day haha

    Reply
  6. manos

    6 years ago

    Bird is awful and can’t stay healthy to boot. If the Yanks were smart they’d keep Andujar and move him to 1st and look for another infielder.

    1
    Reply
    • KnicksFanCavsFan

      6 years ago

      Bird isn’t moving anyone. Voit is (or should be) the starting 1B in 2019.

      #voitfor2019

      3
      Reply
  7. driftcat28 2

    6 years ago

    I still love Bird and love his potential. I want to give him one more season to prove he has something. I think it’s really a matter of being healthy for a season. No freak spring training injuries (fingers crossed). If he starts healthy I think he’ll turn in a solid season. I have my doubts about Voit and think the yanks will need Bird’s swing in Yankee stadium

    2
    Reply
  8. Guest617

    6 years ago

    little league right porch should be a check swing for bird

    Reply
  9. JJB

    6 years ago

    Ouch… Matt Swartz was way off on most of these with his little “model”. Time for a few tweaks.

    2
    Reply
  10. Scrap1ron

    6 years ago

    Negative performance resulting in lower compensation. What a sensible concept.

    Reply

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