With tonight’s 8pm ET deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players looming, there’ll be several players who agree to one-year contracts for the 2020 season today. It’s common for the day of the non-tender deadline to be a big one for arbitration agreements, though it’s also worth noting that many of the players who agree to terms today will do so at a rate that’s lower than the salary figures projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Broadly speaking, players who agree to terms on a salary this far in advance tend to be those who were at risk of being non-tendered, and their teams are able to use tonight’s deadline as leverage in bringing about a deal that saves them a bit of cash. A look at some of the early instances of players agreeing to terms reveals this to be true already; Mike Zunino ($4.5MM salary vs. $4.9MM projection), Wilmer Difo ($1MM salary vs. $1.2MM projection) and Scott Alexander ($875K salary vs. $1MM projection) have all agreed to lesser terms rather than risk being cast out into the free-agent market.
We’ll keep track of today’s players who avoid arbitration in this post and update throughout the day…
- The Padres have a deal for $1.5MM with infielder Greg Garcia, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. That’s a shade under his $1.7MM projection for the 30-year-old.
- Infielder Orlando Arcia has avoided arbitration with the Brewers, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Though he’s set to lose some playing time, it seems Arcia will be expected to retain a notable role. He’s considered a talented defender at short and was long expected to come around with the bat, but it hasn’t happened yet.
- Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes is in agreement on a $1.1MM deal, per Robert Murray (Twitter link). It’s a guaranteed deal, which isn’t standard for arbitration pacts. Barnes had projected at $1.3MM on the heels of a disappointing season. It seems he’ll be asked to function as the club’s second backstop in 2020.
Earlier Moves
- The Rangers have a deal in place with right-hander Nick Goody, the club announced. He’ll earn $915K, according to MLB.com’s TR Sullivan (via Twitter). Goody projected to earn $1.1MM, so he’s taking a discount on that mark with his new club.
- Just-acquired righty Jharel Cotton has agreed to a $640K deal with the Cubs, Rosenthal tweets. Cotton had projected at $800K but he’s surely focused first and foremost on getting a significant MLB opportunity. He didn’t quite make it back to the majors in 2019 after a long injury layoff but figures to represent a swingman option for the Chicago club in 2020.
- Outfielder Alex Dickerson and lefty Wandy Peralta are in agreement with the Giants, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links). Dickerson settled for $925K, which is well under his $1.2MM projected earning power. The 29-year-old has had trouble staying healthy but usually hits when he is on the field. He rewarded the San Francisco organization for taking a shot on him last year by turning in a .290/.351/.529 batting line in 171 plate appearances. As for Peralta, he lands right at his projected value with a $805K salary. The 28-year-old was claimed off waivers late in the 2019 season.
- The White Sox and James McCann avoided arbitration with a one-year deal worth $5.4MM, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Passan. McCann’s deal checks in a half million dollars north of his $4.9MM projection. Chicago’s addition of Yasmani Grandal has likely relegated McCann to backup duties, so he’ll be a rather expensive second catcher for the South Siders. A free agent next winter, McCann hit .273/.328/.460 with a career-high 18 home runs, but his bat went dormant in the season’s final few months and his .359 BABIP seems particularly ripe for regression.
- The Athletics avoided arbitration with left-handed reliever T.J. McFarland by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $1.8MM, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. That salary effectively puts McFarland in line for the same salary he’d have received had he had his $1.85MM club option exercised by the Diamondbacks. Arizona, however, bought him out for $50K and then ran him through waivers, at which point the A’s claimed him. The 30-year-old posted a 4.82 ERA with a middling 5.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 56 2/3 innings this past season, but he’s a ground-ball behemoth (61.1 percent). He’ll be a free agent next winter and had been projected at $2.1MM.
- Infielder Ehire Adrianza and the Twins agreed on a $1.6MM salary for the upcoming season, Nightengale tweets. The versatile utilityman hit .272/.349/.416 in 236 plate appearances while appearing at all four infield spots and both outfield corners. Adrianza, a free agent next winter, was projected at $1.9MM.
- Outfielder Travis Jankowski agreed to a rare arbitration pay cut with the Reds, Bobby Nightengale Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. After earning $1.165MM in 2019, he’ll be owed $1.05MM in 2020 if he makes the club. A fractured wrist cost him much of the season in 2019, and he was just 4-for-22 when healthy and in the Majors. Jankowski did have a nice season in Triple-A, though (.393 OBP in 39 games), and the Reds gave up some international funds to acquire him, which seemingly indicated that they planned to tender him a contract. He was projected to earn $1.2MM.
- The Nationals announced that they’ve agreed to one-year deals with infielder Wilmer Difo and right-hander Hunter Strickland. (Difo’s deal was reported yesterday.) Acquired from the Mariners in a deadline swap, the 31-year-old Strickland was hit hard with the Nats, yielding a dozen runs on 20 hits (five homers) and eight walks with 15 strikeouts in 21 innings. The resulting 5.14 ERA wasn’t pretty, nor was his work in the NLDS (four runs in two innings). But with a $1.6MM salary projection, a quality track record and a clear bullpen need, he was appealing enough for the Nats to keep around on a non-guaranteed arbitration deal.
- Left-hander Mike Montgomery and the Royals are in agreement on a one-year, $3.1MM contract, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports (Twitter link). Acquired in the trade that sent Martin Maldonado to the Cubs, Montgomery made 13 starts with Kansas City and turned in a 4.64 ERA with 7.2 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.69 HR/9 and a 51.5 percent ground-ball rate. Those are hardly world-beating results, but Montgomery has never really struggled with home runs before, so perhaps the belief is that a correction to this past season’s juiced ball will lead to better numbers. He’d been projected to earn $2.9MM, so he actually came out a bit in front despite agreeing to an early deal. Not only that, but unlike most arbitration agreements, Montgomery’s contract is fully guaranteed, MLBTR has learned. The Royals can control Montgomery through 2021.
- The Phillies and Andrew Knapp agreed to a $710K salary for the upcoming season, thus avoiding arbitration, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). The 28-year-old Knapp has yet to deliver on his prospect status with the Phils, slashing .223/.327/.336 through 579 plate appearances in the Majors (including .213/.318/.324 in 160 plate appearances this past season). With J.T. Realmuto entrenched as the backstop in 2020 (and perhaps beyond), Knapp profiles as the top backup option in Philadelphia for now. He’d been projected to earn $800K and is controllable through the 2022 season.
- The Orioles announced that they’ve agreed to terms on a 2020 contract with left-hander Richard Bleier. The southpaw had a rough go of things in his return from 2018 surgery to repair a Grade 3 lat strain — 5.37 ERA in 55 1/3 innings — but he finished the season strong. Bleier also continued to display superlative control (1.3 BB/9) and elite ground-ball skills (59.9 percent), both of which have helped to offset his paltry strikeout rates to this point in his career (4.3 K/9, 11.6 K%). He was projected to earn $1.1MM, but MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that Bleier has agreed to a $915K salary for the upcoming season.
I might’ve missed the news, but is the Free Agent Contest leaderboard out there yet?
I’d like to see that too, i’ve been gone for a week with a place of no phone service or internet, so I couldn’t check.
Nobody has any right. There, done.
My thoughts
It’s not up yet
Sox have about 22 million tied up in catchers for next year and that will prevent them from signing anyone who can really help them.
What a FOS comment, especially considering the White Sox only had $15MM in guaranteed contracts entering this offseason and are still somewhere in the $80-$90MM range following their FA contracts with Yasmani Grandal and Jose Abreu along with their expected arbitration salaries and MLB minimum commitments to the bulk of their roster that will be playing at the pre-arb MLB minimum. The White Sox still have plenty of offseason dollars to toss at the two veteran starting pitcher, a bullpen arm, a RF and maybe even a DH that Rick Hahn is expected to target this winter.
AS- What does FOS stand for? And I know where the payroll stands but Sox won’t spend money on a major free agent. Veteran starting pitcher? Who? Strasburg? Cole? Bumgarner? dream on. Sox will go cheap as usual and you know it Hahn is expected to do what he is told to do. 70+ for Grandal is it. Sox signing someone else good is not going to happen
The Sox said 100 Mil increase to support the young core. So far that is Grandel and Abreu. Lot’s to come.
Sox will sign some pitchers and players no doubt but not the ones who can make a significant difference
If I wrote out what FOS stands for the comment would be blocked similar to BS. Just switch out the B for FO. Got it?
As for which starting pitchers I expect the White Sox to come away with in free agency, they will target one TOR to a multi-year contract along with another veteran on a shorter term deal as insurance for the back end of the rotation. My guess on the TOR is they will prioritize Zack Wheeler and settle on Dallas Keuchel. I do expect one of the two free agent SP’s to be a southpaw. If they land RHP Wheeler as the TOR look for the short term vet to be a lefty like Wade Miley, Rich Hill or Drew Smyly. If they come away with LHP Keuchel as their top SP look for the backend vet to be someone like Rick Porcello or Ivan Nova.
AS- We have different opinions on what a good starting pitcher is. I see three out there outside of a trade and Wheeler Keuchel and the others you mentioned aren’t in that group. Spending money on a catcher when you already have one is stupid and it takes away from what you can spend on good starting pitching. And Please don’t call my comments a bull**** comment. I don’t say anything about your rambling sixth grade level comments you produce. Lets have fun. Okay? Okay.
Disagree. Reinsdorf spends when it makes sense. Right now it makes sense. Get ready for the AL Central juggernaut to be unleashed.
“Sox have about 22 million tied up in catchers for next year and that will prevent them from signing anyone who can really help them.”
It’s a good thing those catchers can really help them… It’s not like they’re throwing money away.
I found it with a Google search the other day. A bunch of people have 3, for the lead.
Oops. That was last year’s. Sorry about that.
Mr. StandUpGuy
I saw that you replied to one of my comments a couple of weeks ago about how I don’t return your compliments. So here it goes:
All of your comments are so tight that you couldn’t put a tin of Altoids between them.
They are so tight that a Chuck E. Cheese token couldn’t fit.
They are so exceptionally tight that I could pour oatmeal on top of them and nothing would go through.
Your comments are so tight that you have to defrost them for three minutes so you can pull them apart.
They are so tight that my phone can’t even fall between them.
A ladybug would get crushed by the tightness of your comments.
There are multiple human fingers that were severed from people trying to loosen your comments.
They are tighter than when I walk into a Penitentiary and I clench my-oh well, I can’t say that here.
I’m sorry to give you sadness. May this lift you up.
Have a blessed Monday,
PapiElf
Well, this was 17 seconds Ill never get back…
8.5 sec clepto. I stopped half way
Sadly, 25 seconds for me as I read it slowly since I didn’t understand why it was posted. Hopefully someone will soon remove it.
How does this stuff make you all so angry? Lighten up!
Yeah, clepto can’t stand any comment longer that a tweet and struggles with his own typical poorly written replies. If he was so worried about wasting his time he ought to consider foregoing the comment section to begin with or maybe just stick with Twitter where he can then criticize all of my abridged opinions.
Angry? Not at all. It just wasn’t very clever nor cute. When you post something in an attempt to be creative, I’m guessing you expect to get responses. Try not to get sensitive when the responses arent what you hoped for.
Dude, I gave it a chance expecting that I’d get a chuckle out of it. I didn’t. So angry, no. Disappointed? Yes, considering the time I invested in it.
I was trying for it to be seen by StandUpGuy. You all just didn’t understand what the backstory is.
Btw, mrstandupguy didn’t even post here.
I await to see if he comes around. He seems to be everywhere
AAHHAHA! I am here. Await no more! I started laughing historically as soon as I started reading. I was laughing maniacally by the time I finished. You have successfully lifted my spirits and sadness up beyond any point they have ever been. It is a scientific fact that any person in the planet can only accomplish that one way: By making the undeniably tightest post of all time. That is not only the tightest post ever posted… That is the tightest post that will ever be written. I have printed your post out and called Neil deGrasse Tyson (my favorite scientist) to come over and take a look at it. He took an entire day off of filming from his Science Channel show just to come read it. Neil and I have agreed that he is going to hold a open meeting with the scientific community to take a vote on whether or not this post was the “Tightest post that has ever been and will ever be posted.” The scientists that agree it fits that qualification will continue their illustrious careers in higher learning and academia. The scientists that disagree will immediately be stripped of their scientific qualifications and sent to insane asylums. In other words: Their votes won’t count and will never count again because they can’t be trusted as true scientists when they deny the tightness if the tightest post ever made. Dr. deGrasse Tyson has already assured me that as a result of this conference and the rules I just stated being confirmed as beyond reproach that the decision will be passed by a measure of 100% to zero in favor of tightness.
Afterward there will be a short press conference to celebrate the scientific discovery of the tightest post that will ever be posted. Then they will openly mourn the loss of the previously thought great scientific minds that now must spend the rest of their lives in an insane asylum because they were incapable of recognizing the tightest thing this world has ever seen.
I, for one, do not mourn their loss. The idea that anyone would deny the obvious fact that this was the tightest post ever made is significantly worse than denying that Earth is a planet. And to think they actually called themselves scientists.
Congratulations, Papi! You have single handedly made the greatest scientific breakthrough in universal history here. Dr. deGrasse Tyson has already informed me that anyone who disagrees with that fact will spend the entirity or their remaining lives in an 8×8 white padded cell… As they should.
I’ll gladly stay out of this Papi. Standup needs to Liedown. I wouldn’t waste my time if I were you—backstory aside. Sorry I mocked your original post sir.
funny, your wife said the same thing.
Good one.
Sounds like you won’t be seeing her again tho.
And there’s the dumb comment of the day.
…the day is young and havent seen CFAP, Themed or SouthPaw yet today.
Your favorite novelist is here pal. Just keep scrolling down.
You know, everything is not an anecdote. You have to discriminate. You choose things that, that are funny or mildly amusing or interesting. You’re a miracle. Your stories have none of that! They’re not even amusing accidentally. Honey, I’d like you to meet ElfPapi
. He’s got some amusing anecdotes for ya.
Uhh thank you?
Drugs are bad, mkay?
Your comments are so… you know what, forget it
And BTW when is the next mlb live chat?
Phillies #1 priority out of the way — make sure Andrew Knapp is taken care of. I’ll puke if he is their backup when the season starts.
Andrew Knapp is a unique talent as a switch hitter who sucks from both sides of the plate.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and defend this move by the Phils. He’s a former 2nd round pick, switch hitter that has good plate discipline and knows the pitching staff very well from coming up through the system with about 2/3 of them. Plus he was signed at league minimum to be a backup to the best catcher in baseball that will start 130+ games next year. Could have done worse
Lmao. That comment wins the inter web today! Thanks!
well there’s 710 thousand dollars wasted
Montgomery could be a nice deadline piece if he rebounds this year.
I don’t understand why a smart team like the Rays would pay Zunino more than the league minimum. He’s not very good.
I can definitely see keeping Zunino as an insurance plan, but $4.5 million seems like a gross overpay. especially for the Ray’s. Perez looks like their #1 catcher so far…
How unfortunate for the Knapps
Knapp again ?? WTF
Phillies #1 priority taken care of — making sure Andrew Knapp gets paid MLB money. I fully expect Knapp to be named manager or gm shortly after he can no longer handle the physical demands of catching.
Phillies #1 priority taken care of – making sure Andrew Knapp gets paid MLB money. I fully expect Knapp to be named manager or gm shortly after he can no longer handle the physical demands of catching.
i mean, it seemed pretty clear they weren’t going to let ~$150K over the league minimum prohibit them from keeping him. not something im happy about, but not unexpected either.
If the Red Sox front office has been tasked with getting them under the luxury tax threshold for 2020, it will be interesting to see if they get it done and at what costs.
The three batter rule makes keeping Strickland at all a dubious idea. Lefty batters destroy him.
“McCann hit .273/.328/.460 with a career-high 18 home runs, but his bat went dormant in the season’s final few months…”
McCann had one really bad month and that was July, 34 wRC+. He was fine the last couple of months to the season..
Aug, .274/.330/.476, 114 wRC+
Sep .250/.314/.453, 103 wRC+.
prediction…you read it here first…McCann beats out Grandal by all star break…
Disco Dave
Cubs keeping Addison Russell !……..good move on both sides !
Nothing has been announced yet
And nothing good about it for the Cubs.
Classy move by the White Sox to settle any potential arbitration disputes by giving James McCann a raise above and beyond his expected arb number this offseason, especially in light of the Yasmani Grandal signing. It also should be pointed out that GM Rick Hahn and manager Rick Renteria reached out to McCann immediately following the Grandal signing to tell him they appreciated his enormous contribution to the team as last year’s starting catcher and still value him in 2020 as their #2 as this raise in salary would also confirm.
Many teams don’t do business like this. The White Sox took some heat with their signing of icon Jose Abreu for what some deem to be a contract above market value based on advanced analytics. I say good for the White Sox and expect they will continue to reward players who contribute in ways above and beyond their sabermetrics.
I also wish this site along with others would quit saying that James McCann’s “bat went dormant in the season’s final few months”. He had a bad July after a great start and then finished up with very respectable numbers in August and September as this split link confirms: baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=mccan…
Considering the work load that McCann had to put in during most of 2019 when Wellington Castillo was injured and a non-factor when healthy along with the struggles of young Zack Collins during his first promotion, McCann had a remarkable overall season with the exception of one poor month of offense in July.
We all get McCann’s unsustainable .359 BABIP but his finish was encouraging and his overall contribution to the young White Sox pitching staff, particularly in regards to his splendid prep work with Lucas Giolito cannot be understated.
being a tiger fan and an old catcher…never, ever underestimate mccann..
Good points by Aaron.
Most full time catchers wear down a bit by the end of the season. McCann’s second half was nothing more than normal.