The Marlins and right-hander Ryan Cook are in agreement on a minor league contract, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (via Twitter). The Excel Sports client would earn $750K upon making the big league roster and could earn an additional $250K worth of incentives to bring the total value of the deal to an even $1MM.
Cook, 32, spent the 2019 season with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball but narrowly kept his ERA south of 5.00 and also spent some time with the club’s minor league affiliate. It wasn’t an inspiring season, to be sure, but Cook’s track record nevertheless has its fair share of appeal.
It’s easy to forget that back in 2012, Cook was an All-Star reliever for the Athletics. From 2012-14, he was a vital member of the Oakland relief corps, pitching to a combined 2.60 ERA and a similarly impressive 2.96 FIP. Cook maintained a ground-ball rate north of 46 percent, averaged better than a strikeout per inning and yielded just nine home runs in 190 2/3 innings across that three-year span.
Unfortunately for both Cook and the A’s, injuries began to mount in 2014-15. A forearm strain and shoulder inflammation slowed him over those two seasons, and he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016. In the five years since the conclusion of that outstanding three-year run, Cook has thrown just 25 2/3 innings at the MLB level — mostly coming with the 2018 Mariners.
The Marlins’ bullpen is anything but settled, which should give Cook a legitimate chance to break camp with the club if he puts together an impressive Spring Training. Drew Steckenrider, Ryne Stanek, Yimi Garcia, Adam Conley, Jarlin Garcia and Jose Urena are all options for manager Don Mattingly in 2020. If Cook can complete his comeback and make it through the season, the Marlins would control him through the 2021 season via arbitration.
This is the deal I was looking for. Cook was the missing piece last season. This contract is going to push the Marlins over the top. The rest of the National League is going to eat our dust. Please don’t start hating on this comment just because you’re jealous.
What happened to the article posted about the Red Sox having a video feed room used for the purposes of sign stealing like the Astros? I swear I saw it in the past 24 hours but now it seems to be deleted from MLBTR. Did this not happen? Am I losing my mind?
mlbtraderumors.com/2020/01/red-sox-reportedly-util…
Thank me later champ
Thanks. I found it on this website through Google and it is definitely back up now. I swear on my life I searched this site up and down and couldn’t find it for hours. I would love if Steve Adams could let us know if there was a situation that caused it not to appear or if I am just confused and somehow missed it while searching for it relentlessly. At this point I think it somehow got taken down for a few hours but I can’t imagine why.
Hey everyone, look — it’s another commenter poking fun at the Miami Marlins. How unique, how oh so clever.
Before the mouth breathers attack, this guy actually has good stuff. All I ask is that the nincompoops looks at the advanced metrics.
He’s an All-Star that averaged 63+ innings pitched with a 2.60 ERA over a span of 3 separate seasons. He was a “vital part” of the A’s pitching staff during that time. This guy clearly just made the Marlins the favorite to win it all next season. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. They are just plain jealous.
Well they were great from 2012-2014. But that was 6 years ago… I like the deal, high upside, Marlins risk nothing, but I’m not optimistic on his career going forward. There is no evidence that shows that he will come back to his 2012-2014 form.