OCTOBER 30: The Rangers officially declined Kluber’s option.
OCTOBER 28: The Rangers plan to decline Corey Kluber’s $18MM option for the 2021 season, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com (via Twitter). They’ll instead pay him a $1MM buyout. Texas could still look to re-sign Kluber to a more affordable pact, Sullivan adds.
Texas acquired Kluber on the cheap from the Indians last winter, sending reserve outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. and reliever Emmanuel Clase to Cleveland. It was a move clearly motivated by Cleveland’s desire to cut salary, but in retrospect it hasn’t paid dividends for either club. Kluber suffered a Grade 2 teres major strain in his first start with Texas — an injury that ended his 2020 season after just one inning. Up in Cleveland, DeShields was an unproductive member of a below-average outfield group, while Clase suffered a teres major strain of his own in March before being hit with an 80-game PED suspension in May.
This marked the second straight injury-ruined season for Kluber, although the 2019 issues were fluky in nature. Kluber suffered a fractured forearm when he was hit by a comebacker early in the year and then sustained a significant oblique injury while working through his rehab process. He posted just a 5.80 ERA in 35 2/3 frames in 2019, though that was accompanied by a far more palatable 4.06 ERA, and he did punch out 38 hitters in that time.
Of course, Kluber’s overall track record is superlative. He’s a two-time American League Cy Young Award winner — plus another pair of top-three finishes — and a three-time All-Star. From 2014-18, he was unequivocally on the short list of MLB’s most dominant pitchers, working to a combined 2.85 ERA with 10.1 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 over the life of 1091 1/3 innings.
Kluber is now 34 years old and will turn 35 next April, so there’s reason for genuine concern that he’s past his prime. That said, few pitchers can match the upside he brings to the table, and that track record alone should be enough to get him interest on an incentive-laden one-year contract. It sounds as though Texas unsurprisingly would welcome the opportunity to bring him back into the fold, but Kluber seems likely to also generate interest from contending clubs, which could appeal to him at this juncture of his excellent career.
1 year prove it deal in Atlanta?
Sounds like their kind of guy. Let’s hope it’s not Come Hamels 2.0
He would make sense for Atlanta amoung other teams as well. I was thinking White Sox.
He would make sense for just about every team.
Kluber checks all the boxes, as a Theo FA project.
Would be a nice way to help their rotation. They don’t need an ace with Soroaka, Fried and Anderson, but another #3 level starter would be good for them.
I would rather they get Stroman. I would stay away from guys with shoulder issues especially after the Hamels.
Angels were lambasted for not parting with Marsh for Kluber last year. Turns out to be a good non move.
That was a stupid suggestion from the beginning. You don’t trade players you think will be a foundation piece for a pitcher you essentially hope is lighting in a bottle for a year or two.
Agreed.
I don’t know about Dave Clark. I mean, had some decent songs in the 60s but that was almost 60 years ago so he may be out of touch.
Sorry this was supposed to be posted in the Tigers managerial article. My bad.
No worries…..
I’m worried.
I’m worried if you’re worried…
I think this is one of the other four Dave Clarks.
Best wishes to Kluber on his comeback. MLB needs as many dominant SP’s as it can get, and, among those who are not currently dominant, Kluber is as good a candidate as any to return to the fold.
One year 10M base + incentives up to 15M.
He would jump at that deal. I don’t see him securing a base that high coming off 2 wasted seasons in the middle of the offseason headlined by the league losing billions of dollars
I don’t see the free agent market being that great this year with the pandemic and likely no fans again next season.
Seems a bit rich but there could be competition driving the price up.
3/12 seems more logical…..
I would say a 1 year pillow contract is very logical. I don’t know that anyone knows for sure Kluber can even throw at a replacement level and with how stingy contracts could be this offseason I won’t be too surprised if all he can draw is a minor league deal with a spring training invite.
Highly doubt he gets that much, considering the last two years. Cut those numbers by a third and I think that’s where his market is. He simply hasn’t shown yet that he’s the same guy as before the injury.
No way he gets that in this market
I don’t know about that. Kluber is good but not Mike trout good. A 10-15 M deal for one year is a lot of money!!! It isn’t going to happen with any ball club in the MLB. The Yankees may go for it but very unlikely.
Many teams will have an interest if he’s recovered from the arm strain. Maybe he’s done, or maybe he’s still an ace who’s had a run of bad injury luck. The last time he was healthy in 2018 he was still a front-end starter.
Cashman sign him up along with Bauer.
Bauer won’t pitch for the same team that employs Gerrit Cole. He can’t stand him (dates back to their college years).
google.com/amp/s/www.nj.com/yankees/2020/10/could-…
Trevor Bauer was asked about that UCLA coach’s comments (on his own channel), and he quickly shot them down. They had beef, but they still don’t hate each other to this day. The reason it sparked in the first place was the different ways they go about their business. Bauer is a frontiersman when it comes to fusing technology into the game, and Cole believes in a more traditional way to go about it. It’s not a clashing of egos anymore, heck, they’re both nearly 30 years old. He said they’ve gotten over it, and they’d definatley move on if they were both on as successful as a team as the Yankees are… Not to mention the money lol.
Read the article. Bauer accused Cole of cheating in 2018, so this isn’t just an old college feud. They will not pitch together.
@Rangers. I think that’s Boras telling Bauer not to publicly eliminate the Yankees from the bidding war. Remember Bauer called Cole a cheater (in so many words) when Cole was with Houston. And Bauer may be ok with Cole, but is Cole ok with Bauer?
It’s actually Cole who can’t supposedly can’t stand Bauer going back to college days based on his character. Bauer talks about how it’s not true, while Cole has said nothing. No matter, as good as Bauer is, the Yankees will never add that sideshow distraction.
One other note. There’s a lot of speculation that NY is looking to reset their CBT this season, given the revenue losses this year. So if that is true, they won’t have enough ‘cap space’ to sign him anyways, even if he agreed to join Cole & the Yankees. With that said, I don’t think Cole wants him there after their most recent ‘cheating’ feud.
Bauer isn’t a Boras client….
Thanks cheeto. I don’t know why I was thinking he was a Boras client.
And he goes on romantic getaways with his agent lol. It’s obvious that they are dating, and they’ve even been friends since college. They’re both single. Just look up “Momentum” on Youtube, and see for yourself. He has a vlog on that channel, and in the last episode he went to Maine with her.
I don’t think the Yanks will sign Bauer. However, how in the world can you claim, “they will not pitch together” with all the internet certainty you can muster?
You can’t.
You’ve no idea.
Also, I *guarantee* you, if the Yankees *do* give him the best offer he’ll sign. Money talks the rest walks.
@DBF, I agree that he would sign with them if they offered the most money, but I don’t see that happening. As mentioned above, the Yankees are reportedly looking to reset under the luxury tax, so unless they can somehow offload Stanton, I don’t really see it.
There are Yankees employees on record saying that they wouldn’t do that to Cole (bring Bauer on board). Technically you a right that I can’t say with 100% certainty that they will not pitch together but when Yankees front office staff say they wouldn’t do that to Cole, I feel pretty confident in that statement. Read the article I posted above. It quotes those Yankees front office personnel.
Thanks for the link.
He’ll follow the money. Again, I don’t really see the Yanks signing him.
But I think this “feud” is definitely being perpetuated by the media.
If he’s healthy, he’s the guy I want the Yankees to sign.
My guess any other year would be 1 year 10 million to a contender. This will be an interesting case to watch.
I still think JD will sign him to a 1 year 11 million dollar deal or so. Just maybe he’ll have another trade piece at the deadline. I mean, his one inning that he had looked really good lol.
Kluber is going to have to settle for an incentive-laden contract this year. While MLB contracts can’t include incentives for performance (wins, ERA, WHIP, etc..) they can include incentives for number of starts, appearances, innings pitched, etc. If he proves he’s ‘healthy’, I could see a deal with a $4-$5M base and incentives that could bring his total pay up to $12-$15M based on how much he can truly pitch in 2021. With his injury history, it seems to be too risky to give him a standard contract in the $10-$15M range IMO.
I think the common thought taken from this is that he is going to secure an incentive laced deal. That’s why I think the Rangers have a really good chance to sign him and Archer, and both would be on extremely incentivized deals. And it would lock down our rotation:
Kluber
Cody
Gibson
Archer
Allard/Lyles/Hearn
Of course that’s assuming we trade Lynn. It would look a lot better with Lynn, but we are not competitive, so we should trade our good pieces while we can.
Unless Kluber has an affinity for Texas that I’m unaware of (family ties, home state, etc.) I don’t see why he’d want to resign there. He’s 35 years old and has never won so I would think he’d prefer to sign with a contender and a chance at a ring vs. signing with a rebuilding team like Texas. The only way he might do that is if they offer him the most money but it sounds like Texas is looking to pare down it’s payroll this year and not expand it. So unless I’m missing something, I just don’t see the fit for Kluber in Texas, sorry to say.
Kluber needs a place to rebuild his value. So he needs to pitch every day and look to stay in pitcher’s parks as much as he can. Texas provides that.
Get out there, perform, and likely get traded to a contender.
If not, the lack of a state income tax makes the last contract just a little bit better on the take home amount.
It might be that competing teams aren’t all that interested in Kluber, bringing in teams like the Rangers. There really is no certainty as to whether Kluber can still pitch. Maybe competing teams only offer minor league deals with a spring training invite. Suddenly Texas offering a major league deal and a possible trade to a competitor starts sounding pretty good.
He grew up in the DFW area. Many friends still there.. That was one place he was happy to be traded to..
Isn’t Texas a little weak defensively though? I didn’t see them play a single game this year, so I’m just working off numbers where they didn’t score well.
They were bad early on which really brought them down, but IKF, Gallo, Taveras, Trevino, Guzman, White, and Tejeda are all good-great-elite defenders, so they were terrific by the end of the year.
I don’t understand why incentives can’t be based on performance if that statistic is almost solely within the player’s control. Wins isn’t, of course, but WHIP largely is, FIP more so, K/BB rate, and several other metrics. What’s the argument for not allowing these? If it’s the idea of a hard cut-off (e.g., If your WHIP is under 1.200, you get $500K, then just have that bonus start at a WHIP of 1.225 and continue to 1.175 on a sliding scale. Seems like these should be the types of metrics that matter more than just going out there every time you’re supposed to.
They do that so players don’t try to alter the results of their games by going for individual stats versus what the coach calls for. If Kluber had a 2 million dollar WHIP incentive, he might refuse to give a batter an intentional walk because that counts negatively towards his WHIP. The same goes for offensive statistics too. You can’t have incentives around batting averages, HRs, RBIs, etc.. due to the conflicts of interest this could cause.
Blue Jays might be in on him. Cleveland connection. Low guarantee with incentives, have at it.
I’d like the see the Red Sox take a flier on him on a 1-year ‘prove it’ deal. They have a few solid starters but definitely need the help (especially with Sale and E-Rod a bit of ‘?-marks’ health wise) and Kluber would be a good fit because, if back to form, he would be just the front of the rotation arm they need. But if he doesn’t get back to his old self… at least it would just be a 1-year cost that would allow them to stay the course on their “rebuild”. They’re a team that has the potential core to be playoff contenders as early as next season… but they’ll have to get somewhat “lucky” in terms of getting back key pitchers healthy. And I think seeing as their entire playoff hopes are kind of an all-or-nothing situation… it could definitely make sense to bring in such a high-reward/low-risk pitcher on a 1-year deal. If Sale, E-Rod and Kluber were all to come back healthy and productive… and they fill in a few holes in their bullpen… a team with those 3, and some mix of Eovaldi, Perez, Pivetta and their couple of rookie/AAA SPs, their offensive core that’s still quite good and maybe a new 2B… they could legitimately have a chance to make the playoffs just one year after finishing last in the AL-East. Granted those are some big “Ifs” but it’s really not as far fetched as most other “last-place” teams chances are — they still have a phenomenal offensive core group and hitting on a guy like Kluber could really be a difference maker.
Sure, although from Kluber’s perspective, he’d be on a one-year “prove it” deal pitching at Fenway, which consistently one of the top rated offensive parks in the game. It’s a doubles factory. As a hitter, I take that deal. As a pitcher, I look for friendlier grounds. Plus, the entire AL East is filled with pitcher-unfriendly parks. Last, Red Sox don’t look to be a contender. The Twins could be a good fit. Neutral park, good team. Oakland too. Large park, good team that contends in a weak division.
Lmao y’all thought it was an A+ trade for the Rangers. The only thing was that the Indians should have risked moving him a year earlier. He was never the same after 2016, and it was apparent to anyone actually watching Indians games.
Let’s see, Cy Young in 2017, 20 wins in 2018, both years an All Star.. It was apparent to Indians fans that he was a top tier pitcher post 2016.
Tons of mid tier and back end pitching on the market this year. Kluber likely possesses the most upside but his days of glory are getting further and further in the rear view.
Easier to name the places he wouldn’t fit than where he might: LA, NYY, Tampa Bay, are set in the rotation. SD has arms on the way up. Everywhere else, is probably fair game.
How is NYY set in the rotation with all 3 hopefully gone. Paxton, Tanaka and Happ. Kluber would fit nicely behind Cole and hopefully Bauer until Sevy comes back.
As a Red Sox fan, I hate to agree with you but the Yankees do make a lot of sense for Kluber if the price is right. It’s the type of deal that Cashman usually parlays into gold.
Agree on Kluber but Bauer will never happen. Too much baggage with Cole and too expensive while Hal is dead set on ducking the CBT.
Only way Yanks wind up with Bauer is if they cut salary via trades. Even then, I think Bauer heads elsewhere.
We’ll see what happens, could find a diamond in the rough with the right set of hands and good health.
Shut it down!
@Dorothy. Thanks. How did it feel seeing Betts in the WS. Could be the curse of Mookie next.
I was super happy for Mookie (and Joe Kelly)?but it was painful to watch at the same time. Just to think, Pablo Sandoval was one win away from being on a World Series roster himself while the Red Sox finished dead last in the AL East. That’s 2020 for a Red Sox fan!
Sounds like a perfect fit for the Yankees. Also read that Matt Blake and kluber worked out together, so maybe he’ll want to come and work with Blake again.
I wonder if SF could help him mend his wings. They had great results with guys who had demonstrated spark in the past, but lost their way, like Pomeranz, Smyly, Gausman, etc. SF has some well documented needs this offseason in pitching.
that was my thought too – the giants need pitching since the rotation right now is cueto, ?, ?, ?, ?
Does Clase’s suspension begin when he is healthy? if so, so not clasé.
Clase suspension was for the 2020 season. He will be ready for 2021. He was hurt entering spring training last year so he would have likely pitched during 2020 if not for the suspension.
Teams on the rise with young pitching like the White Sox, Braves and Padres would be an idea spot for Kluber. An one deal worth around $8,000,000.00 with a second year team option worth $12,000,000.00 seems to be like a good move.
That sounds fair, though I’d do $7M with incentives that take it to $10M. Let him bet on himself and if he gets those incentives, then he’s earned them.
He looked great before getting hurt. I hope they re-sign him.
Kluber is definitely looking at incentive laden contract. Wouldn’t mind the Red Sox taking a flyer
@Rsox your not winning again for awhile. The new curse of Mookie taking place.
I don’t think we have a Mookie curse to worry about. Verdugo is solid and Duran could be up next season. Sox will be fine
I wouldn’t mind the White Sox taking a chance on Kluber with a one-year deal, maybe with an option for a second year. I think that with Kopech returning and Dunning getting stretched out, though, that RF is a bigger problem than the rotation, which is why I’d rather they get Springer than Bauer. Just a bigger upgrade for the money and Bauer’s wanting to pitch every 4th game, which mucks up the rest of the rotation.
Back to Cleveland?
Doubt it. Cleveland is looking to trade Lindor because he’s too expensive. Plus, even without Clevinger, they still have arguably the best rotation in baseball. I mean, *maybe*, if he could be convinced to come back on the cheap, but I think other teams will offer him more and he’ll just follow the money.
“arguably the best rotation in baseball”?????are you talking about Cleveland man? They may very well be good..upper third, and maybe even top 5….. but they ain’t “arguably the best in baseball”!
Awful lot of questions there with not too much experience other than Carasco.
Bieber is the best starter in the AL and the ace of the Cleveland staff. Plesac is damn good too. They might be young but they proven commodities at this point in time.
If he is healthy he would be a good fit with the Twins….along with Hand anchoring the bullpen
Maeda…Berrios…Pineda…Kluber
Better than deGrom from 2014 through 2018, but a big risk for 2021.
Small base, with significant incentives.
How about 3m, going to as much as 18m for 28+ starts?
Indians should bring him back as a closer or bullpen piece.
Seems almost too perfect a fit for either the Braves or Padres. Both teams could use a starter — like most clubs — but a veteran in particular to guide relatively young staff’s and are unlikely to break the bank at this point. For what its worth, Kluber was once a Padres prospect!
He’d look good as a Blue Jay. Up and coming team. Lots of young stars. Ryu, Pearson, Kluber, Walker, and s plethora of number 5’s to choose from
Kluber could be a SP for the Padres, he could fill the No. 4 spot just a one yr deal, just don’t overpay.