Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen provided details on two of the team’s three option decisions, as Hazen told The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro that the D’Backs will exercise their $5.25MM club option on righty Merrill Kelly and decline their $9MM club option on outfielder Kole Calhoun. The fate of Tyler Clippard’s $3.5MM mutual option (with a $500K buyout) is still undecided, Hazen said.
There wasn’t much suspense in either decision, as Kelly had a pretty solid year in his return from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. Kelly posted a 4.44 ERA over 158 innings, delivering his usual quality walk rate to help offset a lot of hard contact and a below-average strikeout rate. The Diamondbacks are hoping Kelly can match or better this performance in 2022 as the team looks for more stability in the rotation.
Next season will be the final year of Arizona’s control over Kelly, as per the two-year, $5.5MM contract with two club options that he signed back in December 2018. With this final option year now exercised, the deal will work out to a four-year, $14.5MM pact.
Calhoun signed a two-year, $16MM free agent to join his hometown D’Backs during the 2019-20 offseason, and hit .226/.338/.526 with 16 home runs over 228 plate appearances in the shortened 2020 season. That solid performance was followed up by an injury-plagued 2021, as Calhoun underwent a knee surgery in Spring Training and then a left hamstring surgery less than two months later. His rehab from that second procedure was extended by a setback, and Calhoun also spent another month on the IL with a strain in that same left hamstring late in the year.
All told, Calhoun appeared in only 51 games and hit .235/.297/.373 over 182 PA. Calhoun might have been a trade chip had he been healthy, either back in July at the trade deadline or perhaps this winter, if he’d hit well enough for the Diamondbacks to exercise that club option. Instead, the D’Backs will buy out that $9MM option for $2MM and Calhoun will hit the market in advance of his age-34 season.
A return to Arizona could be unlikely, as while Hazen praised Calhoun for being “awesome for us in and out of the clubhouse,” the D’Backs already have quite a few left-handed outfield options. Calhoun hit both left-handed and right-handed pitching pretty evenly for a lot of his career, but over the last three seasons has developed more traditional splits. It seems likely that Calhoun will catch on with another team in need of some veteran pop from the left side of the plate, and Calhoun’s right field glovework has remained pretty good, even amidst all his leg injuries in 2021.
Kole Calhoun is still a good add but maybe at half the amount the team declined.
Calhoun was great during 2020 and Dbacks and a few other teams could use a cheap veteran in the clubhouse.
His 2021 was a loss due to injuries.
Lol
What’s the joke there? Not a fan or anything but Calhoun has always been a solid regular. Not a star by any means but a positive contributor.
He’s misterlol.
Ask no more questions.
Just not a good fit in Arizona anymore with all the young lefty outfielders they have both in the majors and coming up quick from the minors. He’s an Arizona guy so it’s a shame his tenure didn’t work out better
Its so sad to see that 2020 slash line being referred to as solid or great. Yes he is a great teammate, but hitting an occasional dinger does not make a batter solid or great. Raise your standards.
@stym I would certainly consider an .864 OPS solid or great, certainly when combined with solid or great defense. Look at more than just the average and might find a solid player. Perhaps even a great one.
49 home runs in 742 at bats for Calhoun in 2019 and 2020 is not an “occasional dinger”, it is among the top in baseball.
By comparison, in a similar number of at-bats, in 2020 and 2021 combined, Bryce Harper hit fewer home runs, 48, and Harper was top ten or better in mvp in 2021. Now Harper gets on base far more than Calhoun and the players have nothing in common other than home runs. But when healthy Calhoun hits a lot of home runs and might be comparable to an Adam Duvall which is good enough to make many rosters as a platoon player or 4th outfielder and is a starter on a few teams.
140 WRC
Tyler Clippard is the most underappreciated players in baseball. He’s had ONE season over the past 14 years in which he’s had an ERA+ below 102. Mind you, this isn’t due to SSS, he’s just been that consistently good for that long. And looking at the entirety of his 15 year career, he’s only had two seasons with an ERA+ below 100, his first being his rookie season in ’07 in which he pitched in a mere 6 games – 27 innings – as a starter for the Yankees.
Clippard seems like a nice guy and I agree that he is consistent, it’s just that his ‘21 ERA contributed to the almost worst bullpen in MLB. The Dbacks are forced by that fact to almost completely tear down the bullpen and build from scratch. Any one of several minor leaguers in the system can give the Dbacks the same productivity/or lack of it…for way less than $3.5M. So, I think Clippard needs to go. The bullpen is the best place for the Dbacks to give young guys a chance to prove themselves in ‘22 and then contribute to a better team in ‘23.
Oh, I completely agree. The point of my post was just a Tyler Clippard appreciation post, but him and the D-Backs aren’t a match. Hopefully he can go to a team where he’s valued. Maybe Blue Jays, Mets, or Tigers.
Making room for Alek Thomas.
Wow the off-season comes at you quick
Without Calhoun, the Dbacks ‘22 OF will be Peralta LF, Alek Thomas CF and a group effort in RF with Pavin Smith, Josh Rojas and Josh Vanmeter, with McCarthy as the 4th OF.
Seth Beer in right field, Varsho can play outfield too. Rojas is a second baseman. Pavin will be at first more. Dbacks will likely be terrible again but they do have a lot of versatile young players that they need to give playing time to. Wish they would make the call to move on from Ahmed, and they may be looking to trade Walker. They need a 3rd baseman.
Unfortunately Seth Beer is a defensive liability, whether he plays 1b or RF. I know the Astros used him in the OF, but the Dbacks have used him exclusively at 1b. The hope is that the NL will adopt the Universal DH rule in ‘22 so the Dbacks can try out Beer as a DH. Otherwise, the Dbacks best move is to trade Beer to an AL team for relief pitching.
Rojas is best as a multi position super sub, but will probably start the year as the 3b. Ketel Marte will be the 2b in ‘22 and moving forward.
The only FA the Dbacks should sign are 2-3 backend of the bullpen arms (LHP and RHP).
And they should trade SS Nick Ahmed for a reliever too, and install Gerardo Perdomo as the SS.
They have a terrific OF prospect who should be ready next year (following the obligatory service time manipulation – assuming the new CBA doesn’t eliminate that) in Alek Thomas.
The Dbacks actually have two terrific OF prospects…if Christian Robinson can overcome his legal problems.