The Mariners and Angels are both showing some degree of interest in free-agent righty Kevin Gausman, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Gausman has also been tied to the Blue Jays and the incumbent Giants, who have been active in the rotation market this week.
Either Seattle or Anaheim would make a sensible destination for Gausman, who enjoyed a breakout showing in San Francisco over the past two seasons. Gausman, who signed a $9MM deal with the 2020 Giants and returned after accepting an $18.9MM qualifying offer, pitched to an even 3.00 ERA with a 30% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate in 251 innings with San Francisco from 2020-21. Both the Mariners and Angels are known to be on the hunt for rotation upgrades, and Seattle in particular has the payroll space to accommodate any free agent on the market.
The Mariners have just four players on guaranteed contracts for the 2022 season and a fairly light arbitration class beyond slugging right fielder Mitch Haniger. All in all, Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez projects a payroll in the $59MM range — more than $100MM lower than the franchise’s previous record-high. Seattle is also in the market for a big right-handed bat in the infield, but the only locks in the rotation at present are Marco Gonzales, Chris Flexen and Logan Gilbert, so some rotation help is sure to be added as well. The biggest question for the Mariners is whether they’ll take the plunge on a pair of marquee free agents (e.g. Gausman and a big-name infielder) or stick to one free agent and make their other big addition on the trade market.
Down the coast in Orange County, the Angels have already made one significant splash in the rotation, adding Noah Syndergaard on a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $21MM. Syndergaard added another high-upside arm to a rotation mix including reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Suarez, Jaime Barria and top prospect Reid Detmers — but the Angels could certainly use a more established and durable arm like Gausman to help stabilize the top end of the rotation.
The question for the Angels is whether they’ll buck a longstanding trend of eschewing long-term deals for pitchers. As recently explored at MLBTR, the last free-agent starting pitcher to whom the Angels committed multiple years was Joe Blanton way back in 2012. The Halos’ recent signing of Aaron Loup was just the third pitcher — free agent or otherwise — the Angels have signed to a multi-year deal since that Blanton signing (the others being a two-year extension for closer Huston Street and a two-year deal buying out Ohtani’s first two arbitration seasons).
The last pitcher the Angels signed for three or more years was C.J. Wilson (five years, $77.5MM) a decade and three general managers ago. The Angels have pursued other free-agent starters on multi-year deals in that time (and reportedly made an offer to Steven Matz this week), but the team has never been comfortable with the top-end prices required to sign those pitchers at the end of the day.
Gausman, now free of a qualifying offer and having repeated his 2020 K-BB% gains over the course of a full season, is likely in position to command a free-agent deal of at least five seasons in length. Gausman ranked fifth on MLBTR’s Top 50 free agent rankings at the beginning of the offseason.
Doesn’t mention them, but please.. Boston avoid this dude along with Stroman.
I agree. Gausman is not without talent, but I never trust a guy with a career year when his contract is up. It just screams for reversion.
Actually two good years. Until 2020, he and Heaney were the only two pitchers in baseball with top not peripherals who were not good.
How well did I the Angels do with Heaney?
That’s strictly not true. He was awful in the second half of last season. He was good for 60 games in 2020 and half of last season. By my count that’s barely a season.
Years of watching Gausman pitch for Baltimore has given fans of ALE teams a different valuation him.
2020 was less than 60 IP and only a 118 ERA+. Bar is pretty low if that’s “good”, which he should benefit from inflated SP contracts. If he’s pitching in a large park with a decent defense behind him, he’ll be a 2-3. I keep hoping Kyle Wright will turn into Gausman (decent SP that puts is altogether later), but he probably won’t until 2 years after the Braves.
He was not awful in the second half. He was mediocre. He allowed more than four runs once and four runs twice.
I’m not sure you know what awful means.
He’s been good for more than two years, but two good seasons in a row and his lifetime ERA+ is 105. I would rather have other pitchers, but awful.? Why hurt your argument with hyperbole?
RunD. Clearly not the guy you want to invest heavily in.
Now watch Toronto sign him and let Ray walk. Conversely, sign Cobb, who’s done well in ALE and resign Ray.
If 100 ERA+ is MLB average, then career 105 ERA+ even on some bad BAL teams, paying for his aged 30-35 seasons at premium SP rates is bound for substantial regression. “Good” is the adjective that continues to attach to him, but he’s going to be paid to be “great” and I’d really doubt that, but it’s not my money.
@Halo11Fan – Minasian was AGM in ATL, so he’s seen Gausman up close and might be more impressed with his SF results, which is intriguing. Wish he could have put it together earlier in ATL, but glad he’s had some success. I always like former Tiger pitchers.
RunDMC. I think you are spot on.
An ERA+ of 105 with innings has a lot of value. It’s a valuable #3. You shouldn’t be paying him to be a top of the rotation starter. And since the Angels have a six man rotation, those innings are less valuable.
There are other pitchers.
@braveslow, did you watch him pitch last year? I watched every single game, and I can tell you, you are incorrect about Gausman’s 2nd half. He definitely did struggle immediately following the AS-game for his next 4-5 starts. Then, he completely righted the ship and pitched well down the stretch. The problem with Gaus is he’s really just a two pitch guy and if his otherwise nasty splitter is off, like after the ASG, he gets lit up.
The Giants coaching staff allowed Gausman to reach his full potential. His slider is an elite pitch. But when he doesn’t have a feel for his slider, he is very vulnerable.
@ Halo11Fan;
Gausman was always ballyhooed, but never came close to living up to it. The Giants got the potential out of him the past few years. He would probably be better staying with that coaching staff.
There are endless cases of players suddenly putting up good numbers with a new team, they leave in FA or trade, and never do that well again. 5 years from anyone other than the Giants is a very high risk.
@Joe Says.. Agreed. Pitching in the NL West is a completely different animal than pitching in the AL East. That said, he may do well in Seattle or Anaheim.
True words. Sometimes the coaches and environment bring out the best in you. Going to a new team, new coaches and philosophy for a few extra million is often times a mistake.
Splitter, you mean ?
MLB average for starters is less than 100 ERA+ (because they get charged for stranded runners, and relieving is easier than starting)
Didn’t he avg 95 mph w a nasty splitter? Seems promising given his recent numbers, no? Are we just worried he’ll fall back into his former self?
I was excited when the Braves traded for Gausman. He was quite good after acquired in 2018. In 2019 though he was so bad he didn’t even make the postseason roster. I’m just glad none of the prospects the Braves gave up to get him haven’t amounted to anything. I’m still not sold on Gausman after 2019.
He was claimed on waivers by the Reds in august of 2019. Thats why he wasn’t on the Braves postseason roster
There’s a very good reason Gausman did not make the Braves 2019 post-season roster. He was on the Reds roster. Claimed off waivers in August.
I’ll never understand why Stroman gets so much hate from the majority of people. He’s probably better off not signing with Boston and their racist fans anyways
They hated Ortiz and Pedro.
Only a moron would inject race here.
Disagree. Boston is a horrible place for black players both visiting and on the Sox. This is one time it is fine to inject race into a conversation.
The list of complaints ranges from Torii Hunter, CC Sabathia, and Adam Jones (all genuinely respected throughout the league) to Sox players like Crawford. Torii specifically had a no trade to Boston clause in every free agent contract.
Look at how long the Sox tried to sign Betts to an extension and he wouldn’t. Yet 5 minutes into his stay in LA he gladly put pen to paper.
I’ve taken my half black nephew to games in several ballparks. We aren’t stepping foot in Fenway, though.
You are trying to make this something it’s not. Stroman does not get hate from the majority of people. Aside from this app I’ve never seen/heard people talk bad about Stroman. Also, what about Ortiz, Pedro, Bogaerts, Devers, and more I’m probably forgetting. They were loved in Boston, and I know that from across the country, and not a Boston fan. Plus, most Red Sox fans love Cora too
Don’t forget Jim Rice, Don Baylor, Mo Vaughn, Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez. Heck they even loved Jose Canseco when he played there.
If Boston were inherently racist than how come the Celtics and Patriots don’t have problems signing players?
Stroman brings it all on himself. Racism has nothing to do with it
I highly doubt Stroman is longing to play in Fenway and be taunted every day. You’re safe there.
he looks kinda like another recent-ish Giants ace in that photo…
Timmy #55
I know you said recent-ish but isn’t it crazy to stop and think Lincecum’s last good season was ten years ago? My god where does the time go
Being a Giants fan, I like Gausman but am concerned about the Giants going after him especially if he wants a five year contract. He wasn’t that sharp in the second half of the year. Batters were laying off his splitter that would drop out of the strike zone. Given what he’s done these last two years, wish him good luck.
@jints1 I agree, he’s a good pitcher but maybe a risk at the new price. All the FA SPs remaining come with risks, but if the Giants go for anyone I’m betting it’s Jon Gray. A trade for a top SP is more likely.
As a staunch Giants fan, agree 100%.
In addition, Gausman’s wife had some complications after giving birth in July. If I remember right, his missed some starts snd came back rusty.
I think he’s a solid #2 or #3, worthy of a 4-year contract. With his splitter, he’d be a solid set up
guy on the back end of the contract.
Somebody out there will go 4 years and there’s no way the Giants front office will match. Surprising enough that they went 3 on Desclafani giving his anomalous 2021.
Yawn.
Haven’t seen much good, significant Mariners news for quite a while . . .
So I guess this next week is going to get hectic. Jerry Dipoto is probably going to do it all in about one big slam, all at once.
(He always gets lots of style points.)
Hard pass for me ! He did well in the NL with the SFG, but he’ll get tare apart in the ALE if he comes to the Jays ! He’s a former Orioles !
I would have rather taken the chance with Thor, now he’s a Halo
1.Synderguaard
2.Ray
3.Berrios
4.Ryu
5.Manoah
Would have been good too !
Looks like Cashman is sleeping through another off season
Cashman should at least make an effort for Cobb
I think you should blame Steinbrenner, at least in part. He doesn’t spend nearly as readily as his dad. When George ran the team, Cashman had a lot of leeway to get the best guys. That said, I do think he’s fallen down on the job a little in terms of roster construction. Too many big, slow, lumbering guys and little depth in the rotation.
Want no part of Gausman. Hope you are wrong about Cashman, so far I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. Need to end up with a defensive catcher, SS, CF, and 1B. Wouldn’t mind a starting pitcher as well. Let’s see what happens after Dec 2nd.
“Need to end up with a defensive catcher, SS, CF, and 1B. Wouldn’t mind a starting pitcher as well.
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@ Mickey777;
The 2nd highest team payroll in 2021, and this is all they need?
He’s coming from the best division in baseball.
Syndergaard would not be the #1 in that rotation.
Like Ray got torn apart coming from the NL West? Like Ryu making that transition in 2020?
The reason the Angels have not signed a multi-year pitcher deal is because for several years now all they have signed are other teams’ throw-aways and guys hoping for a bounce back season. Moreno has shown he doesn’t value pitching. So we have been hamstrung by huge position player contracts like Pujols, Hamilton, Upton et al. Because of that, the only thing we could afford, based on Moreno’s personal salary cap of about 175m, are pitchers who are cheap to test for one year at a time. Many of them have failed, which was predictable in most cases.
It looks like Minasian might have Moreno’s ear and some money to change things around a bit. I hope Thor and Loup aren’t the only meaningful pitcher signings this winter. However, we are now seeing the all too familiar “the Angels are in on XXXXX” articles which usually ends in “they must have wanted to play elsewhere” when we lose out on them because we low balled them. (Notice we didn’t see any such articles leading up to the Thor or Loup signings.)
I’m hoping things are different this winter. We need another starter and 2 more BP arms including a legit closer. We have a few defensive short stops already in house so I’d rather spend the money Minasian has left on pitching rather than a shiny FA SS.
Dead on, Artie needs to go but the greedy owner won’t increase the budget to $200 million.
Sign Suzuki for RF, trade Adell and Barria to the Reds for Castillo and then focus on the BP. Closer first and then Lorenzen as either swingman or setup.
urnuts – I don’t go as far as bagging on Moreno because he is wealthy. Being successful isn’t a crime, it’s a blessing. Everyone has a budget that they live within, including you and me. Neither of us would spend more than our budget just because someone told us to and neither should Moreno.
What needs to change is Moreno’s propensity to spend too much of his budget on bats, leaving too little to spend on pitching. That seems to be changing a bit but it’s still early in the winter. Your specific suggestions could be one way to fill our needs, but not the only way. I prefer to let the baseball people make those decisions. As long as the pitching is addressed in a meaningful way. There are many ways to do that.
I do blame the owner for a few reasons.
First I respect teams that operate in a controlled budget and make smart decisions. These teams ownership trust the front office to do their job.
When Artie purchased the team he stated that his budget would remain just below the tax line to allow for mid season adds. Initially he followed this but as the tax level increased the team’s budget for the most part remained in the 150 to 180 range with dead weight.
I blame him for most of the poor contracts handed out and feel he has never taken ownership for these poor decisions. It would have been nice if he came out after the Hamilton debacle with Poor decision, we will eat the contract and add $20 million to the budget while his deal is on the books.
Yes it is not my $, but the value of the team has increased $1 billion during his ownership. You should purchase a sports franchise to win, not as an investment, but because you are a sportsman .
I moved from Anaheim 24 years ago to work for an owner in the SF Bay Area who’s priorities were winning first, players welfare, fans experience, and the bottom line was more about okay we are going to lose $ if we are not in the playoffs so let’s make it happen.
7 best years of my career. He was the best owner in a boutique sport, was a true sportsman. Bottom line we made money because we won.
Artie needs to trust his GM and stay out of the way. Bump the budget to 200 and spend and trade wisely.
They have an opportunity to add Suzuki for $12 million a year, trade for Castillo ($11 million) budget another $20 million for a closer and setup man, and sign M Inf for $10 to $15 million.
I agree, I blame Moreno too as I described. But it’s his money to spend. He has to make pitching a priority if we are gonna take advantage of this potent lineup. Hopefully Minasian has the correct authority to do what he did in Atlanta and build a pitching staff to get us to the post season.
Moreno will not increase the budget to $200m. Again, his money, his prerogative.
One Moreno got the stadium deal, the property becomes tied to the ownership of the team. Which means if he’s making millions on the property, that should be spent on the angels.
I don’t blame Moreno for being the second or third highest bidder on every pitcher he covets. I don’t blame him for then reallocating that money on a position player.
But someone needs to be held accountable for our bullpen. It’s fixable and it doesn’t take a lot of resources. It makes more more sense to spend 20 on a bullpen than 1 starter. The risk can be spread around, more innings will be pitched, and higher leverage innings will be pitched. And you don’t need 5 year contacts.
As a fan of an AL West team that is NOT the M’s or Angels, I think either place would be fantastic.
This move has Angels written all over it. 5 years of wondering why Gausman can’t pitch like he did for a few months in SF back in 2021.
I don’t see him going to the Angels. The M’s have the money. They need two top of the rotation guys. I think they will out bid everyone,,, and there is no state income tax in WA.
That’s fine too.
Angels please stay far away from this guy. Even without the QO it’s a bad choice. Career 105+ era is not an ace, plus he’s over 30. This has bad idea written all over it. It’s bad enough Thor was only a one year deal, don’t lose more draft picks, international money and another bad contract
His career ERA+ is misleading. He’s been at 117 or better the last 2-1/2 years.
And you say he doesn’t have a QO attached to him, but you mention not losing draft picks and intl money, which Gausman would not cost a team…
Someone bought a great point about sticky stuff on the ball. Since they started checking, he’s gone back to mediocre.
As an Angel fan, I wouldn’t touch him. Too much risk for what appears to be a lengthy and expensive commitment.
I’ll take the L on the draft pick part, misread the article. I still don’t want a 30+ pitcher with a very small track record of auccess
Overrated pitcher, wouldn’t be too thrilled about my team signing him
This guy was in the Cy Young conversation in his first half. He may have come down to earth a bit in the second half, but there was nothing to suggest that his pitching was either a fluke or outlier. Most of the time, that splitter is freaking nasty.
He’ll probably be a good to above average pitcher for the next 2-3 years, even if the bidding ends up going to 4-5 years.
This guy has been one of the Yankees favorite punching bags over the years and my fellow my brethren would probably agree lol. I’d avoid him like the plague unless it’s a 1 year deal
Gausman? More like Boss-man!
Not an Angels fan, but I’d actually like them to sign Gaussman, just to let the rest of the baseball world know that they do place some small value on pitching. It’d be a welcome change after the huge deals to Pujols, Upton, Rendon, and Trout, only the last of which has really worked out.
Valuing pitching would mean they would go after Max or Stroman, and re-sign Iglesias. So getting one of the first two, Iglesias, and one more bullpen arm would be great. They would have to pay Max a lot of money, but the contract would be 2-3yrs and not the potential of 4-5yrs of Stroman.
iglesias is way too expensive. and i don’t think he can repeat what he did for the angels.
I don’t expect RPs who pitched out of their shoes to repeat. The position is too volatile. Try to find guys who miss bats, keep the ball in the yard, have reasonable splits, a recent history off success, very good control who you can sign without long term commitment and/or breaking the bank.
It is why Loup is such a good signing. He’s likely to be good without the long term commitment at a workable price tag.
Iglesias doesn’t check all those boxes. Try to find a couple more RPs who do. They are not easy to find.
The Angels need at least three RPs who are likely to be good. They have one.
Agree @Halo. I would like to see them go all-in on Max though on a 2yr contract, since the Angels are only looking short-term for pitchers. Although I feel he is looking for a 3yr.
I like Gausman just fine but not necessarily at the price he’ll command. I’d rather have Cobb at half the cost, which would still leave you in the running for someone like Ray if you were really serious about investing in pitching.
The Angels have two arms at the top of the rotation with the potential to be the best 1-2 punch in the league, but they come with significant question marks and will most likely need serious workload management. That means quantity innings are valuable, especially if it allows us to store 3-4 MLB caliber arms in the minors in case of inevitable injury.
If it’s us he’ll get hurt signing the contract.
His spin rate dipped significantly after umps started checking pitchers. He was a totally different pitcher in the 2nd half. I wish him luck, nice guy, but I hope the Giants don’t re-sign him to a long-term deal.
That’s a great point. I didn’t think of that. It may explain his mediocre second half.
Yep. He was one of the ones most affected.
TellItGoodbye:
I think your theory is flawed. Spin rate is key to breaking pitches. Gausman isn’t generally a breaking-ball pitcher. His FB, and split finger account for almost 90% of his pitches. He also throws a change-up. His one breaking pitch, a slider, is used only 5.6% of the time.
The MLB dictate against sticky stuff came down on 6/21. In the 5 games after that date Gausman had a 2.89 ERA, averaging about 5.2 IP and 7 SOs per game. I don’t know, but it’s also possible his conditioning was lacking, and the bad second half came from a normal season on the heels of a short one.
@ tad2b13;
Thanks for looking it up!
Most posters on here are like the lazy media. They look at general statistics and create a false narrative for their own benefit that people pick up on.
The man had some family health issues to deal with after the all star break. Had to miss a start, maybe 2. Definitely came back without a feel for the splitter and struggled. However, he fought through the struggles like a champion and kept them in games. Finished the season ok.
Teams also played him better in the second half. Laying off the splitter.
Seattle can have him. I’d rather the Angels get Scherzer. Even at 37, he at least brings leadership and can mentor the younger pitchers on the Angels staff. Angels do have talented young pitching, but they need leader like Finley, Lackey and Weaver were in past seasons.
Would Angelos pay for Scherzer, who is going to cost at least 3/$110M?
The Dodgers will out bid the Angels. I don’t even think about adding Scherzer because I don’t think it’s a realistic possibility.
Because he’s a great pitcher and the Angels need one of those.
I think the Giants and Dodgers start a bidding war that is too rich for our blood, but we should be in it as long as it doesn’t preclude us from signing other talent.
i doubt we need another big gun in the rotation though i would welcome more closers/setup men.
I think the pen is in much worse shape than the rotation and the rotation is lacking.
God, I hope DiPoto isn’t getting so anxious he over pays for a pretty good but not great pitcher.
Yes, MsFan. In light of his career numbers and how he has pitched lately, Gausman looks to me like a guy who would slot into the Mariners rotation nicely as a 3 guy, and can pitch like a 2 or occasionally a 1 when he’s on. Kind of like Gonzales and Flexen? And maybe Gilbert in his current development? Gausman is not what I consider an ace, but I think he would definitely add to the overall strength of the rotation. If they can’t acquire someone better, I’m hoping their offer to Gausman wouldn’t be an overpay… he could be a good guy to have on board, anyway.
The only way not to overpay for a FA SP is to sign a bounce back candidate. But that’s a gamble. If a team wants someone they can depend on to be good, even if he’s not an ace, they’ll have to overpay. Any player that has multiple teams pursuing him will require an overpay.
Kevin Gausman and Seattle lefthander Marco Gonzales, who faced each other on Opening Day 2021, have ties that go back to their high school days in Colorado:
9news.com/article/sports/high-school/hs-baseball/g…
Keep in mind there is posturing going on with a lot of these leaked “interest” stories. If you’re the Angels and you have interest in Robbie Ray but you know several other teams are interested, you throw your interest around on other players. Maybe the Ms overbid on Gausman, maybe the Jays underbid on Ray, etc. Its a game these clubs play all year long.
I would rather the Angels not have a 34 year kevin on out team in 3 years. Roller coaster of a career and seems last year the Giants figured out how to turn there entire staffs career around, not sure if he keeps up the consistency on a different team.
So, if you don’t want a 34 year old Kevin Gausman on your team, then you won’t have a 31, 32, or 33 year old Gausman on your team either. I would think any team that has real interest in winning, with a chance at a title, would want as many good pitchers as they could get.
let diputo have him!
Angels signed Joe Smith to a 3 year deal in 2014
“Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez projects a payroll in the $59MM range — more than $100MM lower than the franchise’s previous record-high.”
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MLBTR does this a lot. It’s not inaccurate. However, the reader must put this into perspective…….
Other than a few big spenders, teams have record payrolls when they are making contending and possibly WS runs. When those fail and they have to step back (to different degrees), their payrolls drop quite a bit. It’s seldom that after a year or two they’re going to hit that level again.
In this case, the Mariners have a ways to go in their restructuring. Many of the players they have on the roster and hope to keep as they make a big push, are going to make far higher salaries then they are now. It’s a long shot that 2022 is where they go all in.
Big park in Seattle. Good landing spot for Gausman
Louholtz22:
Agree. Gausman is a flyball pitcher, so he’s better suited to a team like the M’s. Not sure Angel Stadium would be a good park for him.
Wow! These comments are completely down on a pitcher who had a 4.8 WAR and was arguably a top 5 pitcher last year. And everybody just automatically counts him out, you guys ever thought that maybe he figured something out and could potentially improve on his great year. There’s obviously alot of things that went right and Gausman could easily improve on those things. Angels should be a perfect landing spot and automatically make them viable playoff contenders in that division.
I know right? I understand being skeptical because of his so-so second half, but the guy still had a good season overall. I’m not going to claim he’s going to be a sub-3 ERA ace every year of his contract, but what is there to suggest can’t he be a good #2/#3 starter and have an ERA around 3.00-3.50?
LaFlamaBlanca:
I agree, but while I I’m sure he’d be okay for the Angels. I don’t think it’s the perfect place. He tends towards being a fly ball pitcher, and Angels Stadium tends towards a hitter-friendly park.
Seattle is probably the perfect place, though he should be able to do well in lots of places. He even pitched well at Coors. I’m guessing because he doesn’t depend on breaking pitches.
I think part of the reason he struggled some earlier in his career is that Baltimore, Cincy, and Atlanta. aren’t good parks for him. I think Philly would be good place for him to avoid as well.
I would be happy to sign Gausman, Scherzer or Ray at the right price. Alas, my “right price” is significantly lower than they will receive in AAV and/or years. Someone, in my opinion, will overpay for all three.
Angels grabs 2 of 3 Gausman,Scherzer,or Ray and I’ll party like it’s 2002
I’m kind of surprised the Giants haven’t already resigned him. The longer this draws out, the more it seems like they are going to let him walk.
The Giants may not have a choice in the matter. Gausman probably wants to see what any team with interest has to offer. I’m hoping the Giants have told him to circle back to them with the best offer.