Dec. 18: Andriese’s deal with the Yomiuri Giants is worth $2.1MM plus incentives, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). That’s notably the exact sum Andriese earned with the Red Sox last season.
Dec. 16: Right-handed pitcher Matt Andriese has reportedly agreed to a deal with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball, according to Yahoo Japan. The 32-year-old elected free agency at the end of September after being designated for assignment by the Mariners.
Andriese first cracked the big leagues with the Rays and spent parts of four seasons there, from 2015 to 2018. His most extensive MLB action was 2016, where he appeared in 29 games, 19 of them starts, logging 127 2/3 innings with an ERA of 4.37. Since that time, he’s gradually seen more time out of the bullpen, having only made one start in the past three seasons as he’s bounced to the Diamondbacks, Angels, Red Sox and Mariners.
Moving to the bullpen has seen him rack up more strikeouts, but without improvement in real results. After posting a 19.8% strikeout rate from 2015-2017, it’s been 24% in the subsequent four campaigns. Despite that, his ERA has jumped from 4.35 in those first three seasons to 4.98 since, although some advanced metrics are a bit more optimistic. (3.70 SIERA and 3.87 xFIP, for instance.)
For 2021, Andriese signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox with a $2.1MM guarantee and was given a chance to earn a role in the starting rotation. He eventually made 26 appearances out of Boston’s bullpen, logging 37 1/3 innings and putting up an ERA of 6.03, despite his decent strikeout and walk rates. He hit the IL with hamstring tendinitis on July 10th and was eventually released in August. He latched on with the Mariners a few weeks later and appeared in eight games for them, throwing 11 innings with an ERA of 2.45. Despite that good stretch, he lost his roster spot in the waning days of the season and wound up electing free agency. He finished the year with a solid final line of 48 1/3 total innings, strikeout rate of 22.5% and walk rate of 5.9%. Despite the 5.21 ERA, he was treated much kinder by the advanced metrics, as evidenced by his 3.66 SIERA and 4.02 xFIP.
Due to finishing the season without a 40-man roster spot, he would have been eligible to sign a minor league deal with an MLB club, even during the ongoing lockout. However, he will instead opt for the greater certainty of a secured roster spot in Japan. If he can have better luck translating those underlying metrics into real results, he could be an interesting candidate to return to North America a year from now.
Andriese seems like an MLB caliber player, albeit not a very good one. Seeing him and many others sign with Japanese/Korean teams makes me think this work stoppage isn’t going to end in Feb/Mar like we all think it is.
I know the writers here have said in the recent past the lockout likely won’t impact next season, but I’ve never believed that for a minute. Just like I didn’t believe there would be hardly any free agent signings prior to the lockout.
The owners have zero incentive to get a deal done prior to May, and many will likely benefit from a shortened regular season. All that matters is their precious postseason revenue.
They should have a contest here on what date a new CBA is signed. I’d go with May 4th.
What year?
DUDE.. stop telling us telling us about Japan Baseball does anybody care?
Although it’s not my favorite thing about this site, I kind of like learning about former major leaguers going overseas
@ChiefWahoopoo
死んだ、ばか。私たちの中には日本の野球について読むのを楽しむ人もいます。
Shinda, baka. Watashitachi no nakaniha Nihon no yakyū ni tsuite yomu no o tanoshimu hito mo imasu.
Bilingual baseball fan says, “Dead, idiot. Some of us enjoy reading about Japanese baseball” thank you Google translate!
There should be a “drop” before dead.
Translate for pretty close, the message was there
Came here to say something like this, then realized I’m just wasting my time on Matt Andriese news.
あなたの両親はあなたが妊娠した夜に時間を無駄にしました。
Anata no ryōshin wa anata ga ninshin shita yoru ni jikan o muda ni shimashita.
Ouch! According to google translate: Your parents wasted time on the night you got pregnant
…on the night you were conceived. Next time I’ll use English-to-Pig Latin (it exists).
This gives him a chance to start. most he was getting here was a MiLB invite as a possible swing option.
The stoppage will be a long time. Maybe June baseball if were lucky.
These type of signings happen every year. Andriese has no insight into the lockout since he wasn’t even affiliated with a MLB team. What he does have insight into is the level of interest he was seeing from MLB teams on even a minor league contract. If you’re a fungible MLB player who was cut twice this past season, including in September, and the Giants of Japan come calling with some guaranteed money and a chance to start, you head to the far east.
No insight required to know that there’s a good chance the MLB season could be delayed. Why take a chance by waiting when you’ve got a guaranteed offer in hand elsewhere.
Why wouldn’t he have insight? He’s been around forever and has been on several teams, probably has 150 current MLB players in a group chat.
A baseball player GC never occurred to me until now
Here’s the insight he has: a contract that guarantees him a minimum of $2.1MM to go play in Japan, and a better opportunity to start again.
In 2020, a MLB player going to Japan barely raises an eyebrow. In 2021, fans assume the player has some inside knowledge as to when the MLB season will start.
It’s nonsense. He’s going where he can get the most guaranteed money.
Honest question, when these guys sign overseas, are these professional contracts? Like are they guaranteed a roster spot where the Front office has to figure out who to cut/designate for assignment when these guys sign?
I assume so
Some if not all the money is guaranteed. In this case, the terms are not mentioned.
NPB, KBO, and CPBL teams have set numbers of foreign players they are allowed to roster. typically a guy like Andriese is taking the spot of a FA. teams can swap in one foreign player for another, however.
In Japan there is no limit of foreign players to stash in there minor leagues
Yes
That’s not how it works over there, first you have to drink a couple of big-and I mean big -bottles of Sake while you a do a little sing & dance number for the Emperor & if he likes you’re shtick your in like flint, otherwise it’s sayonara baby! At least that’s what my little, 10yr brother said & he’s a lot smarter than most people on here. Ahahahaha!
Yomiuri FZ is crushing it.
Chaim Bloom once told me this guy was really good.
Ouch! According to google translate: Your parents wasted time on the night you got pregnant
Yomiuri made a good move here in replacing Angel Sanchez with Matt Andriese
Probably a smart move by Andriese here. He at minimum matches his salary from last year, with potential incentives paying him more, and he doesn’t have to worry about the lockout bleeding into the regular season. He’s the exact type of pitcher who might get squeezed in the rush to sign players as they emerge from the lockout. He still has an excellent arm, but it’s never really translated to the majors. I’m not sure he’d match the Yomiuri Giants deal, so a good year in Japan likely means more money for him in 2023.