TODAY: Keuchel’s deal actually contains three opt-out dates, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. The three dates are June 25, July 3, and July 11.
JUNE 6: The Diamondbacks have agreed to terms on a minor league contract with free agent lefty Dallas Keuchel, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll head to Triple-A for the time being but has an eventual opt-out date worked into the deal if he’s not added to the MLB roster by that time. Keuchel is represented by the Boras Corporation.
It’s a no-risk deal for the D-backs, who’ll owe only the prorated league minimum to Keuchel for any time spent in the Majors. The remaining balance of his $18MM salary will still be paid by the White Sox, who released him late last month. The Sox are also still on the hook for the $1.5MM buyout on Keuchel’s 2023 option.
Keuchel is headed to the minors for now, but the new agreement reconnects him with D-backs pitching coach Brent Strom, who was Keuchel’s pitching coach during his peak years with the Astros. At least for now, the two won’t be working side-by-side on a daily basis with Strom on the big league staff, but the connection quite likely played a role in the mutual interest between player and team.
The 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner, Keuchel was a force atop the Houston rotation from 2014-18, pitching to a 3.28 ERA with a 20.2% strikeout rate, a strong 6.4% walk rate and a sky-high 60% ground-ball rate over the life of 950 1/3 innings. That included his standout 2015 campaign, wherein Keuchel paced the American League in wins (20), shutouts (two) and innings pitched (232) — all while pitching to a career-best 2.48 ERA. He hasn’t replicated that success since, but that was one of three sub-3.00 ERAs that Keuchel posted in a four-year span.
Despite the impressive resume with Houston, Keuchel’s first trip through the free-agent process didn’t pan out as hoped. Saddled with the burden of draft-pick compensation after rejecting a qualifying offer from the Astros, Keuchel wound up waiting until after the 2019 draft to sign a prorated one-year deal with the Braves. (In waiting that long, he shed the draft-pick compensation provision.)
It was a surprising scene, likely due to a combination of multiple factors. The draft compensation undoubtedly played a role, and Keuchel surely hit the market with lofty multi-year goals that many teams found unreasonable. He’d also had multiple IL stints since that Cy Young year and reached the market on the heels of a 2018 season that saw him post his lowest strikeout and ground-ball rates since his 2012 rookie season.
Keuchel still reeled in a prorated $20MM salary on that deal (about $13MM), and he pitched well down the stretch with Atlanta. In 112 2/3 frames that year, he notched a 3.75 ERA with a revitalized 60.1% grounder rate. It was enough for the White Sox to guarantee Keuchel $55.5MM on a three-year deal as they emerged from a lengthy rebuilding effort.
The first season of that deal proved to be an overwhelming success, as Keuchel turned in a career-best 1.99 ERA over 11 starts (63 1/3 innings) during the Covid-shortened 2020 season. Keuchel got out to a strong start in Year Two of the deal as well, logging a 3.78 ERA through his first 14 starts of the season, but he fell into a disastrous slump shortly thereafter and has yet to really recover.
Keuchel has made 24 starts since June 20 of last year, allowing runs in 23 of them. During that time, he’s pitched to a 7.02 ERA with a bottom-of-the-barrel 12.4% strikeout rate against an elevated 10.2% walk rate. He’s still inducing grounders at a better-than-average 52.2% clip, but that’s a good ways off from his peak levels. It also bears mention that Keuchel has averaged just 87.8 mph on his heater during that span — nearly three miles per hour slower than the 90.4 mph he averaged during that Cy Young-winning season.
Arizona’s top four starters this season have been anywhere from solid to excellent, as each of Zac Gallen (2.40 ERA), Madison Bumgarner (3.31), Merrill Kelly (3.66) and Zach Davies (4.18) have made at least 10 starts and totaled at least 54 innings. The fifth spot has been more of a challenge to fill. Luke Weaver moved to the bullpen earlier in the year and hit the injured list not long after. Humberto Castellanos (nine starts), Tyler Gilbert (tw0) and Caleb Smith (one — which was only one inning) have made the remainder of the team’s starts and generally fared poorly. Castellanos recently hit the injured list with an elbow strain.
Keuchel will give the D-backs some depth to slot in behind that group. He’ll join fellow big league veteran Dan Straily, who has struggled on a minor league deal of his own following a big showing in South Korea, as a non-roster player down in Reno. The Snakes also have the aforementioned Gilbert, righty Luis Frias and former top prospect Corbin Martin on the 40-man roster as options down in Triple-A.
Brent has been teaching since the 1970s (at the San Diego School of Baseball). The guy has the heart for it, he’s got a decent baseball mechanics memory. I wouldn’t be surprised if Keuchel didn’t report to the Triple-A team but just went to do bullpen sessions with Strom.
Strom is the best in the business.
This is a wise decision by Keuchel reuniting with his former pitching coach in Arizona were he posted solid numbers with the Astros years ago.
Despite the Strum connection, I’m disappointed with this move. Dbacks need to promote several AAA and AA starters this year to take a look at them. Keuchel will take valuable innings away from them. Didn’t think the Dbacks would take flyers on any reclamation projects this year. Only possible explanation is that the Dbacks plan to trade starting pitching at the trade deadline—Bumgarner and/or Kell
this is a move to try and fix him by the deadline and ship him to a contender for some kind of return that could help the org long term. that’s almost certainly how they sold it to him and if it works out will benefit everyone. if you are a dbacks fan you should like this move. zero reason not to try it.
Why wouldn’t a contender just pick him up and fix him themself? The whole, no one wants him now but we’ll somehow trade him for value later is a fallacy. When has it ever happened?
Kuechel would have to agree to the deal considering he was a FA. No team wanted to pick up his salary through waivers so he went unclaimed. He probably sought out Strom because he respects him a pitching coach.
No one wants him because [He is terrible] and they may want him after he shows he can pitch a game AND lower his era because [he will be less terrible].
That’s the theory at least. In practice,he is going to get shelled because he has no movement anymore, and all of his pitches are right around the same speed.
I understand the theory. I just think it’s dumb and never works and it’s not what teams actually expect to happen.
@gozurman Strom was Keuchels pitching coach back in Houston
Which is why he stated he respected him as a pitching couch. Reading comprehension is hard
It happens all the time…it’s a key part of most rebuilds. Look at the teams Anibal sanchez and Nelson Cruz have played with. Just off the top of my head.
What do Cruz and Sanchez have to do with anything? Either you’re responding to someone else or you are completely misunderstanding what I’m saying. When has a team ever picked up by a player that no one else wanted and then flipped them for value? It almost never happens and it’s never planned.
I know that Storm was his pitching coach in Houston and that is why I said that he may well have sought to get reunited to recreate his success. He could have signed anywhere but chose the Dbacks. I say it was his choice because of storm. No risk on the D Backs part.
@Cosmo2 exactly. He’s toast that simple but he’s cheap enough for a team like Arizona to take the old flyer on in hopes that he somehow figures something out. If they could end up getting anything close to a prospect for him then it would be a success. My opinion is that he ends up on the IL and eventually designated. All this talk about him reuniting with his old pitching coach is nonsense. He’s old that’s it and his former pitching coach doesn’t have a time machine.
I believe he did seek to reconnect with his old coach with whom he had success with in an effort to find something again to keep his career alive. He is only 34 so not tremendously old by any means. He may well be done and this is a last ditch effort to rekindle something but as you said worth a flyer for the Dbacks as they are not contending. Not costing them a 40man spot.so why not see if something sticks and see if Strom can see something that might help him. If not nothing lost but a small portion of his Vet minimum.
All of those are valid reasons why he was signed and is probably accurate as to what the organization was thinking. What they are not doing is gearing up to flip him.
60% of the RS’ rotation had one foot out the door at one time. In the BP, Schreiber, Danish, Valdez and Davis, were mostly castoffs (albeit younger). The odds are that Keuchel doesn’t amount to much, but I think this is a good low-risk move for the Snakes.
“pitching couch. Reading comprehension is hard.”
I think it will tough for any contender to take a risk on Keuchel this year, even if he puts together a few good starts over the next two months. The bad recent track record for a solid year will be too much to overcome, especially with injury risks mixed in there, and the fact that even his success in 202o was not supported by advanced metrics/peripherals.
You don’t want to rush prospects, and when you go thru 4 fifth starters, because they all failed, you may not have planned for that to happen. Depth isn’t taking innings away from Anyone. They’re just not yet ready to have those innings at the major league level.
Well if anybody can fix him it’s Strom
Seems like he went back to an organization that may be able to fix him. Wish him luck.
As a White Sox who watched him struggle mightily, good luck with this. Keuchel’s best days are well behind him, too many innings logged on that left arm.
But Doug Brent Strom is gonna get his special powder that he’ll mix with boiling water for Keuchel to soak his arm in returning it to it’s former youthful glory. Guys on here acting like Strom walks on water lol. He’s a pitching coach not Mr. Miyagi. ‘Dallas… use focus for crane technique and you be ace number one pitcher again’.
Good buy low move for the Dbacks. They aren’t going anywhere and just might get something at the deadline for this guy. Nothing to lose by sending him to the minors.
Not surprised by any of this at the time of his signing MLBTR was skeptical he could live up to his contract being that he was a light tosser that relied so heavily on command. Hopefully he can pitch himself back to the majors. As for the diamondbacks you get a former cy young for 500k not bad
Sadly, a former Cy Young award winner becomes their worst starter
Yet its crazy Bumgarner never won a Cy Young.
During Bumgarner’s best run (2012-’16) he got stuck behind otherworldly performances from Clayton Kershaw (’13-’14), R.A. Dickey coming out of literally nowhere (’12), Jake Arrieta’s career year (’15) and a dominant Max Scherzer (’16). Bumgarner was baseball’s epitome of “always a bridesmaid, never a bride”
Madbum has World Series rings. Doubt he cares
imo grenkie should of won the cy in 16, yes arrieta 2nd half was phenomenal but grenkie was dealing from day 1, but heck in 16 everyone was d-riding the cubs. (and yes the d-riding quote is from the show the boondocks)
@sd tom imo this was madbum float tur the reg season and save himself for oct, mb for the most part had above avg stats in the reg season but when it comes to oct other than wanio or carpenter (personal bias but i watched them two win my birds a ring) i wouldn’t want anyone else on the mound in oct than mb
Does the drop off from June 2020 coincide with the sticky stuff ban? Any spin rate connections?
That’s about the time Keuchel starting dating his fiancé. Cannot blame him. I’d have a hard time thinking of anything else too.
Nah. Keuchel was never a high spin rate guy, which is mostly what the sticky stuff helped with.
The DBACKS are still vying to get hot and slip into a WC game. 84+ wins will get you in. If they don’t get better next 6 weeks yes, maybe cleaning veteran house is in order. BUM, Peralta, Walker can all fetch something significant and even Marte is not untouchable. Then we need a new owner and GM.
I have a feeling this year will be a buyer’s market. With the extra playoff spot, there will be more teams trying for that 6 seed and far fewer teams that are definitely “out of it” in July. Right now there are only 4 teams further than 5 games out in the AL and only 5 teams in the NL. And over the next month, at least a couple of those teams will have a winning streak that will pull them close enough to think they might try. Plus, one of those teams is the Rockies and they NEVER sell.
So I have a feeling rental players will fetch a higher price this year than in years past.
So you are opining it is a seller’s market?
Yeah I got the terms mixed up. But I think everyone got the gist.
Then it’s a sellers market. Lol
Being in a division with the Dodgers, Giants, and Padres pretty much dooms any chances the DBacks have of being anything other than the last – and unexpected – wild card team for the next 4-5 years. It’s tough on the fans attending, unless they moved from LA, SF or SD.
Need to do what the Orioles have been doing – take 4-5 years to not only do a ML roster rebuild, but retool the entire organizational infrastructure – upgrade the philosophies and change the way they evaluate players, scout players, and teach players etc. Brent is getting the ball rolling with the pitching areas.
D-backs are closer than you think. They are not a WC contenter this year, but it’s no surprise they are hanging around .500 for a few months. They will probably drop back, but high floor guys have arrived with lots more on the way – position players and RP.
If Angel Hernandez is an umpire, I can’t take MLB seriously
For once, I can say I called this on a previous thread.
Tribe, as a Guardians fan, Keuchel getting DFA’d had to hurt…they massacred him every single outing with the Sox.
I’m a Diamondbacks fan now. No way I will ever again root for that Cleveland team that ripped my heart out, then stomped and spit on it.
Is this melodrama regarding their name change?
Is it any of your business?
I still say the owners banded together to keep salaries down for several years and this guys first trip through free agency showed that if you ask me. Happened to alot of guys not to mention the older free agents who simply couldn’t find a team. I’m surprised what really looked like collusion never got looked into more.
I think you’re just over valuing players. Older free agents can’t get signed cuz teams better understand that washed up vets have no more value than AAAA players, to over simplify things a bit. It’s not collusion, it’s a divide between what fans value and what experts value.
There is truth to what you are saying absolutely. Things just didn’t look right to me back 7-8 years ago. I remember other people thought the same as me. That draft pick compensation was and is terrible for the players.
Sometimes guys need to just say, “I’ve had a great run, made a lot of money, and it’s time to move on in life.” A Cy Younger in the minors is sad…
On the other hand, kudos to saying “I’m not too proud to go down, work hard, find out what works, adjust my way of pitching and give it another shot.”
Hence, both views have merit and it’s an individual decision
If he wants to stay around with a slow pitch, teach him to throw a knuckleball.
Reality check for all posters here who assume the Dbacks are a last place team because that’s what they read in many preseason projections. The Dbacks are second (tied) in line behind the Braves for the third Wild Card spot in the NL (currently held by the Giants). We are 1/3 of the way through the season, it’s time to deal with realities, not misconceptions based on projections.
The Dbacks are The (or one of the) surprise team(s) in MLB this year.. Their offense is led by several rookies and second year players who are still inconsistent, but getting better every game. And they haven’t yet promoted any of their Top pitching prospects. Can they compete with the Dodgers right now? No. But the future has arrived in Arizona.
This post didn’t age very well.
I’m thinking that a reunion with Stom was the biggest factor here. I’m also of the mind set that Strom is going to remake him into a releiver with the occasional spot start. Strom is a master at making chicken salad out of chicken poop. Not saying Dallas is washed up or a has been by any means. I think that the Dbacks say an opportunity to add a 15mil player for about 500k and they are going to use any means necessary to improve. There 5th spot in the rotation is volatile at best and this gives them someone the best pitching coach in the game is familiar with they can call up sooner rather than later. Especially if they are even sniffing a WC spot. I would bet Strom has already reviewed alot of his passed starts and told him what he wanted Dallas to focus on in the minors without it costing the Dbacks a 40 man spot yet.
Strom learned from the best pitching coach of all time when he was in the Cardinal Organization. #facts
I look forward to him returning to the majors and having a sub 2.00 ERA and dominating the Dodgers, Padres and Giants. Numerous complete game no hitters in the future for him.
Disappointed Detroit didn’t get him to sign. They’re needing innings eaten and let the kids grow up in minors. Oh well good luck Dallas
A pitching coach isn’t going to make a big difference with a 34 year old veteran.. I think it’s telling that he signed with a team that has no chance of contending. I’m assuming the contenders realize he has nothing left and don’t want to deal with his clubhouse mood or Dallas just doesn’t want the pressure of having to be counted on to preform when he knows he can’t.
Why wouldn’t he make a difference? Not sure if he’s lost his stuff or not? But he’s seen Dallas at his best and knows what his best looks like.
Agreed. Strom might be able to see something Keuchel is doing now and maybe point him back to what he was doing in his prime.
As for signing with a non-contender, it could be Keuchel choose Arizona because Strom is there in hopes he can help turn him around, all it would take is for him to come up with the team and have a handful of decent starts to get a contender interested.
I think at his age you have to have a burning desire that very few have to push through something like what he’s in the middle of.
According to the AZ Republic and Lovullo, Keuchel is in Phoenix at the D-backs training facility to work with Strom who believes he has uncovered a couple of things Keuchel can tweak. This may be the ultimate test for Strom.
It also turns out that Keuchel has a home in N. Scottsdale.
Best thing for Keuchel is for him to maybe lose 30lbs because he’s no where close to being 6’2 205.
That reminds me of when the RS FO tried to claim that Sandoval had something like 17.9% body fat. I’m pretty sure I am not 17.9%, and Sandoval probably had 50 pounds on me. Bad signing and all, but these things happen. But don’t insult my intelligence by trying to imply the dude is in good shape.
it’s over
Seeing as they had a bullpen game today, maybe he’ll be up for the next rotation?
KOOOOOCH!!!!!
His wife looks increasingly bizarre with the plastic work she keeps getting combined with her lack of eating. I don’t know why people feel the need to do that to themselves.