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Reactions To The Yoenis Cespedes Deal

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Here’s a collection of early reactions to the Mets’ re-signing of Yoenis Cespedes to a three-year, $75MM deal that includes a no-trade clause and an opt-out after the first season.

  • The Mets’ $75MM total offer was considerably less than the deal offered by the Nationals, who were willing to give Cespedes in excess of $100MM over five years and an opt-out after the second year, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. (Rosenthal notes that the Nats’ deal did contain “heavy deferrals,” however.) Cespedes’ willingness to stay in New York despite the promise of greater treasure elsewhere could make him a hero to Mets fans, and the deal is an “absolute triumph” for the Mets, writes Rosenthal.
  • Cespedes’ new deal contains fewer years than anticipated, but it still makes him very highly paid on a year-by-year basis, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes. If Cespedes exercises his opt-out, he will have received $27.5MM for the 2016 season, an average annual value that’s second only to that of Miguel Cabrera’s among position players. Meanwhile, the deal turns the Mets into NL East favorites, Davidoff writes, and the downside risk of the deal is limited, since Cespedes is only signed for three years.
  • The Cespedes re-signing is one of several moves this offseason that makes their defense worse, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs writes. The team had previously acquired Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera, both questionable defenders at the positions they’ll be asked to play. And Cespedes figures to take over for the light-hitting but defensively brilliant Juan Lagares in center. The Mets will have a strikeout-heavy pitching staff, which will limit the amount of damage their fielders can do, but the success of the team’s new-look group of position players will probably depend largely on their producing offensively.
  • The Mets caught some luck that allowed them to sign Cespedes, Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal points out. First, Ben Zobrist rejected the Mets to sign with the Cubs. Then, Michael Cuddyer unexpectedly retired. That left them with the money necessary to sign Cespedes.

Mets, Nationals Aren’t Alone In Pursuit Of Cespedes

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9:40pm: Both New York and Washington are “operating under [the] assumption that other teams also are pursuing Cespedes,” Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports adds (links to Twitter). He notes that the chatter surrounding the Mets’ three-year offer may be luring other organizations into the mix (if they weren’t already) to pitch their own ideas based on such a concept.

As Rosenthal notes, the White Sox are one club that has already been reported to have interest at that level of commitment. I’d add that the Orioles remain a plausible suitor at a more limited contract length, and certainly it isn’t hard to imagine other clubs that could be intrigued by that idea.

8:43pm: The Astros do not appear to be a late entrant, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart tweets.

8:38pm: The Mets and Nationals are not the only two clubs pursuing top remaining free agent Yoenis Cespedes, Jon Heyman reports on Twitter.

Reports recently have suggested that a signing could come in very short order, with those two teams appearing to be the finalists. Washington is said to have dangled a five-year offer with a value approaching, if not exceeding, $100MM. New York, on the other hand, was set to meet with Cespedes’s reps today in hopes of selling him on three-year scenario of some kind.

But a mystery team (or teams) appear to be altering the equation as the star outfielder nears his decision. It’s not known which late entrants are shaking up the market for the veteran Cuban slugger, but neither is it difficult to guess at some of the possibilities. In fact, Steve Adams and I broke down no fewer than a dozen possibilities just yesterday in the latest episode of the MLBTR Podcast.

As I wrote back in early December, there was never a clear favorite for Cespedes, but it always seemed there’d be a wide array of interest. After all, he’s only thirty and is coming off of a monster 2015 campaign. While there are certainly some major question marks — in particular, the fact that his 2013-14 work fell far shy of his efforts in the seasons before and after — there’s no ignoring his ceiling.

Most of the clubs noted in that post are still plausible suitors. It’s probably safe to scratch off the Tigers, but clubs such as the Angels, Giants, Cardinals, Orioles, and White Sox all still seem plausible to varying degrees. The Padres have been said to be lurking, too, and so have the Braves — though Atlanta, at least, has always seemed to be on hand in case of a bargain.

And it would be foolish to rule out organizations like the Rangers — if not even the Red Sox or Yankees — when a premium talent is on the board. Really, only a handful of organizations appear to be wildly implausible pursuers. There are always ways to deal with perceived logjams, after all, and Cespedes represents the last open-market opportunity to add a potential superstar.

Mets Avoid Arbitration With Lucas Duda, Jenrry Mejia

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The Mets have reached agreements to avoid arbitration with first baseman Lucas Duda and reliever Jenrry Mejia, Jon Heyman reports (Twitter links).

Duda will receive $6.725MM for the 2016 season. The slugger will land slightly above the $6.65MM mid-point in their recently-submitted arbitration numbers. He had filed at $7.4MM, with the team countering at $5.9MM. His final number lands just shy of MLBTR’s $6.8MM projection.

Now entering his age-30 campaign, Duda has emerged as a significant force at the plate. He owns a .249/.350/.483 slash with 57 home runs since the start of 2014. New York will be able to control him for one additional season through the arb process.

Mejia, meanwhile, settled at $2.47MM. Notably, as Heyman adds, he will take a rare pay cut from his prior year’s salary. New York tendered him a contract but sought a reduction on the price tag after Mejia missed most of the year due to successive PED suspensions. Of course, he still owes time on the second and will miss a sizable portion of the coming season — meaning he won’t earn the full amount agreed upon.

Mets Sign Antonio Bastardo

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FRIDAY: The Mets have announced the signing. Bastardo gets a $250K signing bonus and will then earn salaries of $5.25MM (2016) and $6.5MM (2017), Heyman tweets.

WEDNESDAY: The Mets and left-hander Antonio Bastardo are in agreement on a contract, reports Jon Heyman (Twitter link). It’s a two-year, $12MM contract, according to Baseball Essential’s Robert Murray (on Twitter). Bastardo is represented by the Legacy Agency.

Antonio Bastardo

Murray reported yesterday that things were picking up in the Bastardo market, though the three-year deal mentioned in that report ultimately wasn’t attained. The two-year pact represents a departure from the Mets’ previously reported plans, as the team was said earlier this month to be seeking relief help on a one-year deal. In that regard, the agreement between the two parties represents a compromise, as Bastardo was said to be seeking a three-year deal in the $18MM range (similar to the one Tony Sipp landed with Houston earlier this year).

Bastardo, 30, has turned in generally strong results across the past three seasons between the Phillies and Pirates, working to a 3.18 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and a 30.8 percent ground-ball rate in 164 innings of work. He’s dominated left-handed opponents in that stretch, holding same-handed batters to a paltry .167/.273/.295 triple-slash. However, Bastardo is more than a specialist, as he’s also been plenty effective against right-handed batters, limiting such opponents to a .204/.310/.314 line. As such, he can be deployed as a setup man, regardless of matchup, alongside Addison Reed and Jenrry Mejia. That trio, of course, will help bridge the gap from the club’s excellent young rotation to breakout closer Jeurys Familia, who saved 43 games for the Mets in 2015.

With Bastardo in the fold, the Mets will now have a wealth of quality left-handed options for manager Terry Collins to utilize. The team re-signed Jerry Blevins this offseason, and he’ll look for better health after twice fracturing his forearm in a pair of fluky accidents in 2015. Sean Gilmartin, whom the Mets selected in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft, enjoyed a brilliant season with New York, recording a 2.67 ERA in 57 1/3 innings in his Major League debut. And southpaw Josh Edgin, who missed the 2015 campaign in the wake of Tommy John surgery, will likely be ready to return to a big league mound at some point during the 2016 season as well.

The Mets deserve some praise for waiting out what was an exceptionally aggressive relief market in the earlygoing this offseason. Five relievers scored contracts of three or more years in the earlier phase of the offseason, and many — we at MLBTR included — believed Bastardo would find such a pact as well. However, while his average annual value is commensurate with many of the multi-year deals given to setup men this winter, the Mets’ patient approach allowed them to knock a year off the price in the end.

Bastardo drew interest from a number of teams, including the Orioles, Dodgers, Pirates, Blue Jays and Twins, per various reports this offseason. With his departure from the open market, teams could turn to one-year deal candidates such as Neal Cotts, Franklin Morales and Matt Thornton as they look to supplement their bullpens with left-handed relievers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mets, Cespedes Discussing Three-Year Deal With Opt-Out Clause

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While the Nationals are said to have made a five-year contract offer to Yoenis Cespedes, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that the Mets are now discussing a three-year contract which would include an opt-out provision after the first year of the deal (Twitter link). Olney also tweets that the expectation among some involved in the discussions is that Cespedes will make a decision within 24 to 48 hours.

A three-year deal with an opt-out next winter would represent somewhat of a compromise between the two sides, as the Mets have long been said to have interest in Cespedes, but only on a short-term deal. FOX’s Ken Rosenthal wrote last night that Cespedes prefers to return to New York, although the team’s previously reported maximum contract length of three years was well shy of the division-rival Nationals’ reported five-year pact. Adding an opt-out provision to the three-year scenario for the Mets, however, would allow Cespedes the opportunity to test the open market again next winter while giving him some financial security should things head south in 2016 (either due to injury or poor performance). A three-year deal with an opt-out after 2016 would, in some ways, be a modernized form of the traditional one-year “pillow contract” — a concept I explored two weeks ago in the MLBTR Newsletter and discussed at length on last week’s MLBTR Podcast with Jeff Todd.

Specific parameters on the three-year/opt-out scenario being discussed have yet to be reported (perhaps because they’re not yet set in stone), but rejecting a five-year offer worth around $100MM (and possibly a bit more) would certainly be a risky play for Cespedes, who is already coming off a career year in which he batted .291/.328/.542 with 35 home runs. Next winter, he’d be entering his age-31 season, which could potentially limit a team’s willingness to commit to him on a long-term deal, as they’d be receiving less of his prime than they would by signing him this offseason. Cespedes and his representatives have to assume that he would be subject to a qualifying offer next offseason as well — another potentially detrimental component with which he did not have to contend this offseason. Then again, next winter’s free-agent class is considerably worse than the crop of free agents we saw in 2015-16, and if Cespedes approaches his 2015 numbers, he’d be one of the top two or three free agents available.

Suffice it to say, Cespedes and his agents have a number of factors to consider when determining which scenario is in his best interest. It also remains possible, albeit perhaps unlikely, that a dark-horse team will emerge and give Cespedes a stronger offer than the one he’s currently received from the Nationals. The Orioles were previously said to have interest in Cespedes on a five-year deal, although that was prior to the team’s signing of Chris Davis. The White Sox and Braves have both been connected to Cespedes as well, albeit on shorter-term deals (which, presumably, did not include opt-out clauses such as the one the Mets are now said to be considering).

Nationals Make Five-Year Offer To Yoenis Cespedes; Mets Won’t Go Beyond Three

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10:23pm: Rosenthal says that Cespedes prefers to stay with the Mets, who are scheduled to speak with his representatives tomorrow, but is wrestling with the fact that the team is refusing even to begin negotiating dollars until Cespedes agrees to their three-year concept. It’s also still possible that other teams are participating in talks on Cespedes, says Rosenthal, though certainly all the recent public reporting has painted the picture of a two-horse race.

Given that New York is set to meet again with Cespedes’s agents, it certainly seems that the organization still has a chance to bring back their three-month star.

4:08pm: The Nationals are indeed offering five years, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports notes (Twitter links). Meanwhile, the Mets are standing at three years. It remains unclear to what extent any other clubs are still involved in the bidding, Rosenthal adds.

The Mets have no interest in moving past three years, say Newsday’s Marc Carig and David Lennon, and the team has not actually even reached the point of making a formal offer.

1:25pm: The Nationals are “pressing” to complete a deal with outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, reports Jon Heyman (links to Twitter). The Nats are believed to be willing to offer about $100MM over a five-year term (“maybe a bit more,” Heyman adds) with some deferrals — a tactic they used in structuring Max Scherzer’s seven-year deal last winter. Heyman characterizes the talks between the two sides as serious.

Cespedes is an imperfect fit for the Nationals, who already have a crowded outfield scene (as Jeff Todd and I discussed at greater length on today’s MLBTR Podcast). Washington currently has Jayson Werth in left field, NL MVP Bryce Harper in right field and Ben Revere and Michael A. Taylor as options in center field. However, the Nationals have shown in the past that they’re willing to add talent even without a clear fit, as was evidenced by last year’s signing of Scherzer despite an already excellent rotation. Even this offseason, the Nats have pursued Jason Heyward and Justin Upton, and they signed both Daniel Murphy and Stephen Drew even though one could argue that the team already had sufficient middle infield depth.

Ultimately, Cespedes is the type of player that would serve as an upgrade to any roster in the Majors, and Washington may feel that his current market is at a point where they can’t pass on adding a player of this caliber to its roster. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that the Nats had made an offer to Cespedes last night, though he noted at the time that the offer was short of the contract that Upton landed with the Tigers.

Latest On Antonio Bastardo

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The market for left-hander Antonio Bastardo — arguably the top remaining free agent reliever on the market — has begun to pick up this week, per Baseball Essential’s Robert Murray. The Dodgers, Orioles, Mets and Blue Jays are all interested in Bastardo’s services, according to the report, which also notes that the Cubs met with Bastardo’s reps from the Legacy Agency at last month’s Winter Meetings.

Bastardo has reportedly been seeking a contract similar to the one secured by fellow free-agent lefty Tony Sipp this offseason. The 32-year-old Sipp landed a three-year, $18MM contract to return to Houston back in December, but the market for Bastardo’s services hasn’t been as aggressive despite the fact that he’s two years younger. While Murray notes that the intensifying market could potentially lead to a three-year pact, it’s difficult to see either the Mets or Blue Jays doling out that type of contract. The Mets are reportedly only interested in one-year deals with the remaining free agent relievers on the market, and the Blue Jays are said to be working with budgetary restrictions as their payroll is set to exceed last year’s mark as it is. The Orioles have been aggressive of late, but the $161MM they recently spent on Chris Davis (plus the $31MM given to Darren O’Day, the $7MM allotted to Korean outfielder Hyun Soo Kim and the $16.1MM going to Matt Wieters via the qualifying offer) calls into question how much more they’ll spend. (It’s also worth noting that with Brian Matusz, T.J. McFarland and closer Zach Britton, the team already has three lefties in the ’pen.)

The Dodgers, to be sure, have virtually unlimited spending capacity, but they’ve taken a surprisingly measured approach to their bullpen shopping this winter. The Cubs, theoretically, could issue that kind of deal, though Murray notes that it’s not clear when the last contact between the two sides even was, and they, too, have three lefties in the ’pen (Travis Wood, Clayton Richard, Rex Brothers).

Bastardo, 30, has been a somewhat quietly excellent performer across the past three seasons with the Phillies and Pirates. In that time, Bastardo has logged a 3.18 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and a 30.8 percent ground-ball rate. He’s also been effective against both left- and right-handed batters, holding same-handed opponents to a .167/.273/.295 batting line while surrendering just a .204/.310/.314 batting line even when his opponents hold the platoon advantage. Of course, control has been a persistent problem for Bastardo, too, as he’s only averaged less than four walks per nine innings in one season of his career — his debut campaign in 2009, when he tossed just 23 2/3 innings.

Latest On Yoenis Cespedes

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The departure of Justin Upton from the free agent market leaves the spotlight squarely on fellow star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. We recently heard of interest from as many as ten teams and the possibility of a fairly short signing timeline. And there’s been some chatter today as his market begins to take greater form.

Here’s the latest:

  • Marlins president David Samson tells reporters, including Bob Nightengale of USA Today, that his team has no interest in signing Cespedes (Twitter link). Samson cited the team’s already crowded outfield picture as a reason for not pursuing the slugger.

Earlier Updates

  • The Marlins “have discussed pursuing” the star Cuban on some kind of “short-term deal,” Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. But he says that it’s hard to see the club being in the lead for his services, and it’s also hard to disagree with that assessment. For such a move to come together, Rosenthal suggests, Miami would likely need to line up a deal involving center fielder Marcell Ozuna. (Presumably, Christian Yelich would slide to center.)
  • Rosenthal also tweets that the Nationals are indeed interested in Cespedes, too — but only if his asking price comes down. We heard mention earlier today (via BobNightengale of USA Today, on Twitter) that both the Nats and the Astros had some discussions on Upton and might also be involved on Cespedes. It’s a bit of a stretch to imagine the Nats adding Cespedes, at least without making another move, though Washington is perhaps better able to take on his salary obligations than are other organizations with rumored interest. From a roster perspective, the team could in theory demote or trade Michael Taylor, put Ben Revere in a timeshare with Jayson Werth, and utilize Bryce Harper and/or Cespedes in center when Revere isn’t in the lineup.
  • The Braves are yet another N.L. East club with continued amenability to a short-term pact with the star outfielder, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. As with the other teams, a trade — probably involving Nick Markakis or Ender Inciarte — could conceivably go along with a signing scenario. But O’Brien’s cautionary words seem worth heeding: “Don’t hold your breath.”
  • We touched upon where things stand with the incumbent Mets this morning, though we haven’t heard of any recent movement on the team’s stance. (No word from the Phillies, alas.) Of course, it’s certainly plausible to imagine teams from other divisions remaining involved or joining the hunt.

Free Agent Notes: Cespedes, Mets, Davis, Nathan

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ESPN’s Buster Olney opines that the Mets should not commit to Yoenis Cespedes, as they’d be better served holding onto the remaining resources they have in order to see what needs might arise during the season (ESPN Insider subscription required). Barring a sudden increase in payroll from ownership, he says, rashly pursuing Cespedes could prevent the team from addressing a more significant area this coming summer. But public pressure is growing for New York to make a play for the team’s 2015 trade-deadline star, he notes.

More on the market …

  • John Harper of the New York Daily News feels that the Justin Upton signing further adds to the pressure on the Mets, though he also adds that the $132.75MM guarantee probably indicates that Upton had significant interest from multiple teams. If that’s the case, some of those clubs could very well turn their attention to Cespedes. If Cespedes lands a comparable or greater deal, Harper points out, it will explain why the Mets failed to bring him back into the fold. However, if he signs for three or four years elsewhere, Harper believes it’ll be hard for the Mets to justify their lack of spending. As we’ve discussed often here at MLBTR, though, short-term or even mid-range scenarios such as Harper describes continue to appear unlikely for Cespedes, who — like Upton — still figures to find a large and lengthy guarantee despite his extended wait on the market.
  • When evaluating baseball contracts, the concept of deferred money is both rightly referenced and often misunderstood. Dave Cameron of Fangraphs provides good perspective on the recent Chris Davis deal, explaining that the total value of his contract can’t just be discounted all the way to one, lump-sum present value — at least, that is, unless we treat every other contract the same way. (Point being: we typically add up future payouts in multi-year deals without discounting their value, even though the same rationale applies to all money owed in the future, whether or not “deferred.”) Cameron attempts to put the Davis deal on roughly the same footing as a more typically structured deal that pays out annual salaries in the year they are earned, concluding that the $161MM guarantee is probably best thought of as a $148MM pact.
  • Veteran reliever Joe Nathan is getting bites from around ten teams, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Nathan is looking to come back from Tommy John surgery at 41 years of age. While he’s not likely to be signed with any grand expectations, and struggled in his most recent run with the Tigers, it’s easy to see why teams would be willing to give him a shot given that he remained productive well in his late thirties.
  • Free agency is typically the most straightforward way to address a need, and Anthony Castrovince of Sports on Earth looks at what teams have done to address the biggest problem areas around the league from the 2015 season.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: Friday

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The deadline for teams to exchange arbitration figures with eligible players is 1pm ET today. Dozens of arb agreements figure to flow in over the next few hours, and we’ll keep track of the smaller arb agreements in this post. All projections referenced are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz and can be viewed on the full list of 156 players that filed for arbitration this year. Remember also that you can keep track of everyone that has avoided arbitration by checking out MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker.

Onto the agreements…

  • Shortstop Zack Cozart is in agreement with the Reds for an undisclosed sum, per a team announcement. He projected at $2.9MM in his second year of eligibility after a promising start to the 2015 season was cut short by a serious knee injury.
  • The Diamondbacks announced that they have avoided arbitration with righty Rubby De La Rosa for an undisclosed sum. He was projected at $3.2MM but, per Jack Magruder of Fanragsports.com (on Twitter), will earn only $2.35MM.
  • Reliever Fernando Rodriguez settled with the Athletics for $1.05MM — beneath his projected $1.3MM — per the Associated Press.
  • Dodgers infielder Justin Turner will earn $5.1MM next season, Jon Heyman reports on Twitter. That’s just a shade under his $5.3MM projection.
  • The Braves settled with reliever Arodys Vizcaino for $897,500, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets. He had a $1.1MM projection entering the fall.
  • Both Zach Putnam will earn a $975K salary next year after agreeing with the White Sox, per a club announcement. That’s $175K over the projected arb value of the Super Two.
  • The Cardinals settled with first baseman Matt Adams for $1.65MM, Heyman tweets. That’s a small bump over his $1.5MM projections. The team is also in agreement with right-hander Seth Maness, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Super Two reliever projected at $1.2MM but will receive $1.4MM, per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter).
  • Righty Tom Koehler receives a $3.5MM payday from the Marlins, per Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The team gets a break on the $3.9MM that had been projected. The team also has an agreement with righties David Phelps and Carter Capps, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets. Heyman adds (via Twitter) that Phelps will earn exactly his projected amount of $2.5MM. Capps was predicted to earn $800K, but his salary is yet to be reported.
  • The Diamondbacks agreed to a $4.35MM rate with first-year-eligible starter Shelby Miller, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter. He had projected at $4.9MM. Notably, Miller comes in just ahead of fellow 3+ service-class pitcher Harvey (who is covered below). Fellow Arizona hurler Patrick Corbin will earn $2.525MM next year, Passan also tweets.
  • The Nationals have agreed with infielder Danny Espinosa for $2.875MM, Jon Heyman tweets. He gets a slight bump over his $2.7MM projection in his second season of arb eligibility.
  • Nolan Arenado will receive a $5MM salary from the Rockies in his first season of eligibility, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. That’s exactly what fellow star young third baseman Manny Machado settled for as well, though Arenado was a Super Two. As Swartz explained recently, those two players’ cases may well have been tied together despite some important distinctions. He also explained why Arenado might not reach his sky-high $6.6MM projection in actuality.
  • The Orioles have agreed with starter Miguel Gonzalez for $5.1MM, Eduardo Rodriguez of the Baltimore Sun reports on Twitter. Gonzalez projected for $4.9MM.
  • Outfielder Chris Coghlan agreed at $4.8MM with the Cubs, MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat tweets. That’s quite a nice increase over his projected $3.9MM. Also agreeing with Chicago was reliever Pedro Strop, who gets $4.4MM, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter). He had been projected at $4.7MM.
  • Both righty Michael Pineda (for $4.3MM) and infielder/outfielder Dustin Ackley ($3.2MM), according to Passan (via Twitter) and Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Those numbers largely track the projected amounts of $4.6MM and $3.1MM, respectively.
  • Danny Duffy will play at $4.225MM next year after reaching terms with the Royals, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports (Twitter links). Catcher Drew Butera, meanwhile, will get $1,162,500 from Kansas City. Both represented small bumps over their projected values of $4MM and $1.1MM.
  • Marlins closer A.J. Ramos will get $3.4MM in 2016, Heyman reports (Twitter links). Teammate Adeiny Hechavarria, meanwhile, will take down $2.625MM. Both first-year-eligible players went over their projections ($2.8MM and $2.3MM, respectively).
  • The Mets will pay $4.325MM to Matt Harvey and $3MM to shortstop Ruben Tejada for 2016, ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports (Twitter links). Harvey approaches, but doesn’t quite reach, his $4.7MM projection. Though he’s still recovering from an unfortunate leg injury suffered during the post-season, Tejada will take home a cool half-million more than had been projected.
  • Righty Joe Kelly has agreed with the Red Sox at $2.6MM, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. He falls a fair sight shy of the $3.2MM that MLBTR projected. Though he reached ten wins on the year, Kelly scuffled to a 4.82 ERA over his 134 1/3 innings.
  • Righty Drew Hutchison agreed with the Blue Jays for $2.2MM, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports on Twitter. He falls short of a $2.6MM projection after a tough 2015 campaign.
  • The Tigers have reached terms with shortstop Jose Iglesias for $2.1MM, per another Heyman tweet. The deal also includes some incentives, per the report. That’s a healthy jump up over the $1.5MM projection for the slick-fielding infielder, who did have a strong 2015 season.
  • The Mariners announced that they reached agreement with lefty Charlie Furbush and righty Evan Scribner. Furbush will receive $1.7MM, while Scribner will get $807.5K, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports.
  • Both shortstop Jean Segura and righty Wily Peralta are under contract with the Brewers, per a team announcement. Segura gets $2.6MM after being projected at $3.2MM, per Heyman (Twitter link). Matt Swartz’s system pegged Peralta at $2.8MM, and that’s exactly what he’ll earn, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter).

There are plenty more after the jump:

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