Indians Avoid Arbitration With Dan Otero
The Indians have avoided arbitration with righty Dan Otero, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). He’ll earn $1.05MM in his first season of eligibility, falling short of the $1.2MM that the MLBTR model had projected.
Otero, 31, was picked up in a waiver trade last winter, and went on to provide tremendous production for Cleveland. He logged a robust 70 2/3 innings of 1.53 ERA ball, with 57 strikeouts against just ten walks. He also chipped in 7 2/3 quality postseason innings during the team’s World Series run.
White Sox Avoid Arbitration With Dan Jennings, Jake Petricka
The White Sox have avoided arbitration with lefty Dan Jennings and righty Jake Petricka, per reports from Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter) and Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). Jennings will take home $1.4MM, while Petricka is set to earn $825K.
MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz had projected Jennings at $1.2MM, but he’ll land just north of that mark. The 29-year-old southpaw didn’t carry particularly impressive peripherals, but did turn in 60 2/3 innings of 2.08 ERA pitching in 2016. This is his first year of arb eligibility, and Jennings set himself up well with a solid platform year to go with his career 2.74 ERA over 217 total innings.
It’s also the first time through the process for Petricka, who missed much of the 2016 season due to hip surgery. He’ll fall just a bit shy of his $900K projection, but still will earn a solid raise over the league minimum as he looks to get back on track. Over four total seasons in the majors, Petricka carries a 3.31 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9.
Blue Jays Avoid Arbitration With Darwin Barney, Ezequiel Carrera
6:24pm: Outfielder Ezequiel Carrera has also settled with the Jays, per Heyman (via Twitter). He’ll receive $1,162,500 — just shy of his $1.2MM projection.
6:08pm: The Blue Jays have settled on a contract figure with infielder Darwin Barney, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (Twitter link). He’ll earn $2.8875MM in 2017.
Once the regular second baseman for the Cubs, Barney had steadily seen his MLB opportunities fall over the last 2014 and 2015 seasons. But after a pit stop with the Dodgers, the 31-year-old has found a home with Toronto after re-signing with the organization for one year and $1.05MM last winter. He appeared in over 100 games in 2016, slashing .369/.322/.373 over 306 plate appearances while providing value with the glove.
Now in his final year of arbitration eligibility, Barney will earn quite a bit more than the $1.6MM that MLBTR’s arbitration model projected. That’s likely because his camp could have argued for a higher starting point — namely, his $2.525MM arb salary from 2015 — upon which to add a raise.
2017 MLB Arbitration Tracker
Our 2017 MLB arbitration tracker is now available! The tracker displays all arbitration eligible players, with fields for team, service time, player and team submissions, the midpoint, and the settlement amount. You can filter by team, signing status, service time, Super Two status, and whether a hearing occurred. For unsigned players, arbitration figures will be exchanged tomorrow.
You can bookmark MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker here, or you can find it in the Tools menu at the top of the site.
MLBTR is also the only place for salary projections for every arbitration eligible player, which you can find here.
Phillies Avoid Arbitration With Freddy Galvis
The Phillies have avoided arbitration with infielder Freddy Galvis, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki (via Twitter). He’ll earn $4.35MM, per Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter link).
MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz had projected a $4.4MM payday for Galvis, who’s eligible for the second time. In his age-26 season, the versatile fielder hit .241/.274/.399. That represented typically below-average production, albeit in a different way than usual for the diminutive ballplayer.
Galvis hit twenty home runs on the year — matching the cumulative tally over his prior four MLB seasons — and also contributed 17 stolen bases. The dingers, in particular, helped boost his arb value. But it is the glove that largely drives Galvis’s real-world value; he drew strong ratings in the field in his second season as Philadelphia’s regular shortstop.
Indians, Trevor Bauer Avoid Arbitration
The Indians and right-hander Trevor Bauer have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $3.55MM, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Bauer’s 2017 salary comes in a bit shy of the $3.7MM projection from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Bauer, 26 next week, logged a career-high 190 innings with the Indians in 2016 and posted a 4.26 ERA that represented an improvement over his 4.55 mark from the 2015 campaign. The former No. 3 overall draft pick averaged 8.0 K/9 against a career-best 3.3 BB/9 to go along with a career-high 48.7 percent ground-ball rate. He drew his share of criticism in the postseason for injuring his finger in bizarre fashion, as he was repairing a drone. Bauer’s ALCS start was pushed back from Game 2 to Game 3 and ultimately proved to be an abbreviated outing, as he lasted just two-thirds of an inning due to the injured hand. He did, however, go on to throw 8 1/3 innings in the World Series.
Cleveland originally acquired Bauer alongside Bryan Shaw, Matt Albers and Drew Stubbs in the three-team deal that sent Shin-Soo Choo to the Reds and Didi Gregorius to the Diamondbacks. Bauer has emerged as a reliable fourth starter for Cleveland, following up excellent right-handers Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar in one of the game’s more talented rotations. He reached arbitration as a Super Two player this year and will be eligible thrice more before hitting free agency upon completion of the 2020 season.
With tomorrow set as the deadline for teams and players to exchange arbitration numbers, there figure to be plenty more agreements in the 24 hours to come. You can follow all of the updates using MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker.
Twins Sign Chris Gimenez To Minor League Deal
The Twins announced that they’ve signed veteran catcher Chris Gimenez to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training.
That the Twins would sign Gimenez isn’t exactly a surprise, as catching has been a priority for them this season, and John Ryan Murphy isn’t a lock to open the year as the backup to newly signed Jason Castro (who inked a three-year, $24.5MM deal). Minnesota’s new front office is also highly familiar with the 33-year-old Gimenez, who spent time with both the Indians (where new chief baseball officer Derek Falvey was an assistant GM) and the Rangers (where new GM Thad Levine was an assistant GM) in 2016. Gimenez was also with both teams back in 2014.
Gimenez didn’t do much at the plate in 2016, hitting just .216/.272/.331 in 155 trips to the dish. However, his framing marks are solid, and Indians manager Terry Francona lauded Gimenez for the manner in which he helped Trevor Bauer produce improved results beginning last May (as Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote at the time). The well-traveled Gimenez has spent parts of four seasons in the Majors with the Indians, Rangers, Rays and Mariners, producing a .218/.297/.335 batting line in 776 plate appearances.
Cardinals, Matt Adams Avoid Arbitration
The Cardinals and first baseman Matt Adams have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $2.8MM, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (on Twitter). That figure is an exact match with the projection from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Adams, 28, missed roughly three weeks of the 2016 season with shoulder troubles but was productive in a part-time role when healthy. The slugging lefty batted .249/.309/.471 with 16 homers in a 327 trips to the plate. The shoulder injury and Adams’ deficiencies against left-handed pitching combined to limit his on-field action last season, and with Matt Carpenter penciled in as the everyday first baseman for the 2017 club, he’s unlikely to see an increase in playing time (barring injuries elsewhere on the roster). Adams has been mentioned as a possible trade candidate this winter, and the Royals are one team that has shown some preliminary interest. However, the free-agent market is flooded with players of comparable skill sets that don’t figure to come with significant asking prices at this point, which likely limits interest Adams to some extent.
Adams has long been a weapon against right-handed pitching when healthy, mashing opposite-handed pitchers at a .284/.331/.480 clip in his career. Lefties have befuddled the big man, however, as he’s mustered a woeful .212/.243/.342 slash against them. Durability has also been an issue for Adams in the past. In addition to last year’s shoulder troubles, he had brief DL stints for oblique and calf injuries in 2013 and 2014, respectively, before missing about half of the 2015 campaign with a torn right quadriceps muscle.
This marks the second trip through the arbitration process for Adams, who will be eligible once more next winter before becoming a free agent upon completion of the 2018 campaign. Remember that you can follow along with this year’s arb class using MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker.
MLBTR Chat Transcript: 1/12/17
Click here to read a transcript of today’s chat with host Jeff Todd.
Dodgers Notes: Turner, Jansen, Second Base, Puig, Thompson
Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner both spoke with Doug Padilla of ESPN.com to discuss their decisions to return to the Dodgers organization this winter. As the pair explains, they were in Curacao for Jansen’s wedding along with teammates Yasiel Puig and Scott Van Slyke and hadn’t discussed baseball for the first several days of the trip. Amusingly, it was during a haircut when the barber asked the duo about their free agency that they first discussed the decisions at hand with each other and eventually their teammates. “I don’t think either one of us was trying to pressure anyone to make any decision, we were just laying out the options and different situations and experiences,” said Turner. Jansen said that none of the teammates in attendance pressured him, instead respecting any decision he’d make, which only further instilled a bond and a sense of family. Jansen adds that the Dodgers upped their offer from four years to five shortly before his wedding, which helped to tip the scale in Los Angeles’ favor.
“When we were all together it made it tough for me to make a decision to be in another uniform,” said Jansen. “…A few days before my wedding, it seemed as if I was going to Washington. But after the Dodgers came at the end, I couldn’t leave. I wanted to stay.” Dodgers fans should absolutely check out the story in its entirety, as its stuffed with quotes from the newly re-signed pair of stars.
More on the Dodgers…
- Dodgers president of baseball ops Andrew Friedman spoke with reporters, including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, about his team’s needs at second base, and while he wouldn’t comment specifically on the reported impasse with the Twins in their talks for Brian Dozier, he spoke in general terms about the difficult negotiations. “Throughout the course of a negotiation process there are ups and downs,” said Friedman. “So it’s just a tough thing to assess. But there are a number of different options out there. I think some are more likely than others. But three days from now I could feel very differently and those things could flip.” Plunkett reports that the Dodgers have kept in contact with Chase Utley‘s representatives this season, though he doesn’t characterize the extent of their interest at this juncture.
- MLB.com’s Austin Laymance was also on-hand, and he writes that Friedman offered plenty of praise for Puig and spoke of the outfielder as a piece of the team’s future. “I think the upside is significant, and I think there’s a lot more awareness of kind of what’s expected,” said Friedman. “I definitely see some real maturation. In terms of how that translates on the field and success remains to be seen. But he’s capable of so much, and I know his teammates want to see him achieve that, we want to see him achieve that, and we’ll do everything we can to put him in a position to do that.” Friedman suggested that Puig has developed some bad habits in the batter’s box over the years but made progress in correcting them during his demotion to Triple-A. “What we saw in September was just kind of scratching the surface of that…” Friedman added, referencing a month that saw Puig rake at a .281/.338/.561 clip (albeit in just 65 PAs). Puig’s name has been bandied about the rumor mill for the past year or so, but a trade doesn’t seem especially likely at this point.
- Outfielder Trayce Thompson has “slowly progressed” from a pair of stress fractures in his back that preemptively ended his season back in July, per Friedman (via Laymance). He’s yet to swing a bat and may not be ready for early workouts in Spring Training, but the Dodgers believe he’ll be up to speed at some point before the regular season begins. “We expect him, at some point in Spring Training, to be kind of full go,” said the Dodger president.