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Kelvin Herrera

Royals, Kelvin Herrera Avoid Arbitration

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The Royals and right-hander Kelvin Herrera have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $5.325MM, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). That figure falls directly in between the $5.6MM for which Herrera filed and the $5.05MM figure at which the team countered, as shown in MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker. Herrera’s ultimate payday will fall nicely in line with the $5.3MM which MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him to earn.

The 27-year-old Herrera was in his third year of arbitration eligibility as a Super Two player and will be eligible once more next winter before reaching free agency upon completion of the 2018 campaign. He’d previously avoided his first two arbitration hearing by agreeing to a two-year, $4.15MM contract prior to the 2015 season.

Armed with a blazing fastball that averaged 97.1 mph in 2016 (and 98.1 mph from 2014-15) as well as an excellent changeup which sits around 89 mph, Herrera will now look to anchor a Kansas City bullpen in which he’s previously functioned as a setup man to Wade Davis (and Greg Holland before him). Herrera saw his first extended stint as the Kansas City closer last year when Davis was injured, and he’s now the favorite to inherit the ninth inning following Davis’ trade to the Cubs (which netted the Royals Jorge Soler). Herrera’s resume certainly looks like that of a closer, as he’s pitched to a pristine 2.30 ERA with 8.9 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 46.1 percent ground-ball rate across the past three seasons.

2017 Arbitration Filing Numbers

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MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker is the place to go to see the arbitration contracts agreed upon thus far, as well as the figures exchanged between teams and players that were not able to reach agreement before today’s deadline to swap salary positions. Matt Swartz’s arbitration projections are available here.

After a busy day of dealmaking, 152 players (at last check) have reached agreement on arbitration salaries for the coming season. But 36 other tendered players have yet to reach reported agreements with their clubs. Of course, those players can still settle before their hearings (which will take place in early to mid-February). If the case goes to a hearing, the arbitrator must choose one side’s figures, rather than settling on a midpoint.

We’ve gathered the highest-stakes arbitration situations remaining — those where the player files for at least $4.5MM — in this post, but you can find them all in the tracker. We’ll update this list as the figures are reported:

Heyman On Contracts: Herrera, Holland, Coffey, Middlebrooks

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Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com provides some finer details on various recently-struck contracts from around the game (links to Twitter):

  • Under his two-year deal, Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera can tack on an additional $250K to his 2016 salary based on games finished in 2015. That is not much, but does give at least some suggestion that he and the team have conceived of the possibility that he could end up in a closing role at some point.
  • Of course, Herrera is not first or even second in the pecking order there. Royals pen mate Greg Holland will handle the ninth until further notice, and his one-year deal to avoid arbitration contains several bonus provisions, including a $100K bump for taking home another reliever of the year award.
  • Todd Coffey’s minor league deal with the Braves would pay him $800K annually for his time in the majors, if he can crack the roster. Coffey can also earn up to $200K through incentives.
  • The Padres will pay pre-arbitration-eligible third baseman Will Middlebrooks rather well. He will make $540,500 over his time in the majors and $324,300 for whatever time he spends in the minors. Last year at this time, MLBTR’s Zach Links took an interesting look at how teams pay pre-arb players.

Royals Finalizing Two-Year Deal With Kelvin Herrera

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6:10pm: Herrera will earn $1.6MM in 2015 and $2.55MM in 2016, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets.  Herrera has also passed his physical, Heyman notes, so it’s seemingly just a matter of time before the contract becomes official.

2:51pm: The Royals are finalizing a two-year contract with right-handed setup man Kelvin Herrera, reports Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter). The contract will pay the arbitration-eligible relief ace $4.15MM. Herrera is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Herrera, who turned 25 on New Year’s Eve, broke out as part of an elite trio of relief arms that fueled Kansas City’s juggernaut-like run through the American League Wild Card game, the ALDS and the ALCS. Alongside Wade Davis and closer Greg Holland, Herrera gives manager Ned Yost three lights-out weapons to pitch in high-leverage situations at the end of games.

Last season, Herrera pitched to a pristine 1.41 ERA, averaging 7.6 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 with a 49.2 percent ground-ball rate while lighting up the radar gun with a fastball that averaged 98.1 mph. His strikeout rate dipped substantially from 2013, perhaps due to a stark decrease in the number of change-ups he threw (176 in 2013, 33 in 2014). The decision to scrap the change seems at least somewhat curious, given the 22 percent whiff rate he’s racked up on the pitch throughout his career, but it’s hard to argue with the bottom-line results produced by Herrera.

Herrera had filed for a $1.9MM salary, with the team countering at $1.15MM, as shown in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker. The midpoint of those figures — $1.525MM — was right in line with the $1.5MM projection of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. However, under his new two-year deal, Herrera will not have to worry about the arbitration process until the 2016-17 offseason. As a Super Two player who was eligible for the first time this winter, Herrera will be controlled through the 2018 season and will be arb-eligible twice more upon completion of this pact.

Royals Shopping Infante, Listening On Relievers

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TODAY: Kansas City is leaving other clubs with the impression that they are willing, albeit hesitant, to deal from amongst its trio of late-inning arms, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). To do so, however, the Royals would need a controllable player at a position of need: either an impact bat in right or a starting pitcher.

YESTERDAY, 12:30pm: The Royals are making Omar Infante available, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).

Roughly one year ago today, the Royals signed Infante to a four-year deal for more than $30MM plus incentives with a $10MM team option for 2018.  The soon-to-be 33-year-old batted .318/.345/.450 with 10 homers and solid second base defense for the Tigers in 2013.  However, his production slid in 2014 as he hit just .252/.295/.337 with subpar work in the field (-3.0 UZR/150).  His .632 OPS was his worst in nearly a decade, but with a lack of quality second base options out there, Infante could have value.

12:08pm: The Royals have been telling teams that relievers Greg Holland, Wade Davis, and Kelvin Herrera are not available, according to Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter).  McCullough cautions (link) that that things could conceivably change with David Robertson now off the market, however.

That news comes as something of a surprise given the amount of trade buzz we’ve heard about the trio this week.  Just yesterday we heard that the Royals were listening to offers on all three relievers with an eye on turning their bullpen strength into an outfield bat.  Trading a reliever could bring KC a much more affordable outfield solution than, say, free agent Melky Cabrera, but it would also chip away at what helped make the Royals such a strong team in 2014.

The Blue Jays were said to be in pursuit of Holland and the Royals reportedly considered him to be available, albeit with a high price tag.  McCullough speculated that Holland’s delivery and build could have KC worried about his durability, but their concerns might not be enough for them to ship him out.  MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projects him to earn $9.3MM in 2015, but that doesn’t appear to be a prohibitive cost for KC.

Royals Rumors: Gee, Rasmus, Herrera

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The latest on the Royals..

  • The Giants and Royals are two teams to watch on Mets pitcher Dillon Gee, but there are other clubs who have checked in as well, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (via Twitter).
  • Colby Rasmus is on the Royals’ list of outfield options, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (via Twitter).  Earlier this offseason, our own Jeff Todd profiled Rasmus and identified the Royals as a possibility for him.
  • The Royals are reportedly willing to listen on Greg Holland and Wade Davis and Bob Dutton of The News Tribune hears that they’re also willing to take calls on Kelvin Herrera.  Kansas City is after an outfield bat and they could parlay their strength in the bullpen to solve their corner outfield situation.  In Dutton’s mind, their willingness to move one of the three could signal that they can’t match other offers to sign Melky Cabrera.

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