Brewers Sign Blake Perkins To Major League Contract
The Brewers announced Wednesday that they’ve signed outfielder Blake Perkins to a one-year, Major League contract.
Big league deals for player who’ve yet to make their MLB debut aren’t common, but there are a handful of such signings every season. The 26-year-old Perkins is a former second-round pick by the Nationals (2015) who batted a combined .246/.357/.456 with 15 homers and 21 steals between the Double-A and Triple-A affiliates for the Yankees last season. Signing him to a big league deal doesn’t necessarily indicate that Perkins will be on the Brewers’ roster next year, however, as the switch-hitter will still be optionable. Rather, the Major League deal was likely reflective of considerable interest from other parties on minor league contracts.
Perkins ranked among the top 30 prospects with the Nationals and Royals each season from 2015-19, regularly drawing praise as a potential plus center fielder with good speed and a keen eye at the plate. That strike zone recognition was on full display in 2022, as Perkins walked in a hefty 13.6% of his plate appearances.
However, most scouting reports on Perkins, particularly as he began to reach the upper minors, labeled him as a glove-first player who’d need to improve his offensive profile to take the next step. For the first time in his pro career, Perkins appeared to do just that in 2022. Entering the season, he’d connected on just 28 home runs in 564 professional games, but he swatted 15 long balls and added another 21 extra-base hits in just 397 plate appearances.
While last night’s trade of Hunter Renfroe opened up some playing time in the Milwaukee outfield, Perkins is likely still a ways down the depth chart with the Brewers. Christian Yelich, Garrett Mitchell, Tyrone Taylor and Esteury Ruiz give the Brewers at least five other options who are already on the 40-man roster, to say nothing of top prospects Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer, each of whom posted huge numbers in about a quarter of a season’s worth of games at the Triple-A level in 2022. Frelick and Wiemer aren’t on the 40-man roster but could emerge as potential call-ups at any point in 2023. Perkins adds some depth to that mix, but he’ll have to earn his way into a big league audition.
Angels Re-Sign Chad Wallach To Minor League Deal
The Angels have signed catcher Chad Wallach to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Wallach was with the club in 2022 but elected free agency after being outrighted in October.
Wallach, 31, has seen MLB action in each of the past six seasons, splitting time between the Reds, Marlins and Angels. The Marlins put him on waivers in July of 2021, with the Dodgers putting in a claim. They kept him in the minors until putting him back on waivers a week later, when the Angels swooped in.
The backstop got into 12 MLB games but spent most of the year in Triple-A, suiting up for 89 contests there. He hit .219/.304/.361 in that time for a wRC+ of 66. He’s never been a huge threat with the bat but has a solid reputation for his defense and game calling.
The Angels will be without Kurt Suzuki next year, as he announced his retirement as the 2022 campaign was winding down. That leaves them with three catchers on the 40-man roster in Logan O’Hoppe, Max Stassi and Matt Thaiss. O’Hoppe looked great last year but he’s still a bit green, in the sense that he’s only played six Triple-A games and five MLB games. He could take the starting job and run with it but it’s not guaranteed at the moment. Stassi seemed to have that job locked down a year ago, with he and the club agreeing to an extension in March. However, his bat took a huge downward turn and he’s now a question mark going into next year. Thaiss played other positions last year just as much as he did behind the plate and is probably considered more of an emergency catcher. Wallach will give the club an experienced backstop in Triple-A who can come up in the event that one of the other options gets hurt or underperforms.
Mets Sign Denyi Reyes To Minor League Deal
The Mets announced that they have signed two pitchers to minor league deals: right-hander Denyi Reyes and left-hander Zach Muckenhirn. Each will be invited to major league Spring Training.
Reyes, 26, is the only one of the two with major league experience. He cracked the big leagues with the Orioles last year, tossing 7 2/3 innings with a 2.35 ERA. Over his 54 Triple-A innings last year, however, he posted a 7.17 ERA but surely deserved better. His 22% strikeout rate was close to average and his 3.3% walk rate was excellent. A .361 BABIP and 57.8% strand rate helped to make his results worse than perhaps they should have been. He was outrighted in September and elected free agency at the end of the season.
Muckenhirn, 28 in February, has yet to reach the big leagues. Drafted by the Orioles in the 11th round in 2016, he stuck with that organization until he was released in April of 2021 and signed a minors deal with the White Sox. He spent all of 2022 at Triple-A, throwing 55 innings with a 3.11 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 41.7% ground ball rate.
The Mets have a lot of work to do this winter in re-building their pitching staff. Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker have departed the rotation for free agency while Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo, Trevor May, Trevor Williams, Joely Rodriguez and Mychal Givens have left the bullpen. Those players are all still free agents except for Rodriguez, who signed with the Red Sox earlier today. The club has already made a couple of moves to compensate, re-signing Edwin Díaz, claiming William Woods and Stephen Ridings off waivers, and trading for Elieser Hernández and Jeff Brigham. Today’s signings of Reyes and Muckenhirn add to the club’s bullpen depth.
Red Sox Sign Joely Rodriguez
11:49am: Rodriguez will earn a $500K bonus for reaching each of 30, 60, 90 and 120 days on the active roster in 2023, MLBTR has learned.
10:28am: The Red Sox have signed left-handed reliever Joely Rodriguez to a one-year deal with a club option for the 2024 season, per a team announcement. Rodriguez, a client of L.A. Sports Management, will be guaranteed $2MM in the form of a $1.5MM salary in 2023 and a $500K buyout on a $4.25MM club option for the 2024 campaign, Chad Jennings of The Athletic reports (via Twitter).
MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo tweets that Rodriguez can earn up to $2MM of bonuses based on time spent on the active roster in 2023, plus $250K in each season of the deal based on games pitched. In all, it can max out at $8.25MM over a two-year term. Boston’s 40-man roster is now up to 39 players.
Originally signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Pirates as a teenager back in 2009, Rodriguez bounced to four different organizations before signing with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball prior to the 2018 season. A strong two-year run with the Dragons (1.85 ERA in 87 2/3 innings) landed Rodriguez a big league deal to return to the Rangers.
Twice traded since that time, the now-31-year-old Rodriguez has spent a season with Texas and both New York clubs, pitching to a combined 4.28 ERA but more encouraging secondary marks. He’s averaged 94 mph on his heater, punched out an above-average 25.5% of his opponents and logged a huge 55.7% ground-ball rate. Despite a higher-than-average 10.3% walk rate, fielding-independent metrics like FIP (3.14) and SIERA (3.51) all feel that Rodriguez has pitched a fair bit better than his more rudimentary ERA would otherwise indicate.
In particular, Rodriguez has excelled at limiting hard contact. Last year’s paltry 85.3 mph average exit velocity, 3.8% barrel rate and 31.8% hard-hit rate were all among the lowest marks in the league. Statcast ranked each in the 91st percentile or better among big league pitchers. Rodriguez carried a notable platoon split with the Yankees in 2021 but, upon ramping up his usage of a sinker/changeup combination (at the expense of most of his four-seamers and sliders) was generally tough on lefties and righties alike in 2022. Left-handers hit .233/.320/.326 against him, while righties were actually even worse, at .220/.325/.300.
If Rodriguez can sustain those gains against right-handed opponents and simultaneously rein in his command a bit — he walked 12% of hitters in 2022 but just 8.7% in 2021 — there’s potential for him to elevate his profile and prove to be a quality bargain on this relatively modest deal.
Rodriguez will step into a Boston bullpen that had otherwise been slated to include just one lefty: Josh Taylor. It’s possible that Darwinzon Hernandez or one of recently selected Chris Murphy and Brandon Walter could eventually work their way into the mix, but left-handed bullpen help was a fairly clear area of need for the Sox. They’ve now made at least one move to address that — though others could certainly transpire — and done so in affordable fashion. With Rodriguez on the books, Boston’s payroll sits at a projected $133.8MM, while their luxury-tax ledger is just north of $153MM.
Athletics, Pablo Reyes Agree To Minor League Deal
The A’s have agreed to a minor league contract with infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes, per Baseball America’s Chris Hilburn-Trenkle. Presumably, the deal includes an invite to Major League Spring Training, though the team has not formally announced the deal or indicated as much. Reyes was outrighted by the Brewers last month and subsequently became a minor league free agent.
Reyes, 29, has appeared in parts of four Major League seasons, logging time with the 2018-19 Pirates and the 2021-22 Brewers. He’s appeared in 147 Major League games, tallied 323 trips to the plate and posted a combined .238/.307/.361 batting line in that time. Along the way, he’s played 355 innings in the outfield (mostly in the corners but 68 innings in center), 171 innings at third base, 54 innings at second base and 47 innings at shortstop.
While Reyes received just 16 Major League plate appearances in 2022 (going 4-for-15 in that short stint), he enjoyed a solid year in Triple-A Nashville, batting .273/.348/.439 (110 wRC+) with 11 home runs, 27 doubles, a pair of triples and 15 steals. Reyes has fanned in 15.5% of his Triple-A plate appearances across the past two seasons, showing a good knack for contact, and has also walked at a 9.2% rate.
Reyes is out of minor league options, so if he earns a spot on the big league roster with the A’s at any point, he’ll need to stick or else be placed on waivers before he can be sent back to the minors. He’ll have to vie for a job in Spring Training and perhaps early in the season in Triple-A, but his right-handed bat could be a natural complement to a platoon-heavy A’s club that’ll feature lefties like Tony Kemp, Seth Brown and perhaps some combination of Vimael Machin, Cody Thomas, Cal Stevenson and Conner Capel. In 134 Major League plate appearances against lefties, Reyes is a .276/.336/.480 hitter.
Angels Acquire Hunter Renfroe From Brewers
The Angels’ early-offseason aggressiveness continues. The Halos announced the acquisition of outfielder Hunter Renfroe from the Brewers on Tuesday night. Pitchers Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero and Adam Seminaris head to Milwaukee in return.
It’s the third early strike of the offseason for the Halos, who’ve already signed starter Tyler Anderson to a three-year free agent deal and acquired infielder Gio Urshela in a trade with the Twins. Now, they take a step towards fixing an outfield that had a major question mark alongside Mike Trout and Taylor Ward.
Renfroe should solidify the corner outfield spot opposite Ward. He’s been an above-average hitter in each of the past two seasons, with strikingly similar production for the Red Sox in 2021 and Brewers this year. The former first-rounder has combined for 60 home runs over the last two seasons, following up a 31-homer showing with the Sox with 29 more in Milwaukee. He had an identical .315 on-base percentage in each year but more than offset that modest number with big power production.
The right-handed hitter has hit between .255 and .260 in each of the last two years while slugging around .500 both seasons. He has a cumulative .257/.315/.496 line in just under 1100 plate appearances going back to the start of 2021. His 22.9% strikeout rate is right around average, while he’s walked at a slightly below-average 7.6% clip. He’s a lower-OBP slugger who has particularly decimated left-handed opposition. Renfroe carries a .269/.357/.508 line over that stretch while holding the platoon advantage. He’s had starker on-base concerns but hit for enough power to remain a decent option against right-handed pitching (.252/.292/.491).
That power production is Renfroe’s calling card, but he’s also a viable defender. Defensive Runs Saved has pegged him right around league average in right field in each of the last three seasons. Statcast’s range-based metric has Renfroe a few runs below average annually, but he compensates for his fringy athleticism with top-tier arm strength. He’s picked up double-digit assists in each of the last two years, and he leads all MLB outfielders with 27 baserunners cut down in that time.
Renfroe’s excellent arm strength has kept him primarily in right field over the past few years, although he did log a number of innings in left earlier in his career. If he steps into right field at Angel Stadium, that’d push Ward over to left field. Former top prospect Jo Adell now looks as if he’ll be relegated to fourth outfield/bench duty after beginning his career with a .215/.259/.356 showing in roughly one full season’s worth of games. Adell is still just 23 years old and coming off a solid year in Triple-A Salt Lake, but the Angels don’t appear prepared to count on him for a regular role as they look to vault their way into the playoff picture in 2023.
As with last week’s Urshela trade, the Renfroe acquisition is about deepening the lineup with a productive but not elite veteran for a season. Renfroe turns 31 in January and is in his final season of club control. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for an $11.2MM salary, and he’ll be a free agent at the end of the year. That’s a reasonable sum for a player of this caliber, but one moderately expensive season of arbitration control over a lower-OBP corner slugger isn’t teeming with trade value. Renfroe is the second player of that ilk dealt in as many weeks.
The Blue Jays sent Teoscar Hernández to the Mariners for reliever Erik Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko. That trade came as a surprise to a number of Toronto fans, but each of Swanson and Macko are arguably more appealing players than any of the trio of pitchers Milwaukee received in this swap. Hernández is a better hitter than Renfroe is, but the gap between the former’s .282/.332/.508 line over the past two seasons and the latter’s production isn’t all that dramatic. Nevertheless, Renfroe has had a hard time sticking in any one spot as his price tag has escalated throughout his arbitration seasons. The Halos will be his fifth team in as many years, as he’s successively played for the Padres, Rays, Red Sox and Brewers going back to 2019.
Adding his projected arbitration salary pushes the Halos’ estimated 2023 payroll up to around $192MM, per Roster Resource. That’d be the highest mark in franchise history, narrowly topping their approximate $189MM figure from this past season. They’re up to roughly $206MM in luxury tax commitments, around $27MM shy of the $233MM base threshold. The franchise’s spending capacity this winter has been in question with owner Arte Moreno exploring a sale of the franchise. There’s still no indication the club is willing to approach luxury tax territory, but the acquisitions of Anderson, Urshela and Renfroe have tacked on an estimated $31.9MM in 2023 spending. The latter two players represent one-year investments, but it seems Moreno is affording general manager Perry Minasian and his group some leeway to add to the roster in advance of the club’s final season of control over defending AL MVP runner-up Shohei Ohtani.
The Brewers add a trio of pitchers, two of whom already have big league experience. Junk is a former 22nd-round pick of the Yankees. He went to the Halos in the 2021 deadline deal that sent southpaw Andrew Heaney to the Bronx. The right-hander has pitched in seven MLB games over the past two seasons, starting six. He’s allowed a 4.74 ERA through 24 2/3 innings, striking out a below-average 19.4% of opponents but posting a sterling 4.4% walk rate.
Junk, 27 in January, leans primarily on a low-80s slider which prospect evaluators suggest could be an above-average pitch. He has decent spin on his 92-93 MPH four-seam but hasn’t cemented himself on a big league staff to this point. He spent most of this year on optional assignment to Salt Lake, where he posted a 4.64 ERA through 73 2/3 innings as a starter in a hitter-friendly environment. His 22.1% strikeout percentage was a touch below average, but he only walked 5.8% of opponents. The Seattle University product still has a pair of minor league option years remaining and can bounce between Milwaukee and Triple-A Nashville as rotation or middle relief depth.
Peguero, on the other hand, is a pure reliever. The righty debuted with three appearances as a COVID replacement late in the 2021 season. He earned a permanent 40-man roster spot last offseason and appeared in 13 games this year. Tasked with low-leverage innings, Peguero put up a 7.27 ERA across 17 1/3 innings. He only struck out 15.6% of opponents but got swinging strikes on a more impressive 12% of his total pitches. The Dominican Republic native induced grounders on roughly half the batted balls he surrendered in the majors.
He also had an excellent year in Salt Lake, where he tossed 44 1/3 frames of 2.84 ERA ball. Peguero fanned 27.5% of batters faced against a quality 7.1% walk rate and racked up grounders at a huge 57.5% clip. Like Junk, Peguero leaned primarily on a slider during his MLB look, although he throws much harder. Peguero’s slider checked in at 91 MPH on average while his fastball sat just north of 96. He turns 26 in March and also has two options remaining, so the Brewers can deploy him as an up-and-down middle reliever while hoping he can translate his Triple-A success against big league opponents.
Seminaris went in the fifth round in the 2020 draft out of Long Beach State. A 6’0″ southpaw, he wasn’t ranked among the top 30 prospects in the Anaheim system at Baseball America. He traversed three minor league levels this year, showing well at High-A against younger competition but struggling as he climbed the minor league ladder. Altogether, he worked 101 2/3 frames of 3.54 ERA ball with a 22.1% strikeout rate and an 8.7% walk percentage. He’s not on the 40-man roster but will have to be added by the end of the 2023 season or be exposed in the Rule 5 draft.
While Milwaukee clearly likes all three mid-20’s hurlers, they’re each flexible depth options. Surely, a key motivator in the deal was reallocating Renfroe’s hefty arbitration projection. Slashing payroll wasn’t the sole impetus for the trade — the Brewers could’ve simply non-tendered Renfroe last week if they were committed to getting his money off the books — but GM Matt Arnold and his staff elected to clear some payroll room while bringing in a few depth arms of note.
The Brewers are projected for a salary around $115MM at Roster Resource thanks largely to an arbitration class that still includes Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Willy Adames, among others. That’s about $17MM shy of this year’s Opening Day mark, and more roster shuffling figures to be on the horizon. Dealing a complementary player like Renfroe doesn’t suggest the Brewers are about to flip any of Burnes, Woodruff or Adames, but Milwaukee could consider moving second baseman Kolten Wong or a depth starter like Adrian Houser or Eric Lauer. They’ve already drawn some interest from the Mariners on Wong and are sure to contemplate a number of ways to try to balance the present and the future.
Milwaukee could now dip into the lower tiers of the free agent corner outfield market to backfill for Renfroe’s absence, with Tyrone Taylor standing as the current favorite for playing time alongside Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell in the outfield. Highly-touted young players like Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer could play their way into the mix midseason, but it’d be a surprise if the Brewers didn’t add at least one veteran outfielder before Opening Day.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Charlie Barnes Re-Signs With KBO’s Lotte Giants
The Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization have agreed to a new contract with left-hander Charlie Barnes, as first reported by Ji-heon Pae (on Twitter). It’s a one-year deal that’ll guarantee the former big league hurler $1.2MM, MLBTR has learned. That’ll take the form of a $350K signing bonus and an $850K salary, and the contract also contains $50K in potential incentives.
Barnes returns for a second season with the Giants, who also re-signed outfielder Zach Reks last week. The Clemson product signed last offseason on a $610K guarantee, and he’ll nearly double that salary in year two after a strong debut campaign. Barnes took 31 turns through the Giants’ rotation, tossing 186 innings of 3.62 ERA ball. He punched out 20.3% of opponents and limited walks to an excellent 6% clip. Perhaps most impressively, he kept the ball on the ground for more than three-fifths of batted balls he surrendered, helping him limit home runs to just a 0.39 rate per nine innings.
That marked Barnes’ most extended action at the highest level of a country’s professional ranks. He logged a bit of major league time with the Twins prior to heading to South Korea. Barnes pitched in nine games (eight starts) for Minnesota in 2021, allowing a 5.92 ERA through 38 innings. The former fourth-round draftee had posted a 3.71 ERA over parts of four seasons in the Minnesota farm system.
Barnes is 27 years old. There have been a few examples — most prominently Merrill Kelly and Chris Flexen — of pitchers who’d been on the fringe of a 40-man roster getting a longer leash at the MLB level after finding success in South Korea. Veteran righty Drew Rucinski is hoping to be next in that line this winter. Barnes is certainly young enough to have a chance at following that path eventually, but he’ll focus his efforts for the time being on looking to help the Giants bounce back from a 64-76 campaign.
Pirates Designate Hoy Park For Assignment
The Pirates announced they’ve designated infielder Hoy Park for assignment. The move creates a 40-man roster spot for first baseman Lewin Díaz, who has been claimed off waivers from the Marlins as previously reported.
Park landed in Pittsburgh alongside Diego Castillo in the increasingly regrettable deal that sent reliever Clay Holmes to the Yankees. Park had only appeared in one big league game with New York to that point, but he was sitting on an incredible .325/.475/.567 line in Triple-A. He looked like a plug-and-play middle infield option for the Bucs, but he never seized control of a spot in an uncertain second base mix.
The South Korea native hit .197/.299/.339 through 144 plate appearances down the stretch in 2021. He walked at a very strong 12.1% clip but didn’t make much of an impact on batted balls and struck out more than a quarter of the time he came to the plate. Park spent most of this past season as an upper minors depth infielder. He appeared in just 23 MLB games while suiting up 89 times at Triple-A Indianapolis.
In contrast to his incredible 2021 work at the minors’ highest level, Park hit .225/.332/.354 through 375 plate appearances there in 2022. He again showed a willingness to work deep counts, drawing walks at just shy of a 14% clip, and he was successful on all 14 of his stolen base attempts. Still, a 26.4% strikeout rate and a modest 10 home runs and 11 doubles contributed to a below-average offensive performance. He didn’t do much in his 60 MLB plate appearances this year, hitting .216/.276/.373 with a pair of longballs.
The Pirates are lacking a slam-dunk option to play second base after trading Kevin Newman to the division-rival Reds last week. General manager Ben Cherington recently told reporters they were open to addressing the position from outside the organization, and Park clearly had fallen to the bottom of the depth chart among their internal options. As things currently stand, Rodolfo Castro looks like the favorite to join Oneil Cruz in the middle infield, although Castillo and Ji Hwan Bae could battle for reps before accounting for any external pickups.
The Bucs will now have a week to trade Park or try to run him through waivers. His plate discipline and defensive flexibility could draw him some attention. He’s capable of playing anywhere on the infield, although he’s increasingly seen more time at second and third base than at shortstop. Park also has a bit of experience at each of the three outfield positions, making him a possible versatile left-handed bench bat. He’s yet to find much success against big league pitching, but he’s a career .250/.362/.368 hitter over parts of seven minor league seasons. Park still has a pair of option years remaining, so another team could stash him in the upper minors as depth if they’re willing to devote him a 40-man roster spot.
Brewers, Tobias Myers Agree To Minor League Deal
The Brewers have signed Tobias Myers to a minor league contract, reports Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. The right-hander had been outrighted and eventually released by the White Sox in September.
Myers is a former 6th-round draftee of the Orioles. He’s never pitched in the major leagues but he’s been a frequent depth target for teams over the past 12 months. Traded from the O’s to the Rays in 2017, he pitched his way up to Triple-A in the Tampa Bay farm system last year. He would’ve been eligible for the Rule 5 draft last winter if not added to the 40-man roster, and the Rays dealt him to the Guardians for infield prospect Junior Caminero. Cleveland immediately added him to the 40-man, but that’s a deal they’d surely like back in retrospect.
The 24-year-old Myers had a dismal 2022 campaign. He was tagged for a 6.00 ERA over 14 starts with the Guardians’ top affiliate, and Cleveland dealt him to the Giants for cash in early July. Caminero, on the other hand, had huge numbers between rookie ball and Low-A and was recently named the #8 prospect in a deep Rays system by Baseball America. Myers would make just two Triple-A appearances with San Francisco before being designated for assignment and lost on waivers to the White Sox. He threw seven times for Chicago’s top affiliate, allowing an eye-popping 24 runs in 13 innings, before being released.
Clearly, it was a season to forget for the Florida native. Myers combined for a 7.82 ERA in 76 Triple-A frames, allowing 15 home runs with nearly as many walks as strikeouts. Still, he’s continued to intrigue a number of teams on the strength of his pre-2022 performance. During his final season in the Tampa Bay system, he combined for a 3.90 ERA across 117 2/3 innings with an excellent 30.5% strikeout percentage and just a 5.8% walk rate.
Milwaukee becomes the next team to take a shot at trying to get Myers back on track. He still has two minor league option years remaining, so if he can earn a 40-man roster spot, the Brewers could move him between Milwaukee and Triple-A Nashville as either rotation or multi-inning relief depth.
Details On Nick Martinez’s New Contract With Padres
Nick Martinez opted out of his Padres contract at the end of the offseason but he and the club agreed to a new deal last week. The club made it official today by announcing the deal, and Dennis Lin of The Athletic added some more information about the incentives.
As a recap, it’s technically a three-year, $26MM deal but with a convoluted structure. Martinez will get a $10MM base salary in 2023, which is the straightforward part. After that, the club will have to decide whether or not to trigger two $16MM club options for 2024 and 2025, essentially a two-year, $32MM extension. If they decline, Martinez will get to decide whether or not to trigger two player options valued at $8MM each, essentially a two-year, $16MM extension. Since player options are considered guaranteed, that $16MM option and the $10MM base in 2023 combine to form a $26MM guarantee.
Adding some extra layers of complication are the incentives that Lin outlines, which reflect the uncertain role Martinez will play going forward. He started 2022 in the rotation but eventually got bumped to the bullpen, with his new contract seemingly accounting for a similar trajectory in 2023. Martinez will get paid based on games started, earning an extra $500K at 10, 15, 20 and 25 starts. In terms of relieving, he’ll get $100K at 10 appearances and 20 appearances, $200K at 30, 40, 50 and 60 appearances. For games finished, he will get $200K each at 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 finishes.
That’s technically $4.4MM in available incentives, though there’s no way Martinez unlocks all of those. For instance, if he makes 25 starts, he’s unlikely to trigger many of the relief incentives, since a healthy pitcher will make about 32-33 starts over a full season. However, this contract allows Martinez to continue increasing his earnings whether he’s starting or relieving, so long as he’s healthy.
The aforementioned option values can also change, as Lin adds that there are escalators based on Martinez hitting certain innings totals, making the All-Star team or finishing in the top 10 in Cy Young voting. Those details aren’t publicly known at this time.
Going forward, the Friars have Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell taking up the first three spots in the rotation. Martinez is a candidate to take one of the spots at the back end, but subsequent moves by the team could push him to the bullpen. Last year, he posted a 4.30 ERA as a starter and a 2.67 as a reliever. His strikeout, walk and ground ball rates were all better out of the bullpen than the rotation.