'360MM over a 10 year term', heard twas 430+ over 12 years. Imagine if the NBA did something similar with their superstars
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Wonder how much Mookie Betts is going to get on his next contract?
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Mike Trout out on the west coast the rest of his career is just sad. Nobody gets a chance to see him unless they actually make the postseason.Comment -
Almost less than 2 weeks left.Comment -
All right NL west do you fear this giants outfield?It appears the Giants' opening day outfield will consist of Mac Williamson, Steven Duggar and Gerardo Parra. Cameron Maybin, Austin Slater and Drew Ferguson also are in the mix, while prospect Chris Shaw will start the season in the minor leagues.Comment -
i'm surprised astros paid bregman with still years left on his contract, they must have been worried he would pull a harper and leave after 2022 unless they paid himComment -
The White Sox have reportedly struck a historic extension with top prospect Eloy Jimenez. If he passes a physical, Jimenez stands to receive a record-shattering $43MM guarantee over six seasons, with a pair of option years that cost a cumulative $32MM. There’s also said to be a $2.5MM MVP bonus.
This contract will easily set a new bar for early-career extensions. To this point, only two players have ever agreed to pre-MLB debut extensions: Jon Singleton, who signed a $10MM deal with the Astros, and Scott Kingery, who inked a $24MM pact with the Phillies. Deals for players with less than a single season of MLB service haven’t gone much past Kingery’s earning level to this point, with Jimenez’s soon-to-be-teammate Tim Anderson promised $25MM and Paul DeJong of the Cardinals guaranteed $26MM.
Jimenez is widely regarded as one of the game’s five best prospects, but he has yet to take a single MLB plate appearance. The club recently optioned the 22-year-old back to Triple-A. While his showing in Spring Training wasn’t exactly stirring, it’s hard to say that Jimenez has anything to prove in the upper minors after a monster 2018 showing. In 456 total plate appearances at the Double-A and Triple-A levels, Jimenez turned in a .337/.384/.577 slash with 22 home runs and 32 walks to go with 69 strikeouts.
While it’s tempting to view this deal as buying out two potential future free agent seasons, that’s only true if the South Siders would have placed Jimenez on the Opening Day roster this year. Having already demoted him, that was not (and may still not be) the case. Teams that aren’t afraid to hold down top prospects for a few weeks are able to achieve nearly seven full seasons of output before a player reaches free agency.
Realistically, then, the Sox will only be adding one season of control. That might be an extremely valuable campaign, to be sure, as Jimenez will still be only 29 in 2026. The team will also pick up cost certainty over a player whose power potential gives him major arbitration earning upside. With a likely fourth arb-eligible season involved, Jimenez might have challenged for rather staggering sums. Of course, there are also plenty of ways in which he’d fall shy of his arb earning upside — an ill-timed injury, in particular — so there’s some degree of risk to the team and protection to Jimenez even if he turns out to be every bit as good as hoped.
While other aspects of the White Sox’ offseason didn’t turn out as hoped, they’ll now open the 2019 season with another player firmly tabbed as a part of the long-term core. Odds are Jimenez will be joined in the majors this year by top pitching prospect Dylan Cease. Both were acquired in the memorable mid-2017 deal that sent lefty Jose Quintana to the cross-town Cubs. The Quintana contract was one of several extensions that worked out quite well for the White Sox, enabling the team to acquire loads of top prospects when it decided to launch a rebuild. The Pale Hose are still waiting for those youngsters to establish themselves as quality MLB assets, though hope remains that some will reach their long-lauded ceilings — with Jimenez leading the way.Comment -
The White Sox have reportedly struck a historic extension with top prospect Eloy Jimenez. If he passes a physical, Jimenez stands to receive a record-shattering $43MM guarantee over six seasons, with a pair of option years that cost a cumulative $32MM. There’s also said to be a $2.5MM MVP bonus.
This contract will easily set a new bar for early-career extensions. To this point, only two players have ever agreed to pre-MLB debut extensions: Jon Singleton, who signed a $10MM deal with the Astros, and Scott Kingery, who inked a $24MM pact with the Phillies. Deals for players with less than a single season of MLB service haven’t gone much past Kingery’s earning level to this point, with Jimenez’s soon-to-be-teammate Tim Anderson promised $25MM and Paul DeJong of the Cardinals guaranteed $26MM.
Jimenez is widely regarded as one of the game’s five best prospects, but he has yet to take a single MLB plate appearance. The club recently optioned the 22-year-old back to Triple-A. While his showing in Spring Training wasn’t exactly stirring, it’s hard to say that Jimenez has anything to prove in the upper minors after a monster 2018 showing. In 456 total plate appearances at the Double-A and Triple-A levels, Jimenez turned in a .337/.384/.577 slash with 22 home runs and 32 walks to go with 69 strikeouts.
While it’s tempting to view this deal as buying out two potential future free agent seasons, that’s only true if the South Siders would have placed Jimenez on the Opening Day roster this year. Having already demoted him, that was not (and may still not be) the case. Teams that aren’t afraid to hold down top prospects for a few weeks are able to achieve nearly seven full seasons of output before a player reaches free agency.
Realistically, then, the Sox will only be adding one season of control. That might be an extremely valuable campaign, to be sure, as Jimenez will still be only 29 in 2026. The team will also pick up cost certainty over a player whose power potential gives him major arbitration earning upside. With a likely fourth arb-eligible season involved, Jimenez might have challenged for rather staggering sums. Of course, there are also plenty of ways in which he’d fall shy of his arb earning upside — an ill-timed injury, in particular — so there’s some degree of risk to the team and protection to Jimenez even if he turns out to be every bit as good as hoped.
While other aspects of the White Sox’ offseason didn’t turn out as hoped, they’ll now open the 2019 season with another player firmly tabbed as a part of the long-term core. Odds are Jimenez will be joined in the majors this year by top pitching prospect Dylan Cease. Both were acquired in the memorable mid-2017 deal that sent lefty Jose Quintana to the cross-town Cubs. The Quintana contract was one of several extensions that worked out quite well for the White Sox, enabling the team to acquire loads of top prospects when it decided to launch a rebuild. The Pale Hose are still waiting for those youngsters to establish themselves as quality MLB assets, though hope remains that some will reach their long-lauded ceilings — with Jimenez leading the way.
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Jimenez has been fun to follow in minors, hope he mashes in majors 10-15 games after season starts tooThe White Sox have reportedly struck a historic extension with top prospect Eloy Jimenez. If he passes a physical, Jimenez stands to receive a record-shattering $43MM guarantee over six seasons, with a pair of option years that cost a cumulative $32MM. There’s also said to be a $2.5MM MVP bonus.
This contract will easily set a new bar for early-career extensions. To this point, only two players have ever agreed to pre-MLB debut extensions: Jon Singleton, who signed a $10MM deal with the Astros, and Scott Kingery, who inked a $24MM pact with the Phillies. Deals for players with less than a single season of MLB service haven’t gone much past Kingery’s earning level to this point, with Jimenez’s soon-to-be-teammate Tim Anderson promised $25MM and Paul DeJong of the Cardinals guaranteed $26MM.
Jimenez is widely regarded as one of the game’s five best prospects, but he has yet to take a single MLB plate appearance. The club recently optioned the 22-year-old back to Triple-A. While his showing in Spring Training wasn’t exactly stirring, it’s hard to say that Jimenez has anything to prove in the upper minors after a monster 2018 showing. In 456 total plate appearances at the Double-A and Triple-A levels, Jimenez turned in a .337/.384/.577 slash with 22 home runs and 32 walks to go with 69 strikeouts.
While it’s tempting to view this deal as buying out two potential future free agent seasons, that’s only true if the South Siders would have placed Jimenez on the Opening Day roster this year. Having already demoted him, that was not (and may still not be) the case. Teams that aren’t afraid to hold down top prospects for a few weeks are able to achieve nearly seven full seasons of output before a player reaches free agency.
Realistically, then, the Sox will only be adding one season of control. That might be an extremely valuable campaign, to be sure, as Jimenez will still be only 29 in 2026. The team will also pick up cost certainty over a player whose power potential gives him major arbitration earning upside. With a likely fourth arb-eligible season involved, Jimenez might have challenged for rather staggering sums. Of course, there are also plenty of ways in which he’d fall shy of his arb earning upside — an ill-timed injury, in particular — so there’s some degree of risk to the team and protection to Jimenez even if he turns out to be every bit as good as hoped.
While other aspects of the White Sox’ offseason didn’t turn out as hoped, they’ll now open the 2019 season with another player firmly tabbed as a part of the long-term core. Odds are Jimenez will be joined in the majors this year by top pitching prospect Dylan Cease. Both were acquired in the memorable mid-2017 deal that sent lefty Jose Quintana to the cross-town Cubs. The Quintana contract was one of several extensions that worked out quite well for the White Sox, enabling the team to acquire loads of top prospects when it decided to launch a rebuild. The Pale Hose are still waiting for those youngsters to establish themselves as quality MLB assets, though hope remains that some will reach their long-lauded ceilings — with Jimenez leading the way.Comment -
In Japan, Ichiro retires where career began
TOKYO -- Ichiro Suzuki has left the game.
The 45-year-old Seattle Mariners star announced his retirement Thursday night, shortly after waving goodbye at the Tokyo Dome during a 5-4 win over Oakland in 12 innings. Ichiro went 0-for-4 and was pulled from right field in the eighth, saluting his adoring fans in the packed crowd. He drew hugs -- some of them tearful -- from teammates in a three-minute walk that signaled to all his great career had ended.Comment -
Eloy is getting paid already, good for him.Comment -
blake snell 5 years 50 millionComment -
Cardinals going to sign Goldschmidt to a 5 year extension worth $130M. Risky. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2...year-extensionComment -
Ichiro in Japan was good to watch this morning.Comment -
2:00pm: Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports the yearly breakdown (Twitter link). Snell will be paid a $3MM signing bonus and earn $1MM in 2019. He’ll then be paid salaries of $7MM, $10.5MM, $12.5MM and $16MM in the subsequent four seasons. That $16MM salary in 2023 can increase by up to $2MM based on his placement in the Cy Young race.
1:50pm: The Rays have formally announced the contract as well as the terms of the deal. Snell can earn an additional $2MM via incentives, per the team.
1:43pm: The Rays have reached an agreement on a five-year, $50MM contract with reigning Cy Young winner Blake Snell, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports (on Twitter). There are no options included on the contract, which will buy out all of Snell’s arbitration seasons and what would have been his first free-agent year. Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that Snell’s deal does not include a no-trade clause. Snell is represented by Sosnick, Cobbe & Karon.
Snell, 26, will receive the largest contract ever guaranteed to a pitcher with between two and three years of service time, breaking the previous record held by Gio Gonzalez, as can be seen in MLBTR’s Extension Tracker. (Miles Mikolas could technically be considered in that category, though as a player who had established himself overseas and would’ve otherwise been eligible for free agency, his extension was under wholly different circumstances.) Despite the fact that he has less service time and was not yet eligible for arbitration, Snell rode that Cy Young Award to a guarantee that tops the sums promised to both Luis Severino (four years, $40MM) and Aaron Nola (four years, $45MM) earlier this offseason.
Because Snell was still a year from arbitration, he was still a year from cashing in on his first seven-figure payday. Even if one were to aggressively forecast what he’d make in arbitration by suggesting he’d top Dallas Keuchel’s record $7.25MM first-time arbitration salary for a pitcher, Snell likely would’ve topped out around $35-40MM between now and the end of his arbitration eligibility. He’s possibly trading as much as $20MM in that would-be first year of free agency in exchange for the up-front payday, but that’s in a best-case scenario for his performance. A more realistic forecast of his future would need to account for the downside of injury and regression/decline.
The contract for Snell comes just weeks after the left-hander took umbrage with the organization’s decision to renew his 2019 contract for $573,700 — a raise of just $15K over the preceding season (at a time when the league-minimum salary increased by $5K).
“The Rays have the right under the collective bargaining agreement to renew me at or near the league-minimum salary,” Snell told Topkin at the time. “They also have the ability to to more adequately compensate me, as other organizations have done with players who have similar achievements to mine. The Rays chose the former.” At this point, one would imagine that renewal amounts to little more than water under the bridge with a new record-setting extension locked into place.
Snell, the No. 52 overall pick by the Rays back in 2011 and a longtime top prospect, solidified himself as an MLB-caliber starter in 2017 season with 24 starts of 4.04 ERA ball. However, he thrust himself into the ranks of the game’s elite pitchers in 2018 when he overpowered opponents with a 1.89 ERA with 11.0 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 31 starts. Snell’s 15.1 percent swinging-strike rate was the fourth-best mark among all qualified MLB starters, trailing only Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin and Carlos Carrasco while tying him with NL Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom. His 33.1 percent opponents’ chase rate on pitches out of the strike zone ranked 18th among MLB starters.
It’s the second extension of the week for the Rays, who also locked up promising young infielder/outfielder Brandon Lowe on a six-year, $24MM pact. Looking ahead, Snell joins Lowe and center fielder Kevin Kiermaier as the only players on the Rays’ roster to have a guaranteed contract beyond the 2020 season. Kiermaier’s deal will come off the books after the 2022 season, while Snell is controlled through 2023 and Lowe through 2024 (plus a pair of club options). That trio won’t combine for more than $34.2MM in any single season in which their contracts overlap, leaving even the cost-conscious Rays with a bit of flexibility.Comment -
Snells deal seems pretty team friendly, nice move IMOComment -
An update on former Yankee Lee Mazzilli, who was hit in the head by a batted ball in Tampa on Wednesday. A team official says today was much better for Mazzilli. He'll remain in the hospital at least one more night. He's in such good spirits, he's complaining about the coffee. Mazzilli also is appreciative of all the people who have reached out to him.Comment -
Goldy is underrated, definitely worth that extension.Comment -
The Astros and ace righty Justin Verlander are “moving toward” an extension, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). While contract details aren’t yet nailed down, Feinsand says the contract under consideration is “believed” to be for two years and something around $66MM in guaranteed money. That would dovetail with the contractual range suggested earlier today by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link).
It has already been a busy spring on the extension front for the Houston organization (among others). The club just announced a nine-figure deal for star third baseman Alex Bregman after previously locking in reliever Ryan Pressly. Now, it seems, the organization is pressing to keep Verlander from reaching the open market after the 2019 campaign.
Verlander has now reached his 36th birthday, but you wouldn’t know it from the way he pitched last year. Over 214 frames, he worked to a 2.52 ERA with 12.2 K/9 against just 1.6 BB/9. And it wasn’t just the work of a crafty veteran who somehow managed to squeeze out one last good season from what was left of his stuff. Verlander averaged over 95 mph with his dominating fastball and jumped to a 14.5% swinging-strike rate — easily the highest mark of his storied career.
It has been a remarkable few seasons for Verlander, who is playing out the tail end of his second extension even as he negotiates a third. A few years back, it seemed he was destined to tail off as so many pitchers do. Lagging velocity and some health issues led to messy 2014 and 2015 seasons. But Verlander recovered admirably, finishing out his Tigers tenure in good form before being shipped to the ’Stros.
The late-breaking swap that brought Verlander to Houston is the most notable August trade in history. Given the changing mid-season trade rules, it may not ever even face a challenge for that title. The Detroit organization demanded something significant to release a franchise legend, ultimately prying prospects Franklin Perez, Daz Cameron, and Jake Rogers. The Astros wanted relief from some of Verlander’s remaining salary obligations, ultimately getting $16MM. But none of that mattered if Verlander decided not to go to Houston. He decided at the last possible moment to waive his no-trade rights and authorize the deal — with the story not breaking until 15 minutes after the August trade deadline had expired, at 12:15am EST on September 1st.
It’s easy to forget just how much risk the Astros took on in that deal. Verlander turned in five stellar late-season outings and then excelled in the postseason, which tended to paint the transaction as a home run acquisition of an ace. But at the time it was anyone’s guess what kind of form he’d have for the remainder of his contract. Verlander had a very disappointing first half in 2017. While he had definitely turned things on in the run-up to the swap, it was certainly fair to wonder what he really had left in the tank. Frankly, it would have been ridiculous at the time to suggest he’d reach new career heights before his contract expired.
There’s an argument to be made that Verlander was never better than in 2018. He didn’t tally the same volume of great innings that he did in the vintage seasons of his youth, but Verlander’s insane 30.4% K%-BB% was nearly twice his career average. That level of unadulterated dominance is typically reserved for elite late-inning relievers who mostly unleash their arsenal in one-inning bursts. Statcast actually felt that Verlander was unlucky to permit opposing batters a paltry .260 wOBA. The contact they made against him was so weak that the advanced system credited those hitters with a .236 xwOBA.Comment -
Ryu will be pitching opening day for the Dodgers.Comment -
Red Sox sign Sale to 5-year, $145M extension
Left-hander Chris Sale has signed a five-year contract extension with the Boston Red Sox, team president Dave Dombrowski announced Saturday.
The five-year deal is worth $145 million, league sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan, and includes an opt-out after three years, a vesting sixth-year option based on stats worth at least $20 million and a no-trade clause beginning in the middle of the 2020 season.
The deal adds to Sale's current contract (one year remaining) and will go through the 2024 season, with Sale making $30 million annually in the first three seasons and $27.5 million annually in the final two, league sources told Passan.
Sale, who will turn 30 on March 30, was in the final season of the five-year contract he signed with the Chicago White Sox before the 2013 season, with team options for 2018 and 2019. The contract guaranteed him $32.5 million, including a 2017 option buyout. That deal will end up paying him $59 million over seven seasons plus award bonuses.
The 2017 American League Cy Young Award runner-up and a seven-time All-Star, Sale struck out the side in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2018 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers to close out Boston's fourth championship in 15 seasons.
He started the All-Star Game for a third straight season in 2018, going 12-4 with a 2.11 ERA and 237 strikeouts in 158 innings. He finished fourth in the Cy Young vote.
Sale also dealt with shoulder inflammation that led to two stints on the injury list in the second half along with diminished velocity and dominance in the playoffs.Comment
