Robbie Ray to the M's for 5 years and $115M. Jays get a comp pick and sign Gausman for similar term and money.
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The Mariners announced their agreement with reigning American League Cy Young winner Robbie Ray, as first reported by Michael Mayer of MetsMerized (Twitter link). It’s a five-year deal worth $115MM and an opt-out after the third season, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds that the contract includes a full no-trade clause in the first two seasons and a trade assignment bonus if he’s moved thereafter. Ray is represented by VC Sports Group.
Ray, 30, has long been a premier strikeout arm with command issues, which culminated in a 2020 season that saw him traded from Arizona to Toronto in what amounted to a salary dump. While the lefty didn’t immediately turn things around, the Jays jumped to re-sign him for a year and $8MM right out of the gate in the 2020-21 offseason, clearly believing they could help the lefty find another gear.
Even the Toronto front office’s best-case scenario might not have mirrored the 2021 breakout enjoyed by Ray, who was near-unanimously named AL Cy Young (29 of 30 first-place votes). Ray not only restored his command to prior levels but took it to new heights, walking a career-low 6.7% of his opponents. Ray ramped up the usage of his four-seamer at the expensive of his curveball, largely favoring a two-pitch mix that leaned heavily on his plus slider’s ability to perplex opponents.
The results were obviously outstanding, as Ray compiled an AL-best 2.84 ERA and also paced the American League in innings pitched (193 1/3), total strikeouts (248) and ERA+ (154). Among pitchers with at least 100 innings, Ray’s overall 32.1% strikeout rate trailed only Corbin Burnes, Carlos Rodon, Max Scherzer, Freddy Peralta and Gerrit Cole. His 15.5% swinging-strike rate ranked third among the 129 hurlers who tossed 100-plus frames.
Ray was still prone to the long ball, evidenced by an unsightly 1.54 HR/9 mark, but his ability to keep runners off the basepaths led to nearly 70 percent of those long balls coming with the bases empty. It’s fair to wonder how much concern over that penchant might have impacted his market and kept him from reaching a sixth guaranteed year, but one would also imagine that a move to Seattle and a move out of the generally hitter-friendly AL East will only help to lower that mark.
With Ray departing the Blue Jays, it’s hard to ignore the striking similarity between his contract and the $110MM guaranteed by his former team to another free-agent starter: righty Kevin Gausman. Perhaps the Jays weren’t keen on including an opt-out in the deal, or perhaps they just generally prefer Gausman to Ray when all is said and done. Toronto did pursue Gausman both in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 offseasons, so he’s clearly been of interest to GM Ross Atkins & Co. for quite some time.
In signing Ray, who rejected a qualifying offer in Toronto, the Mariners will surrender their third-highest selection in the 2022 draft. Toronto, meanwhile, will pick up a compensatory pick at the end of the first round by virtue of the fact that Ray signed for more than $50MM in guaranteed money.
With the Mariners, Ray will head up a rotation that also includes lefty Marco Gonzales, righty Chris Flexen and righty Logan Gilbert. Gonzales has long been a steady and durable source of above-average innings, while Flexen proved to be a savvy KBO reclamation project for president of baseball ops Jerry Dipoto and his staff this past offseason. Gilbert, meanwhile, is a former first-round pick and top-end pitching prospect who struggled in the middle of the 2021 season but bookended those struggles with a strong start and strong finish to the season.
Other options in the Seattle rotation currently include Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn, though the Mariners are deep in tantalizing pitching prospects after a protracted rebuilding effort. Top prospects George Kirby, Matt Brash and Emerson Hancock are all progressing through the system, with Brash and Kirby in particular not far from big league readiness. Lefty Brandon Williamson, too, could emerge as an option before long.
Of course, it’s fair to wonder with all that pitching depth and with a good bit of outfield depth, if the Mariners might not choose to trade for another established rotation piece. Ray figures to be the big-ticket free agent addition on the pitching side — not that they couldn’t simply sign another notable arm — but there’s a bevy of quality arms rumored to be available in trade. Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas, Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle and Luis Castillo have all had their names kicked about the rumor circuit already, and the Marlins are reportedly open to dealing from their pitching depth as well. Whether it’s a trade or a free agent, another addition to the starting staff to complement the Mariners’ new ace seems likely at some point.
For the time being, it’s possible Seattle will pivot to acquire the bat Dipoto has already suggested he hopes to sign. Dipoto name-checked both Marcus Semien (now with the Rangers) and Javier Baez earlier this winter in voicing a desire to add some “adaptable” free agents, and the Mariners have also been tied to Kris Bryant and Chris Taylor, among others.
From a payroll vantage point, there’s no reason the Mariners shouldn’t be able to add a high-end bat and another rotation addition piece. Even after adding Ray, the Mariners are still projected by Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez to field a payroll of about $88MM (assuming an even distribution of his $23MM annual value). For a Mariners club that has taken payroll north of $150MM in the past, there’s plenty of space to add to pile. Ray currently stands as the largest free-agent addition the Mariners have made under Dipoto, but if he wants to spend more aggressively, the means to do should be present.
After all, the Mariners are staring down a two-decade playoff drought, and now more than ever might be the time for Seattle to push toward ending that dry spell. The Mariners were surprisingly in contention for a Wild Card berth right up until the final weekend of the offseason, and they’ll have even more products of their ballyhooed farm system graduating to the Majors in 2022 — headlined by outfielder Julio Rodriguez. Beyond that, the A’s are on the verge of a tear-down that will see them trade several key players, while the Astros could lose Carlos Correa in free agency. The Rangers are spending aggressively to help put a contender back on the field in the second season of their newly constructed stadium but may be a year or two from truly competing.
In many ways, the time for the Mariners to throttle ahead is now, and the signing of Ray serves as a firm indicator that the front office feels similarly. Armed with an elite farm system and tens of millions of dollars in payroll space, Seattle appears poised for an aggressive winter where Ray is just one of several high-end additions.Comment -
With less than 24 hours until the expiration of Major League Baseball's current collective bargaining agreement, it ends 11:59 p.m. EST Wednesday, the MLBPA and the league's owners appear ready to enter the league's first lockout since 1995 until a new deal is signed, according to The Associated Press.Comment -
Yeah I'd rather have him over those two guys too. I don't know if I'd throw that amount of money at Seager like the Rangers did and I certainly wouldn't lock him up for 10 years. These things have a funny way of never working out as planned but time will tell if the Rangers made foolish moves or not.Comment -
It went with the hit and run and the stolen base,
However, the stolen base is making a comeback.
Now if we can get back to the hit and run.
You know, put the speed demon in motion, the middle infielder moves over to the bag to cover the throw from the catcher creating a giant hole on the right side of the infield, batter shoots a single though the right side. Bang! Instant first and third, nobody out.Comment -
So hard to be a Gwynn type hitter with the shifts and pitchers these days.Comment -
How to solve the shift.
It's real easy.
Drop a bunt to the opposite side.
Goes as a single in the box, gets your team an easy baserunner too.
Do that a couple of times, you'll never see a shift again.
Doesn't have to be a Phil Rizzuto Hall of Fame bunt, doesn't have to be a thing of beauty, just drop it in there where they ain't.
Spend 20 minutes a day a few times a week in BP, if you're a professional batting coach, he should easily teach a professional baseball hitter on the art and fundamentals of laying one down.
Even if you move like John Kruk, you'll easily beat the rap at first base if you do it right.Comment -
Nothing like a good ol' MLB lockout to get into the X-Mas spirit.Comment -
Cubs on the verge of signing StromanComment -
Here's what you need to know.
I don't like the DH, but if it's here to stay is has to be unversal.
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Jays will be kinda ok without Semien and Ray.Comment -
STROMAN!!!! Fighhhhhhhhhhtttt!!!!!!!!!Comment -
2022 going to be a competitive year at Wrigley, great news!Comment -
New York (AFP) – Major League Baseball locked out its players shortly after midnight on Thursday as failure to agree on a new collective contract sparked the sport's first work stoppage since 1994.
Disagreement on how to divide $10 billion in revenues from the elite level of America's national pastime saw negotiations come to a halt on Wednesday afternoon, and after the collective bargaining agreement expired at 11:59 pm MLB announced it would lock out players.
In a "Letter to Fans" posted on Twitter, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he was disappointed that the league was "forced to commence a lockout of Major League Players, effective at 12:01 am on December 2."
Manfred said MLB executives believe an off-season lockout "is the best mechanism to protect the 2022 season.
"We hope that the lockout will jumpstart the negotiations and get us to an agreement that will allow the season to start on time.
"This defensive lockout was necessary because the Players Association's vision for Major League Baseball would threaten the ability of most teams to be competitive. It's simply not a viable option."
The shutdown is the first since the bitter player strike that wiped out the 1994 World Series and led to a shortened 1995 campaign once the dispute was resolved.
Even after games returned, fans were disenchanted and both attendance and television viewership plunged.
This stoppage comes in baseball's offseason, giving negotiators more than two months before the start of Spring Training camps and exhibition games that would lead up to the scheduled start of the regular season on March 31.
But Manfred was already ratcheting up the rhetoric, blaming the MLB Players Association for intransigence in negotiations so far.
"From the beginning, the MLBPA has been unwilling to move from their starting position, compromise, or collaborate on solutions," Manfred said in his statement, adding that the union "already had a contract that they wouldn't trade for any other in sports."
MLB and the MLBPA representatives had met again on Wednesday afternoon in suburban Dallas.
The union is seeking reduced revenue sharing among clubs and a drop from six years to five years for players to become eligible for free agency, measures that owners fear would make small market clubs uncompetitive.
The union has also pitched an expanded playoff proposal.
Owners offered several ideas last week, including an increase in minimum player salaries, creating a designated hitter rule for the National League that would end the practice of pitchers coming to the plate and the creation of an NBA-style lottery for top MLB Draft picks.
'Owners' choice'
Manfred pointed to the fact that there is no salary cap in baseball and no maximum length or dollar amount on contracts as evidence that players are getting their share of baseball revenue.
He also rejected the idea that free agency is "broken," pointing to a rash of recent big-money free agent signings that included the Texas Rangers signing Corey Seager to a 10-year deal for a $325 million contract and 37-year-old star pitcher Max Scherzer signing a three-year deal for $130 million with the New York Mets.
"In the month of November $1.7 billion was committed to free agents, smashing the prior record by nearly 4x," Manfred wrote.
Free agency signings and trades will be suspended during the lockout as team officials and players are barred from communicating.
The MLBPA also issued a statement early Thursday morning, calling the lockout "a dramatic measure, regardless of the timing."
"It was the owners' choice, plain and simple, specifically calculated to pressure Players into relinquishing rights and benefits, and abandoning good faith bargaining proposals that will benefit not Just Players, but the game and industry as a whole," the union said.
"We remain determined to return to the field under the terms of a negotiated collective bargaining agreement that is fair to all parties, and provides fans with the best version of the game we all love."Comment -
First lockout in 25 yearsComment -
Dodgers sign Chris Taylor for 4 more yearsComment -
100% in favor of the players union. Owners love giving revenue to teams like the Pirates even though they aren’t spending money in order to win.Comment -
Paxton to the Red Sox.
The dude has had a solid nine year career.
If healthy he can sure help. live left arms are a rarity.
57-33 lifetime, 1.2 WH/IP 3.6 ERA, almost a K per inning per start.
Thing is he's not due back to July.
Can he bounce back from TJ surgery?
Low risk, high reward signing from where I sit.Comment -
Do any of these signings mean anything with a strike??Comment -
Not a strike, it’s a lockout.Comment -
Yeah I can see a lot of people just being fed up with MLB and done this time for good. Last time this happened people came back a few years later when Sosa and McGwire were there to create excitement with a home run chase but this time I don't think people will be as likely to come back so this is a bad look for MLB. As for me, I love baseball so I will always be a fan but I will be a little upset if this cuts into the upcoming season.Comment -
Wake me up when the lockout's over...Comment
