The only truly regrettable deals of the group belonged to Snell

Posted by Abbey Pendleton on October 19th, 2017

Last week, the Texas Rangers caught many off-guard when they announced they'd signed young left-hander Martin Perez to some four-year deal that guarantees the pitcher .5 million dollars. Perez has thrown just over 162 innings in the major league level, however the club made him your fourth member of its current rotation that now under team control through the 2016 season.

The benefits for Perez are obvious. Anything eliminates any financial risks that come from injury, a frequent occurrence with younger pitchers. Perez willingly sacrifices potential greater income understanding that he can look after himself and his family together with his new contract. The deal also gives Perez the po sibility to stay with the busine s that has drafted and developed him through the 2020 season. For that Rangers, the deal enables them to control the costs of a pitcher they obviously think very Jerel Worthy Jersey highly of should he still show the improvements he did within the second half from the 2013 season.

The deal comes a complete two seasons before Perez could have been arbitration eligible, but is really a sign of the organizations faithboth in talent as well as in personality. The contract is set up in a way that there is strong potential for it to be a win-win for the team and the player. That is how all these types of deals begin, but they don't always arrived at a mutually beneficial conclusion. Since 2008, there have been 24 different starting pitchers that have signed long-term deals before reaching free agency for the first time, according to the useful MLBTR extension tracker. Seven of those deals found their conclusion after the 2013 season.

PitcherYears$$WARScott Baker415.39.2Nick Blackburn414.0-0.1Gavin Floyd415.513.5Cole Hamels320.511.7Roberto Hernandez417.84.0Ubaldo Jimenez414.818.7Ian Snell38.11.2Total26105.958.2

The only truly regrettable deals of the group belonged to Snell, Hernandez, and Blackburn. The only skill Snell had demonstrated prior to his extension was durability in the year 2006 and 2007 and even that skill left him within a season of filling out the contract extension. Hernandez was given his deal when the Indians thought he was younger Fausto Carmona but mi sed time in 2008 because of an injury and 2009 due to a demotion to the minors. Blackburn had demonstrated an ability to take the ball every fifth day as well as an extreme inability to avoid bats yet Minnesota guaranteed 4 years into what became the de facto face from the pitch to contact era in Minnesota. In the end, the Twins gave M to a below replacement level pitcher.

In relation to dollars per win above replacement, Ubaldo Jimenezs contract has been Phil Hansen Jersey the very best of the bunch because he produced 18.7 wins above replacement in the last five seasons while costing just .8M. He wisely opted from his final year to leap into what should be a lucrative free agent market for starting pitching this off-season. Floyds deal exercised very well for the White Sox from 2009 to 2012 as he made a minimum of 29 starts in each season prior to getting your final pay raise this year that ended after five begins with an elbow injury. Conversely, the Twins were once again snake-bitten with extending a pitcher as Baker started to break up within the second year of his four year deal and did not even throw a pitch in the final year of it which diminished what was really a solid roi.

Not counting Perezs new deal, there are currently 16 long-term deals for pitchers that have yet to go in the disposable agent market.

PitcherYears$$WARBrett Anderson410.74.6Clay Buchholz39.65.8Madison Bumgarner10.83.7Trevor Cahill29.03.8Wade Davis34.73.7Yovani Gallardo417.211.7Matt Harrison28.23.6Derek Holland24.26.4Hisashi Iwakuma16.54.2Jon Lester529.822.6Cory Luebke21.50.7Matt Moore22.04.3Jonathan Niese23.83.8Ricky Romero313.52.7Chris Sale10.95.1James Shields625.322Totals43147.5108.7

The deals signed by Brett Anderson, Cory Luebke, and Ricky Romero reflect three quantity of a worst of all scenario for Texas. Anderson has been mostly effective when around the mound, but has mi sed considerable time with Tommy John surgery and recovery in addition to a serious ankle injury. Luebke has begun just five games since signing his deal in March of 2012 due to Tommy John surgery along with a complicated rehab proce s that did not permit him Shaq Lawson Jersey to return in 2013 as many expected. A suming this latest setback is behind him, the good thing is this happened throughout the very economical many years of the offer. Romero is what every team hopes to avoid during these contracts which is actually a player who stays healthy, but loses both his skills and also the strike zone with multiple guaranteed years still in the future.

Conversely, Jon Lester and James Shields represent the very best case scenario of these deals. Both players recently had the final options of their initial contract extensions exercised and both has always been healthy, productive, and profitable. Other teams hope that their investments do the same and there's still a large amount of guaranteed money to be paid in the present long-term deals for pitchers. To date, teams have paid these pitchers 7.5M in guaranteed salary but there is still no le s than 7.4M to become paid to these pitchers which number could rise if team choices are exercised.

There are certainly some caution flags for Perez to watch because this deal matures. He will be just 23 years old as the 2014 season begins which puts him well within the injury nexusthat has entrapped the likes of Anderson, Baker, Harrison, and Luebke. Another concern will be the insufficient strikeouts. While Perez isn't any Nick Blackburn, he's been below league average in terms of strikeouts per nine innings since advancing past Double-A. In 212 innings of Triple-A experience, Perez were built with a 5.7 K/9, which rate sits at 6.0 in 162 innings of major league experience. Perez has shown the capability to generate frequent swings and mi ses, but hasn't shown exactly the same frequency in putting those batters away. It is strange to see a talented 22 year-olds strikeout rate in line with someone like Mark Buerhle, but that is where Perez is appropriate now. That may change, because it did for Jon Lester and James Shields because they gained more experience pitching at the Kiko Alonso Jersey major league level.

Rays manager Joe Maddon often discu ses the five stages from the major league career. Stage 3 is, I belong here. I'm able to do that. When Perez spoke to Jon Daniels on the phone because this deal was being finalized, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports the next conversation:

When he got on the phone, Martin said, Nothing will change.' Daniels said. He said, Money is not going to change me. It gives me security, but nothing is likely to change. Then he discu sed his long-term goals.

That anecdote shows that Perez is firmly in Stage 3. His performance last season teased the potential that was accountable for Perez as being a top 100 prospect by Baseball America each of the previous five seasons.This deal, as nearly every other long-term extension, looks fantastic in its infancy. The way it matures depends on how Perez is constantly on the matures his craft to avoid the injury and gratifaction pitfalls that have spoiled what's otherwise been an excellent proce s for organizations.