Nine Agree to Contract Extensions with Pickens, Multiple Other Players
Aug 2, 2053
by Erwin Wardman, Yellow Springs Journal
Yellow Springs, OH – The Nine finalized a deal with two of its "top" relief pitchers, culminating a six week period in which the team worked to extend a number of players deemed a part of the future of the team, at least in the eyes of Rookie General Manager Rob McMonigal.
The Nine, struggling at 51-56, are a shadow of their former selves. It was a bit of a surprise as we in the media watched the team re-sign players who were a part of the Nine's abysmal pitching staff, which ranks at or near the bottom in nearly every category.
McMonigal began his singing spree by sitting down and getting a deal done with one of the few bright spots on the team, Jeremy Pickens. The talented infielder, who plays primarily at third but can slide across to shortstop decently and served as a great replacement for 2B Dong-Po Thum when he hit the disabled list for the first time in his career. Originally signed by former GM, the now-retired (and much missed, if my sources are correct) Ron Collins in 2050, Pickens is good to hit somewhere between .240 and .260 with 20 home runs per season and strong defense. If WAR is your tool of course, he's all over the map, going from years of 4+ WAR and others where he's basically a replacement-level player.
That's probably what caused this deal to take so long. With big money tied into fan-favorites Dong-Po Thum and Dave Lee, and with another fan-favorite, disgraced former closer Derrick Chaney expecting to eat up 6 percent of the 2054 cap, McMonigal had to be sure he was confident Pickens would be worth keeping for longer than a year. The negotiations broke off at least twice per my sources at both the league office and within the team. (Pickens' agent wouldn't return my calls, the jerk.) At the end of the day, I was told it was owner Bo Jordan who leaned on McMonigal to find a way to make it work, likely already seeing fans head for the exits as attendance is down over 15 percent from an already disappointing 2052 total.
"That's not true at all," McMonigal told me. "Bo trusts me to make the right decision, and after a lot of hard work, we got the deal down. Jeremy will be with us for another three years on a contract that I think benefits both him and our team." It's 2 years, actually, at 10 million per, with a player option for 12 million in 2056, which Pickens is likely to decline if he's still playing well at just 34 years of age when he gets to decide if he's had enough of McMonigal's mismanagement. However, I grudgingly admit for a player like Pickens, the terms make perfect sense and give the GM a lot of flexibility when some of the better minor-league players will be ready to play, with Pickens either serving as a veteran voice or stepping aside for a newer, younger free agent if he's playing badly by the middle of the decade. (It's also a good contract should Pickens become a trade chip.)
Pickens would later get hurt briefly, but was almost immediately back into the lineup, missing an All Star appearance but not much else.
Next on the signing spree was SP Mathis Gerard. Gerard was set to go to arbitration, but unlike some GMs, McMonigal is known for either signing prior to the hearings, often well before the season ends, or simply releasing the player.
"If we have to go to arbitration, it means we don't share a vision," McMonigal told me. "The wounds fester and hurt the team long term."
In his fourth season (and third full one) with the Nine, Gerard is your prototypical fourth or fifth starter type, the kind whose record (8-8 this year) and ERA (4.15) are what you'd expect. Locking him up for another year at $1,180,000 is a smart move, I agree. The problem is it was linked with signing Sergio Herrera, a swing-man type, to a one year deal at $1,700,000. Herrera is useful as a swing man who has been okay as a full time starter but his 5.07 ERA and k/9 of barely 6 (down from 8 the past few years) feels infinitely replaceable to me. The Nine have a ton of relievers in Indianapolis ready to come up to the bigs, making Herrera's salary a questionable move, given how tight the team expects to be against the cap in 2054. This might be a deal that bites McMonigal in the butt sooner rather than later, especially if he doesn't rebound back to his 2051-2052 numbers of sub 3.00 ERA and higher k rates.
But McMonigal wasn't finished. He then signed RP Philippe Dumont to a one year, $960,000 contract to again avoid arbitration. This move, too, was a bit of a shock, as Dumont began the year in AAA and had a mediocre record since going back to the big club. But McMonigal and the staff clearly like what they've seen of the young man (he's just 26) in parts of four major league seasons, where he's the very definition of quality middle relief (roughly 3.50 ERA, but a stellar whip of 1.15 or thereabouts and k/9 of over 8). Had he been on the team all year, they might still be in contention.
Next up, just yesterday, RP Gerald Rogers and RP Slawomir Trzcinski got their paydays, in what McMonigal called "our final moves for now." Rogers recently started throwing harder and worrying less about his pitch count, pushing him from middle relief into a back end of the rotation role. It's been a rougher road than McMonigal and Rogers had hoped, with an over 4 ERA and 2 blown saves. He also had 7 saves and 6 wins. But the bigger issue is more that he keeps allowing runners on base, with a WHIP hovering around 1.5. The extra velocity isn't trending to less walks (still a little under 4 per nine) or more strikeouts (up to around 8 per nine from 7.5). Still, rather than cut him free, McMonigal went for a one year deal at $1,030,000.
Trzcinski has been one of the few bright spots in the bullpen and was paid accordingly, getting a one year deal at $1,920,000. That's a lot for a lefty, but in the past 2 years, he's been excellent, keeping his ERA under 3 (including 1.94 in 2052), his whip at barely over 1, and his k/9 has increased from 6.5 to 7.2 to 9 this season. The Nine are paying for quality – but ensuring they don't lock in, given the way relief pitchers can collapse without warning. (See Chaney.)
Notably absent from the signings were 1b/3b Banger Dan and 1b Burhan Tahir. While Tahir remains a strong batter, albeit one whose power has declined (after hitting 21 in 2052, he's on pace to barely get over 10 this year), Dan has never hit for average and now he's not hitting for power, either. He's stuck on 6 home runs. The Banger is probably upset because Sosa Seki took his playing time, and rumor has it his demand for arbitration is sky-high. It will be interesting to see if either signs – or even remains on the team – before opening day 2054.
So how did McMonigal do with these deals? I'd grudgingly say he made mostly good decisions, with Rogers and Herrera being the two questionable choices. A lot will depend on if they improve or regress next year. But the good news for the Nine faithful is that if McMonigal is making mistakes, he's doing it without long-term consequences. These are all short term deals that can either be suffered through or eaten without much pain. As much as it pains me to write, that's a smart approach. We'll see if he keeps it up as we move further in the season and into free agency.
