Boardwalk Empire- 2035.10 - Gutierrez's Team Option Declined

[Joshua Biddle]

Gamblers Decline Mutual Option on Reliever José Gutiérrez

The Atlantic City Gamblers declined their portion of the mutual option on the contract of right-handed relief pitcher José Gutiérrez, the team announced. Gutiérrez, 37, was a standout in the Atlantic City bullpen as the team's setup man, finishing the season 7-4 with 2 saves in 4 attempts (.500 save percentage), a 1.79 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, a 3.16 FIP, a .206 OAVG, a .237 BABIP, a .160 IRS%, 13 holds, 29 strikeouts, and a 0.9 WAR in 45 1/3 innings pitched (47 appearances). Reports out of Atlantic City suggest Gutiérrez wanted to return at the $4.5 million salary he was scheduled to make, but was unsuccessful in lobbying the front office to pick up his 2035 option. With the declining of his team option, Gutiérrez will become a free agent and receive a $500,000 buyout. Although the Gamblers have salary cap room to work with this offseason, the team is expected to move on from Gutiérrez and is unlikely to make him an offer to return.

In a prepared statement, GM Joshua Biddle stated "after careful consideration, the Atlantic City Gamblers organization has formally declined the 2035 team option on right-handed reliever José Gutiérrez. José had an amazing 2034 season and was a key cog for us out of the bullpen. In my opinion, José had one of the more underrated performances across the league out of the bullpen. There will, no doubt, be a market for his services, and we wish him well as he moves forward with his BBA career."

The move is being met with consternation from a Gamblers' fan base that took to the popular setup man, especially after his streak of 25 2/3 scoreless innings to start the season. The statement from the Gamblers' front office did not provide any details regarding the rationale of the move.

For his career, Gutiérrez is 34-38 with 9 saves in 14 attempts (.643 save percentage), a 3.86 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP, a 4.08 FIP, a .261 OAVG, a .290 BABIP, a .220 IRS%, 45 holds, a .596 QS%, 498 strikeouts, and a 4.3 WAR in 714 1/3 innings pitched (323 games, 52 starts). The 2034 season marked single season career-bests for Gutiérrez in ERA (1.79), WHIP (0.95), FIP (3.16), HR/9 (0.4), BB/9 (2.0), holds (13), and IRS% (.160).