Heading the January 16th arbitration deadline, Tampa Bay had eight arbitration eligible players they hadn’t reached an agreement with, and until 1:00 PM to sign a deal, or settle in court. As I reported earlier on Tumblr, the Rays were able to avoid arbitration this afternoon with those players — John Jaso, Kevin Jepsen, Jake McGee, Logan Forsythe, Desmond Jennings, Rene Rivera, Alex Cobb, and Drew Smyly.
Here are how things panned out.
Desmond Jennings: projected $3.2 M, actual $3.1M
Kevin Jepsen: projected $2.6 M, actual $3.025 M
John Jaso: projected $3.3 M, actual $3.175 M
Jake McGee: projected $3.8 M, actual $3.55 M (plus a performance bonus)
Alex Cobb: projected $4.5 M, actual $4.0 M
Rene Rivera: projected $1.3 M, actual $1.2 M (he can make up to $200,000 more in incentives based on games started at C)
Logan Forsythe: projected $1.2 M, actual $1.1 M (plus a $25k performance bonus for reaching 400 PA)
Drew Smyly: projected $3 M, actual $2.65 M (with an additional $50k available based on games started)
Projections courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors.
This marks the third consecutive year the team hasn’t had to go to court to reach an agreement. It should be noted, the front office has had considerable success during those cases, going undefeated under the ownership of Stu Sternberg.
In other news, the Rays also announced/confirmed minor-league deals with five players — C Mayo Acosta, OF Joey Butler, INF Juan Francisco, RHP Jhan Mariñez, and LHP Everett Teaford. All five received invitations to Spring Training.
What follows is the official press release from the Rays,
The Rays have signed five players to minor league contracts, each with an invitation to major league spring training: catcher Mayo Acosta, outfielder Joey Butler, infielder Juan Francisco, right-handed pitcher Jhan Mariñez and left-handed pitcher Everett Teaford.
Acosta, 27, has thrown out 39.9 percent (183-of-459) of attempted base stealers in his eight-year minor league career. He spent the 2014 season with Triple-A Durham, appearing in 30 games. He played in 28 games for Toros del Este of the Dominican Winter League, throwing out 10 of 20 attempted base stealers.
Butler, 28, has spent parts of the last two seasons in the major leagues, appearing in a combined 14 games with the St. Louis Cardinals (2014) and Texas Rangers (2013). In 2014, he hit .360 (31-for-86) with four home runs and 20 RBI in 31 games for Triple-A Memphis, appeared in six games with the Cardinals and had his contract sold to the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball League. In seven career minor league seasons, he owns a .293 batting average, .379 on-base percentage, 76 home runs and 375 RBI.
Francisco, 27, hit .220 (63-for-287) with 16 home runs, 43 RBI and a career-high .456 slugging percentage in 106 games with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2014. He hit a home run every 17.9 at-bats, which ranked 12th in the AL among players with at least 250 at-bats. The left-handed batter made 75 of his 82 starts against right-handed pitching, hitting .238 (58-for-244) with a .306 on-base percentage and 15 homers against righties. Francisco is a career .248/.310/.476 hitter with 47 home runs against right-handers, compared to .159/.213/.210 with one homer against left-handers. Over parts of six major league seasons, he has hit .236 with 48 home runs and 152 RBI.
Mariñez, 26, has made six appearances at the major league level with the Chicago White Sox (2012) and Florida Marlins (2010). He split the 2014 season between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers organization, going a combined 8-3 with a 6.69 ERA (40.1-IP, 30-ER) and 46 strikeouts between the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Over parts of nine minor league seasons, he is 24-24 with a 4.36 ERA and has averaged 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings.
Teaford, 30, has spent parts of three seasons (2011-13) in the major leagues with theKansas City Royals, going 3-5 with a 4.25 ERA (106-IP, 50-ER) in 45 appearances (eight starts). He played for Korea’s LG Twins in 2014, going 5-6 with a 5.24 ERA (99.2-IP, 58-ER) in 20 games (19 starts). In nine minor league seasons in the Royals organization, he went 59-41 with a 3.96 ERA in 199 appearances (138 starts).