As the offseason comes to a close, the Colorado Rockies are ending an interesting few months with a low-risk signing to improve their well below-average starting rotation. Colorado agreed to sign right-hander Kyle Kendrick, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports that Kendrick's one-year deal will be worth $5.5 million next season. If he tosses over 190 innings, Kendrick can earn an extra $500,000. He is represented by Relativity Baseball. The 30-year-old and eight-year big league veteran posted a below-average 10-13 record with a 4.61 ERA (4.57 FIP) last season over 199 innings pitched with Philadelphia, the most of his career. He posted a 5.5 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, and a 2.12 strikeout-per-walk ratio over his 32 starts. Kendrick, a one-time swingman, has not pitched out of the bullpen since 2012, but has experience there, pitching out of the bullpen 41 times. At the Rockies' home at Coors Field, Kendrick is 1-1 with a 5.26 ERA and a 1.78 strikeout-per-walk ratio in 37.2 innings pitched. Rockies hitters have hit .303/.340/.480 against him there, which may not be a good omen for his performance in 2015. The Rockies rotation currently includes the likes of Jorge De La Rosa, Jhoulys Chacin, Tyler Matzek, and Jordan Lyles as they look to improve upon a 66-96 record and the second-worst rotation ERA in the league. Kendrick posts very little upside, but may be a nice filler option as the Rockies build toward contention into the future. --Devan Fink
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The Dodgers have continued their big offseason, as they have signed lefty Brett Anderson to a one-year, $10 million deal, according to Buster Olney of ESPN. Anderson's deal includes up to $4 million in performance boosters, Olney reported, and as Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reports, Anderson begins earning his incentives after 150 innings pitched. He can earn the full $4 million if he pitches 200 innings or more, reports Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. Passan reports that the Braves and the Royals were the finalists for Anderson, two teams that could use a guy of Anderson's caliber, a type of guy who will sign on with a medium-risk, high-reward type of deal. And that is exactly what he got with the Dodgers, however, a $10 million guarantee is a pretty nice paycheck regardless of the performance boosters. Anderson has only pitched over 150 innings once in his career, back in 2009. He has had three surgeries, a foot stress fracture, and elbow issues (which lead to Tommy John surgery). Anderson has been brilliant when on the field, but that is becoming more of a rarity. The Colorado Rockies signed Anderson two a one-year, $1.5 million deal last offseason and ended up buying out of his contract option. He went 1-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 43.1 innings pitched in 2014, posting a 29 to 13 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He was good, very good, in fact, as he posted the second-highest (tied) ERA+ of his career, pitching in the second-fewest innings. Anderson adds to a whole boatload of Dodgers additions this offseason. They have acquired Jimmy Rollins, Howie Kendrick, and Yasmani Grandal, to help the holes they have had at shortstop, second base, and catcher, respectively, while adding Brandon McCarthy to help the rotation. Anderson could be a real steal for Andrew Friedman and the front office, but he needs to stay healthy. The former second round pick out of Stillwater High (Stillwater, Oklahoma) is 27-32 with a 3.73 ERA in 494.0 innings pitched over his six year big league career, spending time with the Athletics and Rockies. --Devan Fink Late last night, the Colorado Rockies locked up an anchor in their rotation. They have announced that they have agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Jorge De La Rosa on a two-year contract extension. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports is reporting that De La Rosa will make $25 million in his extension, one that does not include an option year. The 33-year-old De La Rosa is currently under contract through this season, in the final year of a four-year, $42.5 million deal that he signed back in December 2010. He was considered to be a trade target for many teams during this past July, but after not being moved, an extension looked to be more likely. De La Rosa is having a solid year. He is 13-10 with a 4.26 ERA (100 ERA+) in 28 starts. Over his 160.2 innings pitched, De La Rosa has a 119 to 57 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has a solid 1.239 WHIP on the year, but an underwhelming 4.40 FIP, suggesting that his ERA is actually better than it should be, as it has been helped from defense, good luck, or a combination of both. The Rockies rotation has been the second-worst in the major leagues in ERA and worst in FIP. The statistic xFIP (FIP with a league-average home run rate, as home run rates are unsustainable over time), which should consider the Rockies to be better, considering the fact that Coors Field has an unusually high home run rate to begin with, still opines that the Rockies have the second-worst pitching staff in the MLB. The Rockies have only had three pitchers -- Franklin Morales, Jordan Lyles, and De La Rosa -- that have accumulated more than 100 innings pitched on the season. De La Rosa has been the only sure thing in their rotation, as his ERA+ (ERA adjusted with park factors) is the only one that is considered league-average (100) or higher. The Rockies' season has been a tough one and De La Rosa has been the only pitcher that has been able to produce at even close to the major league average this season. Locking him up longterm is the right thing to do, and for only $12.5 million per year, he is definitely worth it in a league that is heavily weighted on the strength of a teams' rotation. Heading into Tuesday, everyone was focused on Derek Jeter's final All-Star Game. But it was the up-and-coming star, Mike Trout, that stole the show. Trout went 2-for-3. He started the scoring by lacing a triple off the right field wall, scoring Jeter, who got on via a double. Pat Neshek left a slider on the middle part of the plate, and Trout added a go-ahead RBI double in the fifth, hitting a line drive just fair into left field. When Derek Norris came around to score, the American League had retaken the lead 4-3. The American League would not lose that lead. Neshek was replaced by Nationals reliever Tyler Clippard. Jose Altuve took the third pitch off of Clippard and drove a liner into left field. His sacrifice fly scored Alexei Ramirez, padding the American League's lead, 5-3. Altuve had done his job and was a big part of the win. However, the scoring had to start somewhere. In the first, Jeter, leading off, took a 90 mph cutter off Adam Wainwright and drove it into the right field corner for a double. Wainwright would later say that he "grooved" the pitch to Jeter, but later took it back and said that he was trying to be humorous. Regardless of Wainwright actually grooving a pitch to Jeter, it must have not been his night. Two batters after the Trout double, Miguel Cabrera unloaded. He drove the second pitch, a sinker, to the right field stands. The American League jumped out to a 3-0 lead. It was the National League's turn to do some damage. The NL got two back in the top of the second. With one out and nobody on, Aramis Ramirez hit a liner right back up the middle for a single off of Jon Lester. After that, Chase Utley worked a seven pitch at bat off of the lefty, but Utley was the one who prevailed. The seventh pitch, a fastball that was middle-away, became an Utley double off the right field wall, scoring Ramirez. Jonathan Lucroy, the next batter, wanted in on the fun, as he doubled off of Lester as well, scoring Utley. The National League would tie the game in the fourth on another Lucroy double. After the American League took that lead in the fifth, it was all pitching. Including Max Scherzer's shutout fifth inning (he took the win), the American League pitching staff allowed just three hits in five innings, striking out nine National League hitters and walking just one. The crowd of 41,048 in Minneapolis saw a Minnesota Twins battery close out the game in the ninth. Twins closer Glen Perkins, along with Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki, got Miguel Montero to fly out to center field, got Josh Harrison swinging, and got Charlie Blackmon to ground out to second base, securing the American League victory. Mike Trout's fantastic performance got him All-Star Game MVP honors. The American League will now have home-field advantage in the 2014 World Series after taking this one by a score of 5-3. Yoenis Cespedes has got some pretty good power. After winning the 2013 Home Run Derby, Cespedes came back to Target Field looking to defend his title. He did. Cespedes smashed 30 home runs, including two he hit in a tiebreaker round with third baseman Josh Donaldson. He beat Reds third baseman Todd Frazier in the final round, 9-1. Cespedes becomes just the third player to win multiple Derbies and just the second player ever to win back-to-back. Prince Fielder won the Derby in both 2009 and 2012; Ken Griffey Jr. won won the event in back-to-back years in 1998 and '99. Cespedes seemed to be cooled by the rain that delayed the Home Run Derby about 30 minutes. After hitting just three home runs in the first round, Cespedes had to beat Donaldson in a swing-off, where Cespedes won 2-1. He got better as the night went on, beating Orioles outfielder Adam Jones 9-3 in the second round, and beating Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista 7-4 in the third round. Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig also made history in the Derby yesterday, hitting zero home runs. He becomes the first player since Robinson Cano in 2012 to hit zero home runs. Only Brandon Inge, Jason Bay, Bret Boone, and Troy Glaus hit zero homers since 2000. For what we expected Puig to do, the results were incredible, and not in a very good way. Speaking of incredible, Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton was just that in the first round. He hit a 510-foot home run to Target Field's third deck. However, his six home runs gave him the top seed in the National League, but Stanton may have gotten cold, losing to Todd Frazier in the semis 1-0. Giancarlo Stanton hit ZERO home runs in the semi-finals. Wow. Maybe next time, Stanton. Speaking of getting cold, that is what happened to Jose Bautista as well. The top seed in the American League after hitting 10 bombs in the first round exited, hitting only four home runs in the semi-finals, losing to the eventual-champion Yoenis Cespedes. Justin Morneau, former Minnesota Twin and American League MVP, did not have a particularly strong showing in the event, but received a standing ovation in his return to Minneapolis. Morneau likely received the most cheers (maybe except for Stanton's 510-foot home runs) of any player, as the Minnesotans thanked him for his time with the Twins. That was a great moment. Overall, the Home Run Derby was a great event to watch, and its new format added to the fun. I enjoyed watching it, and my prediction was correct, Cespedes won! I did pick him over Stanton, though, which did not turn out exactly how I predicted. But I enjoyed watching it and liked what it offered. The 2014 Home Run Derby was quite a treat. |
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