What players are under contract beyond this season for the Diamondbacks?
The season is nearly over, in fact, there are only 9 games left in the season. After a miserable season so far, it’s time to look towards the off-season. With that said, we are going to take a look at the contract statuses for each of the Diamondbacks 28-man active roster. They will be sorted by “free agent after season”, “signed through year #”, or have “contract options”. Hopefully, this will allow you to quickly see what players are here long-term unless they are traded/released and to prepare you for who might be off the roster rather soon.
A player that comes up through the minors is automatically under team control for 6 years of MLB service. The first three are at a rookie-level wage and the last three are at a rate that is decided between the team and player, or if needed, an arbitration panel. Now, this might change with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement coming to this off-season. That’s assuming the MLB and MLBPA agree to terms rather quickly. Otherwise, next season might be in jeopardy. Anyways, for right now, players have three rookie pay years and three much higher salary years. As such, I will split those apart so it’s easier to tell the difference between the players. So, let’s get started!
Diamondbacks players that are unrestricted free agents after this season:
Chris Devenski – Currently recovering from Tommy John Surgery, he could be re-signed to a minor league deal as he rehabs. The team needs bullpen help and he has a history of being a talented arm.
The Diamondbacks have already released or traded away the other players who would be free agents right away after this season. Some of those players were Josh Reddick, Eduardo Escobar, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Stephen Vogt. You could also say Zack Greinke would fit this bill as well.
Diamondbacks players that have contract options for next year:
Tyler Clippard – The veteran relief pitcher in his second tour of time with Arizona has a mutual option for next season. That means that not only do the Dbacks have to exercise the option, but so does Tyler Clippard. These types of options are rarely actually exercised by both sides. The mutual option carries a 3.5 million dollar value. The current closer for the team would be bought out of the option for 500,000 dollars. That makes this basically a 3 million dollar decision.
Kole Calhoun – The Valley native who grew up a fan of the Diamondbacks has a team option for next year. The option price is 9 million, which is far too much for a mid-30’s outfielder coming off multiple leg injuries. Perhaps he’ll be brought back on a cheaper one-year deal to rebuild his value, but expect this option to be bought out for 2 million dollars.
Merrill Kelly – The veteran ol’reliable pitcher for the Dbacks this year is under contract via a team option for 2022. Technically, this would be only his 4th year in the MLB, but under the terms of the contract he signed due to coming over from Korea, he will be a free agent following the 2022 season. I can’t imagine the Diamondbacks don’t pick up his 5.25 million dollar option for next year.