MONDAY: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports the contract's year-to-year breakdown (via Twitter): Teheran will receive a $1MM signing bonus and earn $800K in 2014. His salary jumps to $1MM in 2015, $3.3MM in 2016, $6.3MM in 2017, $8MM in 2018 and $11MM in 2019.
FRIDAY, 10:08am: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that the option is valued at $12MM and contains a $1MM buyout.
9:55am: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter) that Teheran's extension is worth a guaranteed $32.4MM, meaning he falls slightly short of Madison Bumgarner's $35MM record for a pitcher with one to two years of Major League service time.
9:25am: The Braves announced that they have signed standout right-hander Julio Teheran to a six-year extension that runs through the 2019 season and contains an option for the 2020 campaign. Teheran is a client of Relativity Baseball.
Teheran, who had one year, 62 days of Major League service time, was already under control through the 2018 season. This new contract locks in all of his arbitration salaries and guarantees that the Braves can control one free agent year, with the potential for a second free agent season via the 2020 option. GM Frank Wren is quoted in the press release:
"We are excited to sign Julio to a long-term contract. He is one of the best young pitchers in the National League and one of our core of players we expect to be together for a number of years."
Indeed, the former top prospect took a massive step forward in his first full season at the big league level in 2013. After a slow start to the year (5.08 ERA in April), Teheran righted the ship and turned in an outstanding 2.86 ERA from May 1 through season's end. The net result was a 3.20 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 37.8 percent ground-ball rate. That performance was good enough for a fifth-place showing in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, though it should be noted that 2013 featured a particularly impressive crop of rookies. In another year, Teheran's performance — valued at 2.4 WAR by Fangraphs and 3.2 WAR by Baseball-Reference — may have been worthy of taking the award home.
While terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed, a look at MLBTR's Extension Tracker gives a list of comparables for pitchers with one to two years of big league service. Currently, Madison Bumgarner's five-year, $35MM contract (which contained two options) is the largest deal for a pitcher in this service class. As I speculated last week, when reports of the Braves' interest in an extension for Teheran surfaced, that type of guarantee is certainly within reach over a six-year span for the Colombian right-hander.
It's a surprise to see the Braves, a team not previously known for doling out extensions, sign two of their core players to significant long-term deals this offseason. The team announced a franchise-record eight-year, $135MM extension for Freddie Freeman last week and is also said to have interest in locking up Andrelton Simmons on a long-term deal. Prior to Freeman's extension, that last Braves player to sign an extension with fewer than five years of service time was Brian McCann back in 2007. The Braves did welcome former Rangers and Indians GM John Hart to their front office as a senior advisor this offseason, so perhaps the esteemed executive has had some influece on these decisions.
The Braves feature a wealth of home-grown starting pitchers, as Teheran now looks set to join Mike Minor, Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen in the rotation for the foreseeable future. The fifth spot in 2014 figures to be filled by some combination of Alex Wood, Gavin Floyd and Freddy Garcia, although Wood (also a home-grown product) or top prospect and 2012 first-rounder Lucas Sims could eventually fill that slot on a more permanent basis.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nice! Awaiting contract details of course, but love it!
I hope Andrelton is next!
I also expressed this sentiment when heyward was extended and got “weird looks” from commenters who asked why someone with so much remaining team control would be signed now. What say you naysayers now?
Heyward wasn’t extended.
I just found it funny you have zero “downvotes” and the guy saying this deal really isn’t a 6 year extension is getting all kinds. You are both saying the same thing.
We technically, I think this one does at least buy out a year or two of FA, so I guess maybe this is more of an extension?
Heyward was flat out just avoiding two years of arbitration if I remember correctly.
But the guy said this is actually a 1 year extension with an option since the Braves already controlled Teheran for five more years. Which was saying the exact same thing you said. I just found it funny.
Then I agree with that guy. Haha
While we do need to lock up Simmons sooner than later, Simmons won’t benefit as much from the arb process under its current setup. Typically, elite defense isn’t paid as much as something with more of a quantitative value, like power. The goal should be to get a couple of his FA years, if possible. But, from the looks of this guy, I say when the check clears for Freeman and we’ve broken ground on the new park, sign Simmons for no less than 10 years. From what he’s done already, this man is going to be one of the best ever.
Who was the scout who signed Julio?
From doing a little digging around, his uncle and coach, Miguel Teheran, was working as a Braves scout in Colombia. Teheran signed at 16 years of age in July of 2007 for $850K, and was pursued by several teams that liked his 88-91 MPH fastball, and plus curve/changeup. It should be noted that his fastball readily reaches 94 MPH now and has for the last few years.
Great to have security in payment in a young guy. Glad the Braves could finally extend a young pitcher. Typically they know when a pitcher will do well or fall off the face of the Earth, so this should be a good sign of things to come.
*EDIT* In knowing when a pitcher is going to be good, I typically mean one they have watched closely for a while or someone from within. I know Lowe/KK didn’t really work out.
Its a 1 year extension with an option for a 2nd year. Not much of an extension.
I’ll take the 28 and 29-year-old seasons of a #1/#2 pitcher that will likely come at an incredible discount from market value all day long.
Teheran was competing without his best pitch last season and is about to break out as a star. If he regains the feel of his changeup, he’ll be just about as dominant a pitcher as you’ll find. There’s a reason he was a two-time top five prospect.
-C
It could be a win, it could also be money down the drain if he blows out his arm in the next 5 years.
The same goes for every pitcher in the league with a long-term deal.
-C
Guess no player should ever get more of a one year contract, you know, in case they get hurt. Seems like a brilliant strategy, no?
Not much money down the drain when the deal is 6 years 32 million like being reported.
That could be said for any pitcher/player in MLB. Who are you? Please stay positive on the boards.
Braves are reporting it is a 6 year extension, not sure where you are getting one year. Sure, they just bought out his arb elgible years and as many as two free agency years, but calling it a one year extension is just misleading.
They already had him for 5 of those years.
Doesn’t change the fact that they’ve now locked in his arbitration salaries and secured two free agent years — both of which are in his prime. That’s the nature of extensions for players in this service class. Teheran likely sacrificed some earnings potential in arb and in 2019-20 in exchange for the security of the long-term deal.
That he was already under team control doesn’t make it any less significant for the Braves (or for Teheran). Cost certainty is valuable, and writing off the ability to control his age-28 and age-29 seasons at what’s likely to be a below-market rate makes little sense. That’s a win for the Braves, and it still allows Teheran to hit the open market heading into his age-30 seasons, when he can earn a significantly larger deal.
It’s less of an extension, and more of a locked in price, the way I see it.
I’m not sure why others are having such a difficult time understanding this concept. What you’re saying is essentially true. Perhaps you should have stated that it’s “basically” a one-year extension? I’m clueless. Upvote for you.
Lowe and KK were sheer necessity signings due to basically not having a ML rotation. Needed the innings like nobody’s business. Totally different scenario.
When this guys stock was down in 2011 and 2012 I remember praying the Red Sox could deal the Braves Ellsbury for him but glad to see him extended in ATL now.
Complete steal to get this guy for 6 years 32 million and a option for a 7th year!
I am LOVING it!! Let’s give credit where credit is due…THANK YOU John Hart!!! Many of us knows that somehow you had a little-bit to do here. 🙂
If everything goes well… I could see him being the “Ace” in the new park.
And thank you, Frank Wren. If you’re going to blame him for bad signings, give him some credit for the extensions…and having a part in getting a new stadium (as an additional source of income) so we could be able to lock these players up. No new stadium, no extensions.
Who is blaming him for bad signings? Not me!
The rhetorical “you”.
Seriously?! Wow, obviously I did NOT convey my message well!
All I am trying to say is that this is John Harts MO! He is the one that LOVE to do this kind of things. Look at his past. That is all I meant.
Well… I think i was not the only one looking at the big picture. Where is your hero Frank Wren now?
Just saying!!
$12M option with a $1M buy-out? For his age 29 season? Oh man I love this deal.
This makes me sad. I wanted Zimmermann or Desmond to get extended so badly this offseason.
Huge difference.
Zimmerman is 1-2 years from FA, his agent is Boras.
Same with Desmond but his agent isnt Boras.
Well yeah. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be sad an extension couldn’t be reached with them, especially since it sounds like the Nats and Zimmermann are still way far apart numbers wise.
Oh and Zimmermann is represented by SFX, not Boras.
I thought Zimmerman was a Boras client?
Better question is what is Zimmerman asking for.
20+ million per or a little under that?
Nah, though the Nats do have a plethora of Boras clients on their 40 man roster.
As for Zimmermann, he seems to be indicating he wants close to what he’d get on the open market. He’s said before he’s not going to give the Nats a hometown discount unless it’s a “fair,” deal. He probably wants a considerable bit more than Ricky Nolasco’s $12 million AAV, but I doubt he wants $20 million per. I’ve already come to grips with the fact he probably won’t be a Nat past next season.
I’d guess he gets a good chunk more than Nolasco, even though the two aren’t as far apart as a casual observer might believe. He’s been able to keep runs off the board better than Nolasco, for sure, but it’s hard to say whether it’s circumstantial or not.
I’d expect Zimmermann to push the dial close to $20M as a free agent, probably $16-18M per season. He’d be worth it, barring unforeseen regression or injury. The injury risk probably costs him about $3-5M annually, but I’ve already taken that into account.
If he isn’t extended, I see him pushing for a $100M+ contract. He’ll certainly net draft pick compensation, but I think the loss there is bigger than the gain.
-C
It will be interesting how the Nats deal with all of their high end talent long term.. Harper and Strasburg are likely the most expensive. But Desmond and Zimmerman are key to fielding a playoff caliber team year after year.
He seems like a good, young pitcher. I didn’t see the “greatness” that others here have said – only really saw him against the Phillies (maybe it was just a couple of off games for him). But nonetheless, seems to be a good pitcher.
I don’t know if it was just a coincidence or not, but I think there is something to note about his catcher. From last year (just looked at his numbers), he had a 2.82 ERA in 17 games started by McCann, compared to a 3.69 ERA in 13 games started by Gattis/Laird. Probably not a huge thing, just something I’d keep an eye on.
But, in the end, I’d say this will probably be a “win” for the Braves (contract-wise).
I traveled to PHI to see his first MLB start vs. the Phillies and though he didn’t have his flashes of greatness, it’s taken quite some time for Teheran to get back the swagger he showed a few years ago when he was dominating AAA and the top SP prospect in the game, and didn’t get the call-up because of a lack of an available spot and so many good young arms. He mostly regained it last year, but seriously, he still hasn’t reached his ceiling. He could easily be an ace in 2 years, especially bringing back the changeup.
Even if that was a factor last year (and it could be), I would guess that would become less of a factor as he gets older/more experienced and continues to learn how to pitch at the Major League level.
I’m a believer that some catchers improve their staff. For instance, Chooch (of the Phils). Hamels is a different pitcher when Chooch is out there (and it showed last year). It’s a comfort thing, and a catcher knowing what pitches the pitcher will want to throw – instead of having the guy shake him off. I put stock in it depending on the pitcher/catcher and the sample size of the stats. A dozen games isn’t really big enough to be worried about (IMO). It’s just something, if it was my guy, that I’d keep an eye on during the year.
The majority of the games with Gattis/Laird came at the beginning of the season, while Teheran was having some trouble. Once he got settled in, he was a much better pitcher.
-C
Laird was Teheran’s primary catcher at the beginning of the season. Once Teheran had proved he had turned a corner, BMac started catching him more. Part of this was simply because BMac missed the first month or so due to shoulder surgery and it conveniently gave him a day off once he returned. Before he returned, though, Gattis was catching more or less full-time for ATL (something he wasn’t used to given his time away from the game), so it kind of worked to give him days off, too, and keep him fresh as well if Laird was regularly catching Teheran. Really those stats just show the weird catching situation ATL had at the beginning of the year. It worked out well, though. Teheran had a regular, veteran catcher easing his development at the major league level, and ATL’s other two starting catchers got much needed days off.
Like I said, though, the point at which he turned the corner kind of lined up with BMac getting back into the full swing of things, so everything just settled into a regular set-up. That’s why Teheran just happens to have better stats with him.
With the teams payroll concerns I had visions of losing these youngsters once they hit FA; not so much anymore. Great news for this Braves fan!
Not so many payroll concerns over the long term (5+ years) when factoring in additional revenue. Seems like this new park (and its commercial opportunities) are going to do more than compensate from the lack of revenue a TV deal at current market value would have fetched the Braves.
The braves have seemingly compensated for their unrealized TV revenue by instilling this new ballpark model. Owning a thriving “city”, in which one gets all the revenue is clearly a moneymaking venture. And perhaps, once their TV deal comes off the books and they sign a new one- the braves may very well be one of the wealthiest teams in the major leagues.
Fantastic deal. Now on to simmons
Not to mention the fact that in a few more years Uggla’s contract will be gone and BJ’s will be nearing its end as well. People like to hate on those (probably rightfully so), but they’re not going to be around for forever (Uggla is only signed through next year). Money owed to them will be freed up for more extensions/signings/trades right when the young core is nearing free agency or expensive Arbs…besides, I’d like to think that BJ will not have another disastrous year, giving the Braves back some value.
Agreed. Honestly, I don’t think Uggla’s contract is that bad considering the years remaining and the amount. If he’d at least hit near his career averages, people would get off of his back. But when you’re making his money and putting up career lows in almost every offensive and defensive category, you need reconsider your morning routine.
I like your perspective on the contracts. In regards to Upton’s deal, seriously, he’s going to be more valuable than he was. He is. He’s still 29, not injury-prone, and needed some confidence last year. Best thing for him is people cheering him on, forgetting about 2013 and let him settle into his routine, not thinking he has to impress – though he will when it becomes instinctual again.
I think Freeman’s extension will help lessen the burden even more on BJ. I think its somewhat understandable to see him perform they way he did last year.
He came in last year having switched leagues and had signed the biggest FA deal in Braves history. On top of that his brother came out of the gate like he was set on fire. That probably put a ton of pressure on him. He got off to a lousy start and he looked like he just tried harder and harder, over thinking all the time, to get out of a funk which just made him look worse and worse. I don’t think we’ll see a repeat of that again.
Before the extensions, they really only had one person guaranteed any money after ’15. basically a blank slate for a team looking to lock up players from that point on, which is especially nice with the new ballpark on the horizon.
Fantastic signing. 8.75 M AAV for the three years that would’ve been arbitration and the one year FA year. The 12 M option is probably a no-brainer too for the 7th year, but I suspect if Teheran is that good, the Braves will just extend him before the option year manifests itself.
The Braves are locking up all of their young stars….smart move! Will every contract pan out? Probably not, but good chance they save money in the long run.
Frank Wren has finally gotten the picture that signing players from other teams just isn’t working, and in a few years when salary continues to inflate further. This and The Freddie Freeman contracts will look like absolute steals compared to the massive inflated contracts in a couple of seasons.
I love the article’s last paragraph, having to decide between Wood, Gavin Floyd, Garcia or our highest-rated prospect, Lucas Sims. When you factor in Jason Hursh, who is being fast-tracked through the minors – an invite to ST – we could be dealing with a nice SP surplus. (Please no injuries!)
Honestly would’ve like to seen another productive season before this extension, sure the price tag might have rose, but I’d rather pay more for a guarantee than less for a fluke
Fluke? What from his career has ever made it look like the guy’s a fluke? He was throwing 91 MPH at 16 years old when he signed with ATL. His only down year was 2012 (5.08 ERA) when they wanted him to change his delivery in hopes of preventing the possibility of a future arm injury because of his mechanics (something they were also trying unsuccessfully with Tommy Hanson right before that). After that season, and some refining of his mechanics, he returned back to a more fluid delivery that falls in line with both parties – and you’ve seen the return. A 14-win season in his first full season. And that was mainly without a plus changeup.
When a former #1 MLB pitching prospect has a rookie season as good as Teheran’s, it’s not a fluke.
What’s even crazier is his change-up has always been regarded as a good pitch, yet he hasn’t gotten a feel for it at the MLB level yet. When he does….look out.
You can throw as many numbers at me as you’d like, but until you can get a crystal ball and show me what his 2014 season will be like, I’m afraid we’ll have to agree to disagree. I can toss names such as Hellickson and Worley who also had tremendous rookie campaigns, but faltered soon after. Likewise, you could toss me a couple. The point is, you are never to sure what you’re going to get from any player after an extension. I never said Tehran was a fluke, I said he COULD be one. I also considered him a guarantee in the same sentence mind you.
Looks like Braves and Indians are taking similar approaches and signing young cores to long-term extensions. Waiting on Tribe to add Kipnis and Masterson to the mix.
Good luck with Masterson. That’s going to be a chunk of change. Though, please give it to him and not Ubaldo – as it looks like is the case.
this looks a lot like chris sale’s extension. braves making some good moves lately
Let’s he continues his ascension like Sale. Whew! That guy’s filthy. Don’t follow his arm while he’s pitching or you could get dizzy.
I am pleased that Braves General Manager Frank Wren is staying away from The Free Agent Market. Ensuring that you keep around home grown talent that could become Braves lifers is a great start in overcoming the albatross of a television contract that The Atlanta Braves are currently under. Players like Freddie Freeman and Julio Teheran get their money now, and are able to settle down and get their families rooted and grounded here in Atlanta. That is one less thing on their mind so they can continue to expand upon their impressive performances.
Probably because he’s been burned too much in free agency in recent years. Th upton experience has not paid off so far and mr. uggla’s career has taken an ugly turn as well. Stick to the young core, cuz they are good and they have to be paid eventually.
This will be a steal in a few years just like Bumgarner.
Do you know Jair Jurrjens?
Could you choose a player that’s more incomparable to Teheran than Jurrjens??
-C
If you approach every high-performing pitcher in your system with Jair Jurrjens being the red flag, then you’re going to letting a lot of talent walk when not extending them and not being able to afford them via free agency.
Jurrjens was injury-prone, not developed within our system (traded from DET), and was a good pitching prospect but certainly not thought of ever to be elite by any scouts – like Teheran has been. Jurrjens had some unfortunate injuries that have sidetracked career that weren’t related to his arm.
JJ had a lot of injury problems. He also came up throwing in the low to mid 90’s, touching 95 regularly. By the time he left the Braves he could barely touch 89.
JJ never hit 95 regularly.
He was always a command-type pitcher, he could at times pump it up to 95 when needed.
But most of the time he was in the 89-92 MPH range.
His last good year around 87-90.
I think you’re confusing Jurrjens with Hanson, possibly. Jurrjens didn’t touch those numbers “regularly”.
You have to consider this move happened in the same off-season that Jason Vargas got a $32 Million Dollar / 4 Year Contract from the Kansas City Royals. Yes, I know Julio Teheran’s contract mainly buys out his arbitration years, but Vargas’ contract shows the inflated price of Starting Pitchers in the league. The outrage in the Atlanta Suburbs has been quite boisterous since home grown talent Brian McCann’s departure. Though Braves fans, knew all of last season that it would likely be McCann’s last season in Atlanta. The front office I think has gotten the message loud and clear. The fans want to see us keep our homegrown players. Than doling out huge amounts of money for someone who played somewhere else last season.
Technically it’s a 2-year extension but if they waited it might of cost more to “extend” him.
And plenty of teams do this.
Stl did it with Craig.
Bumgarner signed a similar deal, among others.
well… technically, teheran only had one year of guaranteed money, so it is actually a 6 yr extension. the team had control and the option of offering him a contract, but teheran did not actually have a contract for anything after ’14 and thats where the difference is. so they extended that one year of guaranteed money to six. big, big difference (just look at it from teheran’s point of view), but the result is the same, since its pretty unlikely he would’ve been non-tendered.
everybody knows what you mean, though. 🙂
really pumped to see this thing official.
Well, nm said they had him under “control” for 5 years.
And it’s a 1-2 year extension.
It’s risky with pitchers but one to take even if he never throws another pitch given the insane market for SP’s right now.
Yea for sure. the braves have him for 5 yrs if they want. before, though, if, say, teheran completely shredded his shoulder in year three they could just not offer him a contract. now they’ve already offered him that money. extension just refers to the obligation to the player, not the optional years of control a team might have over that player. before, they had no obligation. we’re really just talking semantics here, though, which isnt really all that important. i think we can both agree this an awesome deal.
teams have to take that risk and extend players these days if you want to avoid shelling out crazy money to average pitchers in free agency. i love watching him pitch and i’m glad atl is locking up so many guys that i love to see play. and on the day pitchers and catchers report, too! love it.
Wow sounds like the Braves want to do this with all of their young stars. OBviously they aren’t going to be able lock down all of them but might as well keep going, right?
Sounds like they want to do Simmons next.
A quote from DOB on twitter said they want to sign their core guys to extensions a few weeks ago when the FF deal was done.
Heyward will be the hardest to sign imo.
Kimbrel will be the hardest. How do you even present him an offer? No one knows what the kid is worth because there has never been anyone like him.
As long as we have much of the core, we’ll be fine. It’d be nice to have a deal in place with Minor and Simmons, especially if a deal with Kimbrel is looking less likely.
I have no clue what happens with Kimbrel.
Maybe they ride him out and take the pick in 3 years.
But im not sure what kind of trade value he has given how expensive he will be.
Minor would be hard to extend, and im not sure they do 2 deals with SP’s.
Simmons i would imagine they try to extend, maybe sometime by Spring Training.
Is John Hart a big reason for this?
Seems he did this in Cle/Tex.
Kimbrel has trade value even with his salary. It may not be “David Price” trade value but some team will pay to have the best closer.
Thats probably true but his next 2 years will be around 12-14 and 16-20 million in arb.
Might be over-estimating but if he stays healthy, and keeps dominating, certainly possible.
Not really sure who they could get for him though.
I’d guess they try to shop him next winter.
How awesome would that be if they ended up locking up simmons and heyward long term, too? you know the organization can churn out pitchers all day long, but it’d be incredible to have that much stability with our position players.
it was bittersweet to say goodbye to chipper, cox, glavine, smoltz, etc, but only because it was so awesome to watch them every single season for all those years. it makes a difference. i’m definitely not saying all the guys we currently have on the team are HOFers or anything, but if they can keep this group together for 7-8 years, i’ll be ecstatic.
Well, one thing’s certain about this deal: the Braves will have 2020 hindsight.
Fantastic move by the Braves here. This kid is the real deal. I think he’s their best pitcher, or will be shortly.
Braves have tons of young talent plenty worthy of these long-term extensions. It is good to see teams making very player and team friendly deals like these for 6+ years for young players showing they can excel at the major league level. I agree with everyone else here, they should definitely consider Simmons next. His defensive skills don’t translate as well into $$$ when it comes to his arb years, and subsequently his FA years, like having a really high average, superb speed, or power would. This all despite the fact that he was the best defensive SS last year, and posted a 4th best WAR overall behind Tulo, Han-Ran and Desmond last year. Definitely deserves an extension. Buy out some of those FA years too Braves!!!
Braves are great at accessing home grown talent in my opinion. They reason they have a storied history of contention has a great deal to do with grooming, developing and keeping young players cultivated within their farm system.