With a little less than one-third of the season left to go, let's check in on the various vesting option situations from around the league…
- Jason Bartlett, Padres — $5.5MM option vests with 432 plate appearances. Bartlett came to the plate just 98 times before being placed on the disabled list with a knee injury. He won't return to the lineup anytime soon, so this option will not vest.
- Kevin Gregg, Orioles — $6MM option vests with 50 games finished. Gregg has finished just 12 of the team's 113 games, so this one is very unlikely even though it's still mathematically possible.
- Brett Myers, White Sox — $10MM option vests with 45 games finished or based on a points system. Myers has finished 33 games this season, and he has finished four of the ten games he's appeared in with Chicago despite not being the closer. This is one worth monitoring.
Chipper Jones has an option worth $9MM+ that will vest with 123 games played, but he's already rendered the option moot by announcing his plans to retire after the season. He recently said that he won't change his mind about retirement despite his strong play as well. Chipper has played in 71 of the Braves' first 112 games.
Alex Gonzalez has an option worth $4MM that will vest with 525 plate appearances, but he is expected to miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Gonzalez came to the plate just 89 times before the injury, so the Brewers do not have to worry about this one kicking in.
Gonzalez, even missing considerable time should be able to get more than 4m next season. Maybe Beane. Gonzalez still has (had) a good glove and his power from the SS position has always been a plus.
If Beane doesn’t go out and get another like him (say Aviles) he could be one of the plug in fillers for a long standing problem at Oakland.
Edit:
Evidently some here think rollins and his 11m annually is a better deal.. Gonzalez brings every bit as much to the game as Rollins does.
Bartlett won’t play again this year.
Is Bartlett officially done or is he a useful guy buried in the Petco Tar Pits?
i’ve never seen someone look more “done” than bartlett did this year
Bartlett was awful this year. Perhaps his knees are as bad as he says. It also seemed like he was mentally done with the game. Unless he physically and mentally gets a rebirth this offseason, I think he is done with baseball.
If Gregg’s option vests, I’ll take that as a sign the world is indeed ending in 2012.
Fat chance of that happening. he will get buried when rosters are expanded, end up with splinters on his hind end from sitting on the BP bench, all the way down at the end..
He won’t get buried, as he’s been pretty useful this season. However, the only time he’ll see the last inning of the game is if it’s the 14th inning.
Even if Chipper DID change his mind about retirement (and he won’t), he’d only reach 121 games played by playing in ALL 50 games the Braves have remaining, so isn’t his option moot at this point? I don’t think postseason games count towards vesting options, do they?
What is the points system regarding Brett Myers’ vesting option? I think that this is why the Astros traded him – not unlike why the Mets traded K-Rod last year – to prevent a vesting option on them.