Dec. 16: Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports tweets a breakdown of Gregerson’s contract. The reliever is guaranteed $5MM in both 2018 and 2019, with a vesting option for 2020 that requires him to appear in either 60 games in 2019 or 130 games total in 2018 and 2019 combined. It also appears as though he must be healthy for the option to vest on the latter condition. Gregerson can earn up to $1MM in incentives.
Dec. 13: The deal is now official, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com tweets.
Dec 10: The Cardinals and free agent reliever Luke Gregerson have agreed to a two-year, $11MM contract with an option, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). It’ll be a $5MM club option or a $6MM vesting option (with a $1MM buyout), Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. The option will vest at 60 games in 2019 or 130 games from 2018-19, Nightengale adds. He’ll make $5MM in both guaranteed years of the pact, per Ken Davidoff of the New York Post (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Updated Cardinals Depth Chart]
The deal is pending a physical, which Gregerson will take Tuesday, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). Gregerson is an O’Connell Sports Management client.
This will be the second stint with the St. Louis organization for the right-handed Gregerson, whom the Cardinals selected in the 28th round of the 2006 draft. Gregerson never got past the Double-A level during his first go-around with the franchise, though, as the Redbirds traded him to the Padres in 2009 in a deal involving shortstop Khalil Greene.
Gregerson made his major league debut the same year of the trade and quickly became a highly effective member of the Padres’ bullpen. He stuck with the Friars through 2013 before pitching for the Athletics (2014) and Astros (2015-17). Although the 33-year-old Gregerson has never been a hard thrower, he has nonetheless registered excellent numbers across 599 innings, with a 3.02 ERA, 9.12 K/9, 2.55 BB/9 and a 50.9 percent groundball rate. Gregerson has been quite durable along the way, having never pitched fewer than 55 2/3 frames in any season, and he brings experience as a setup man and a closer.
Although Gregerson is coming off a season in which he recorded a career-worst 4.57 ERA as a member of the title-winning Astros, his year wasn’t devoid of positives. With 61 innings, he eclipsed the 60-frame mark for the sixth time. Gregerson also continued to put up appealing strikeout, walk and groundball numbers (10.33, 2.95 and 50.0 in those respective categories), and he notched the third-highest swinging-strike rate of his career (15.6 percent).
If the career-worst home run-to-fly ball rate (23.6 percent) Gregerson logged in 2017 proves to be an aberration, he should be a quality piece for a Cards bullpen in need of aid. With Trevor Rosenthal, Seung Hwan Oh, Juan Nicasio and Zach Duke currently on the open market, St. Louis has been on the lookout for relief help since last season concluded. Gregerson may be the first of multiple pickups this offseason for the club’s bullpen, and he’s clearly the most established member of a group that includes a few solid holdovers in Brett Cecil, Tyler Lyons, Matthew Bowman, Sam Tuivailala and John Brebbia.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Ah, back to where it all started for him. I remember my Padres got him as a PTBNL in the Khalil Greene trade.
Wow khalil greene. Havent heard that name in a while
That was Mo’s first bad trade.
JPR you can find the gang on this thread goo.gl/5WXv8i
Mozeliak has ruined this organization.
JPR you can find the gang on this thread goo.gl/5WXv8i
Seems like an overpay to me.
Not at all lol that’s a solid deal
Terrible deal. This guy is trash. Always hated him coming into the game to get shelled.
agree
Its a solid deal Astrosfan
more like most of your bullpen last year? Lol suprised you could have a trash bullpen and win a world series
Because Hinch is a genius
Yet it happened. Speaks to your baseball acumen. The bullpen was more than solid most of the year, faltering late in the season. Gregerson did well with the Astros overall. Wish him the best.
Hernandez would of been better! Astros should of gotten him instead of Rondon!! When he was with the Angels he shoved against the Western Division.
Baseball dad, would’ve sounds like “would of”, but it is actually “would have”. Not trying to be smart ass here, just trying to be an ass. Hope you are OK with it.
“Would of” and “should of” — huh? I know would’ve and should’ve sound like they end in of, but the right word is “have”! I don’t mean to come across as a smart ass, but I’m really not that smart! Some will say the “ass” part is undeniable. Please accept my apologies if that is what you get from this comment.
Hello.
Seems like a value deal to me. Still generates Ks and limits BBs. Abnormally high HR% skewed his numbers last yr.
only over pay due to market so far to me was cubs signing chatwood
Definitely not a overpay
Think it’s good value,considering what Morrow got. Morrow had a good year following years of injuries and OK play, Gregerson had a bad year following years of good results, and he gets half of what Morrow got.
Wow I really hope this NOT the answer for a closer!!!!!!!
It’s not.
He’s being payed like 5.5 million a year; he’s been one of the most consistent relievers in baseball for years. And he’s not a velocity monster so it’s reasonable to expect him to continue to be effective, especially moving to the easier league.. A win on the open market costs around 7-8 million dollars, so Gregerson would appear to be valued correctly, maybe even a bit of a bargain.
paid*
A top set=-up man goes for about $10M nowadays. Brandon Morrow, for example, So 5-6M is probably the going rate for Gregerson.
Surprised he got that much. He was brutal last year.
He could be a decent setup man. I just hope last year was a down year instead of the start of his decline.
Kind of like Cecil… had some good years, then an off year, after which Cards signed him to a pricey four year deal… and then he was even worse.
Cecil was a very strange mixed bag this year. He was absolutely awful in April, May, and August yet pretty good in June, July, and September. I’m very curious as to which Cecil shows up next season.
I see your Gregorson and raise you a Morrow.
Why would anyone thumbs down, or down arrow, this comment from Kyle Schwarber’s mom?
There’s always a hater or five out there. Btw, I loved your grandpa Abe. Barney Miller is my favorite Tv show.
Dilly dilly!
Thanks! Actually, I liked telling people I’m his estranged, illegitimate son. Abe was the man amongst men.
Lol. I prefer doing it on the app. No arrows.
Perhaps a little high but still a solid move. Good veteran arm for them.
Not a solid move. You guys can have him. Glad to see him go. Nobody liked him in Houston.
Yeah we get it dude you didn’t like gregerson. Now shut up
@Astrosfan7
I disagree with you. Its a solid pick up for the Cardinals at a FMV contract.
If you hate him so much why do you care? Sounds like you are pissed the Cardinals out foxed your team
another bullpen arm signs. more to come shortly I’m sure. Let the feeding frenzy begin.
kind of a meh move really. i hope they sign another higher end arm too.
Obviously their going to they still need a closer
I’ll take Gregorson over Morrow for his price. Great signing. Welcome back, LG.
doubt you’d say that if you saw Gregerson last year. Would’ve been upset if the Astros even committed a million to him. Wouldn’t have been a surprise to leave him off the playoff roster he had fallen so far. Seemed like a batting practice pitcher
Gregerson is a buy-low option that is inexpensive compared to Davis/Holland with the upside of being a quality set up man. His HR/FB% was abnormal last year — when that stabilizes in a pitcher friendly park (Busch III), he will be worth more than his contract. If you’re going off last year alone then you’re blind for not looking at his peripherals.
I just saw a guy who doesn’t throw hard but got hit awfully hard. Not effective nearly enough going by the eye test.
this
He’s never thrown hard and yet has always gotten guys out. His numbers last year weren’t great, but he’s also the kind of pitcher who was going to get hurt by the home run epidemic. He’s moving to the easier league and a better park.
You’re the genius that thinks the only way to get outs is to throw hard. Congratulations Mr. Casual Fan.
Yea those casual fans never get it
I also watched a helluva lot more of Gregerson than you appear to have last season and who has every Astro fan agreeing that he sucks. When you don’t throw hard, and your sinker/slider combo isn’t very sharp then it’s a recipe for disaster. Yellowstone Park wouldn’t have helped hold some of those moonshots he gave up. You just keep looking at old numbers, trying to spin them in your head, and I’ll keep watching smart guy. Morrow was worth the extra money, while STL overpaid for a bum. Fact is, his stuff was garbage last season. Eleven million for two seasons seems like an overpay for a guy who completely let games get away at times last year without being able to record outs until Hinch stopped using him in high leverage situations. Dispute that. At best STL got a middle reliever for 2/11.
Ever heard of an off year? You Astros fans seem to be forgetting that Gregerson was very good for you guys the two years before last.
You missed what happened while you were taking your eye test. Try a different optometrist.
Gregerson is a pitcher that relies on keeping the ball down. In the 2nd half, the called pitch by McCann was up and outside in 21% of pitches that resulted in contact. For a slider pitcher that throws in the upper 80s like Gregerson that is worse than stupid and was the cause of the highest HR/FB rate of his career by nearly double. You can put the responsibility for that on McCann.
They also pitched him quite often on no days rest in the 2nd half. His 15 games were the most in the AL.
Even with misuse of Gregerson, he still put up good defense independent numbers and peripherals. Hard to fault a 3.45 xFIP and a 10.3 K/9.
Should be interesting to see how he does with the best game caller in the game behind the plate and no more short LF porch.
I don’t really like this move, nor do I understand it. I get they need bullpen help, however, this doesn’t look like it’ll provide much help. I’m hoping they’ll do more than sign an extra Nicasio/Reed arm, and I really hope they do more than this.
I will say I should give him more credit being it looks like he’s only had one down year. Still it seems like somewhat of a gamble.
this signing is underwhelming given that high era I am hoping if not a top closer Cardinals get Addison Reed or Juan Nicasio back and a big bat like Ozuna or another big bat
AGREED!!!!!!!
Just say no to Ozuna. BAbip was 355 last year. When that regresses he will be avg at best.
His average BABIP is .327, not much higher than his most recent BABIP. As evident by his previous season (.296), it isn’t going to make much of a difference. He put up higher power numbers in 2016 than his prior seasons, and they just went up in 2017. BABIP isn’t showing much for Ozuna, in 2015 he posted a .320 BABIP and had one of his worst years. Its not a direct correlation.
This is just flat out stupid!! Gregerson SUCKS!! wtf man!!!???
Gregerson had an xFIP of 3.45, SIERA of 3.30, suggesting that most of his struggles were not his fault. ERA isn’t the greatest judge in most free agents. His numbers were also inflated by a high HR/9, and his highest BABIP since 2011. Its a decent acquisition, hopefully isn’t the last.
we need stars.. established closers like Davis or Shaw that get the job done.. wtf man this is a horrible waste of money like Cecil again! Fire Mo!!!!
Watched him in AA . Great move, should have never let him go. Good signing.
This signing is horrible. His ball is flat more than it moves. He’s going to get rocked!!!! WTF!!!!
Wait are you saying he has a drinking problem? AA? AA let him go? He should fit right in with the drinking cards then.
So the Cubs are close to signing Morrow and this is the best the Cardinals could come up with? Sounds to me like he is a over priced version of Bowmen.
It’s the first day of the winter meetings, calm down.
Bummer, was thinking White Sox could have picked him up and flipped him if he bounced back. I like the signing.
I think everyone forgets that mikolas could go to the pen, it’s possible if he doesn’t earn a rotation spot which should be guranteed.
Why didn’t the Rangers sign Gregerson? What is Daniels not doing in Arlington? They have a spotty bullpen and barely any starters to start the 2018 campaign. Looks like Rangers are going to be battling the A’s at the bottom of the division for a few seasons at least.
@hughcapet987, I like the Rangers passing on a low velocity guy who has been seen nearly a hundred times by all of the American League sluggers. Gregerson wasn’t fooling anyone last year so he could stand to gain from a fresh league and new opponents. I would like to see the Rangers sign two or three borderline starters and try to pull off some bullpen conversions.
He was striking out 10.3/9 but he wasn’t fooling anyone? Does not compute.
Adding mediocrity to a mediocre pen.
I appreciate the value approach. But they need some upside in the pen
From the comments, he sounds like another Bret Cecil. I sure hope not.
Yea. Since all the people who make comments on here are scouts
and know so much. We are just FANS! Leave the baseball stuff to the experts. That’s what they get paid for.
This seems like a typical Mozeliak move. Look for a bargain when there are better choices out there like Morrow (i know, too late now), Shaw, Nicasio, etc. I mean they just saved $295 million by NOT signing Stanton, and it seems alot of other moves are coming via trade. I know some salary is involved with those trades. We’ll see how aggressive they are this week at the Winter meetings i guess.
Morrow is also a guy who one year ago was signing a $0.5 million minor league deal because his expected performance was so uncertain that he couldn’t get a major league contract.
Good for him putting up a strong season and getting a contract out of it, and maybe he’ll stay healthier than he was prior to last year and see his stuff continue to play up out of the bullpen.
Morrow pretty much came out of nowhere last year, though, and sometimes those guys’ performance disappears just as quickly as it arrived (whether due to health or other issues).
Love this signing, welcome to St. Louis Luke!
Gregerson had a very good first year with the Astros, his second year was so-so, but he pitched not at all well in 2017. He had some good moments, but plenty of bad moments. There is no way the Astros were even going to attempt to re-sign him, much less pay him $11M over 2 years. If he comes back to his form of 2015, he’s worth it…..if he pitches like he did the last two years, he’s probably worth about half that salary.
He was very consistent from 2009 to 2016. 2017 wasn’t very good for him, but I’d expect him to return to his ways from that 09-16 period.
Seung Hwan Oh is a better pitcher than Luke Gregerson. Oh had a rough season, but thank Matheny for the way he was used.
It appears Mozeliak was able to replace Broxton. Problem is, he probably has no intention of replacing our closer with a quality player. He signs a cheapy Japanese retread to replace Lynn. I do not believe they had any intention of getting Stanton. I think he knew he’d say no and they just used the circus to sell season tickets for a month. I’m to the point that I hate this front office and owner. They are not good stewards of the generous Cardinal fan base. Our team is run by the modern day equivalent of Henry Potter.
How many more third place (~.500) finishes will it take for the ticket sales to drop below 3 million? Let us all watch and find out together.
You guys are morons
Yes, yes they are.
Why would anyone buy tickets to a Cardinals’ game under this owner without waiting to see how much they invest in players this offseason? It would be like ordering a car from the factory, paying for top of the line, but allowing the dealer to substitute an econobox if he so decided. Stop being stupid Cardinals’ fans.
What is everyone’s obsession with spending so much money on aging players
Now sign Wade Davis and trade for Longo/Archer or Donaldson
Everybody settle down here. There are still many weeks before things are finalized. The Cardinals have shown they are players for trades and signings! Keep your cool.
Cards had to find a new way to maybe gain access to some Astros computer passwords I guess.
Gregerson didn’t even make the Astros playoff roster, so that should say it all!!