7:31PM: Fiers will earn $14.1MM in total, according to Janie McCauley of the Associated Press (Twitter link). The deal breaks down as $6MM in 2019, and $8.1MM in 2020.
Dec. 24, 1:02PM: The A’s have announced the deal (via Twitter).
Dec. 22:The Oakland Athletics are close to re-signing Michael Fiers, per the MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. Fiers will earn between $14MM and $15MM over a two-year span (Twitter links). The deal is pending a physical.
The dollar amount makes sense for both sides, considering Fiers was non-tendered by the A’s at season’s end while being projected to earn $9.7MM through arbitration. With this agreement, the A’s save themselves a couple million on their 2019 payroll while getting a second season of control, and Fiers gets more guaranteed money.
Fiers came to Oakland in August in exchange for two PTBNL, who turned into LHP Logan Shore and RHP Nolan Blackwood. He then contributed reliable innings for the A’s down the stretch as they struggled to keep rotation arms healthy en route to a surprising 97-win season. Pitching in the spacious arenas of Detroit and Oakland last season, Fiers tallied his best year as a pro: a 12-8 record with a 3.56 ERA across 172 innings.
Fiers threw more sliders than ever in 2018, a pitch he has steadily woven into his repertoire since 2015. The increase in slider usage corresponded with a similar decrease in sinker usage, leading to elevated launch angles and more flyballs (43.2 FB%) – all of which could signal sustainability for Fiers’ 2018 success. His peripherals don’t scream drastic transformation, though he did lower his walk rate to a career-low 1.94 BB/9.
Morosi recently reported Fiers was being courted by the Reds, Nationals, Rangers and Giants, all of whom would have been a poorer fit for Fiers, save perhaps the Giants, given his past home run issues. The Oakland Coliseum seems a good fit for the 33-year-old, who is at his best when keeping the ball in the air, but at his worst when unable to keep the ball in the yard.
Fiers ill join an unstable cadre of rotation arms in Oakland, with Daniel Mengden, Frankie Montas, Aaron Brooks, Paul Blackburn and Chris Bassitt being the in-house options for what’s sure to be another ragtag crew.
Santa Staton is watching you
A’s need pitching so kinda expected to a certain extent
Gio Gonzalez next
It would actually make tons of sense. Even on a one year deal, Gio could rehit the market for a 2 year deal, ala Fiers.
It should be next. A’s need a LHP and someone with a little better track record in the rotation.
Luzardo.
Luzardo is amazing. We all know that, but I would like the A’s to give him a little more seasoning in AAA so he can be more accustomed to major league ready players but mainly so they can get a extra year of control with him. For sure though, he is a stud!
Jeez why is my team so cheep, Signing Fiers? We need more help then that
You’re an idiot
Lmfao… Any true Oakland fan wouldn’t even ask this stupid question.
So you’d rather pay one year of Matt Harvey for the 2 year cost of Fiers? Pay more per year for Cahill? Stop it and look st the market… the FO knows MUCH more than you do
100% agree if this were indeed a 2 year 14-15 deal I’d love it considering how much Harvey and Cahill got.
If they could go out and sign a guy like Gio Gonzalez or Derek Holland their rotation might be solid again.
They need a lot more than those two to be “solid”
That’s fair, but if you really think about it their rotation last year wasn’t bad at all and it was just a group of guys that would be 4th or 5th starters on most teams and they went for 97 wins. I’m just hypothesizing the success they could have with pitchers who could be more than that.
They got a lot from Trevor Cahill, Edwin Jackson and to a lesser extent Brett Anderson.. Of course, they could dumpster dive for gold again, but they are in need of innings.
Clayton Richard has A’s written all over him. Back end innings eater at the 5.
Ah yup, forgot about him. He would be a good fit as well. Any of those 3 (Gonzalez, Holland, or Richard) would be great inning eaters for them
“at his worst when unable to keep the ball in the yard”
Doesn’t that apply to ANY pitcher?
True to any pitcher but especially true for Fiers. His run prevention success is closely tied to home runs allowed.
I mean I get the point of the initial statement. That Fiers is most effective when opposing hitters hit the ball in the air, thus pitching in the spacious Coliseum will allow him to do so with less of a risk of the ball leaving the yard But to MetsYankeesRedSox point… the statement on its own is a bit redundant… I mean that’s kind of just like the entire goal of pitching… allowing a ball to ‘leave the yard’ is essentially the epitome of failure for a pitcher. So I’d hope it goes without saying all pitchers are “at their worst” when giving up HRs! haha
Can’t imagine ever seeing the sentence, “He’s at his best and most effective when giving up a lot of home runs.”
Yay A’s. Bumgarner should be next, now…
They will never ship him across the bay
If Oakland offered the Giants the best available deal, why not? It’s only for one year and it’s not like Oakland will sign him long term….
Same reason dodgers wouldbt ship kershaw to the angels or the cubs shipping bryant to the white sox.
You dont typically see city rivals trading wity each other often.
The A’s would need to severely overpay like the cubs did to get quintana.
Bad deal. Fiers is a risk given his FIP. Best to keep him on a one year deal.
A’s pay more attention to SIERA than FIP… Fiers had like a 3.56 SIERA last year and pitched very well for them
I disagree as he will be getting 7-7.5 million AAV over the next two years and you could do worse than fiers for that price
He’s worth the 7 to 7.5 million
Oakland is going for a rotation they hope to keep them in games and a killer bullpen to help them win games.
Worked for them and Milwaukee last year.
Also worked for WS winning Royals team.
It is honestly viable. Royals rotation was not impressive in 2015 but if the bullpen is dominant than they essentially pull a Rays and let their starters act as openers. Don’t ask too much and then hand it to the guys you trust
Luzardo will be one of the starters out of spring training. A’s management already said he will be competing for a spot in spring.
I think they will try to wait until after super 2 cutoff if that applies here. I’m not sure.
Given the contracts that are being thrown at mid level starters this offseason I’m surprised by the relatively modest contract Fiers is getting
Tanner Anderson is part of that 40 man Cadre of starters as well as the A’s have said they’ll try to stretch him as starter
Considering that the chances of them being successful with the type of dumpster diving that they did last year for their rotation a second year in a row was so slim they needed stability and fiers gives the A’s that
What a steal by Oakland. I’d much rather have Fiers instead of Sanchez and on top of that for 5 million less? Great deal.
Even if fiers is mediocre it’s still a good deal for the A’s
Its a better deal than CaHill at $9 million per season. Friers can give you a good start every 5 days while CaHill you must baby his arm and hope he doesn’t go on the DL.
Baby his arm? I think the As and Rays have fully embraced the new paradigm, let a weaker starter air it for five innings or two trips through the lineup and then bring in a parade of fireball relievers.
“Baby his arm” is a fair claim for a guy who hasn’t thrown 140 innings since 2013
Fiers Mengden Bassitt Montas with question mark as your fifth starter is quite the hail mary pass. They have so many high-minors pitchers (Puk, Kaprielan, Luzardo) that the outlook for 2020 should be quite rosy. I kind of respect the A’s unwillingness to give up a very, very good prospective 2020-2022 roster for a slightly better 2019 roster.
Exactly! Not punting on 2019 but not going to sacrifice the farm while we wait for Puk, Murphy, etc in 2020.
All I ask is that they don’t re-sign Edwin Jackson. He needs to continue to join more teams. Sign with the Pirates to be their 5th starter/swingman, you can always trade for him again. I just want to see him play for every team in the league.
A’s need to sign him!! As much as I’d like him to play for more teams the guy is just a class act leader and a great mentor for that those younger guys!!
I’d take him in my rotation over Harvey any day.
If _______ got _______, then Fiers deserves $15-mil for 2. That’s basically the best way to sum up why he got that deal.
If Friers got non-tendered, then Friers deserves 15m
As save face. (Still questionable cheap move non-tender)
They should move the excellent Athletics franchise back to Philadelphia and “spend stupid money” like the Phillies with Beane as GM. I was disappointed when they announced they worked out a new stadium deal in Oakland.
al west hitters, watch out for your head!
with this move the A’s should go 82-82 next season
So they’ll play 164?
Three-way tie for 2nd wild card?
Why?
here here to Jesus luzardo the kid is real good!!
Fiers/Luzardo/Mengden/Montas/???? What’s next? Another signing? Or a trade? Cause they need at least one more starter if they still wanna chance at contention.
trade candidate in august.
This is an unbelievable signing and came because of Ron Gardenhire reaching out and recommending him. The guy will guarantee the A’s at least two pennants.
I anticipate they will bring Jackson back on a 1 year deal in the 4 to 6 million range
I’d be surprised if Jackson got that much. He probably earned himself a major league deal this time around but I highly doubt it’s for that much guaranteed. Maybe a Mil guaranteed with incentives. Can’t see anyone signing him with the intention of spotting him in the rotation.
The A’s rotation is so weak. They dodged bullets last year, but I don’t see it happening this year. I’ve always enjoyed following the A’s, but I’m not afraid of the 2019 team.
They are going to wear their bullpen out.
They did get lucky with their rotation last season but everything else on their team is good though. They are a threat
Don’t think that’s accurate
steal of a deal!
The A’s managed to not completely botch this. I believed non tendering him was a horrible decision and if he would’ve went elsewhere what’ve reflected horribly on them. Looks like I was wrong because I’d probably rather have him at 2/14 than 1/9.5. Surprised, but it looks like they made the right call.
Love it: while everyone else is sitting at home in their jammies, waiting for Santa, Billy Beane went old school and got a deal done on Christmas Eve.