San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Fiers returning: One-year deal includes large pay cut.
Mike Fiers got his wish: The righthander is returning to the A’s.
Fiers, 35, and the A’s agreed on a $3.5 million deal for 2021, The Chronicle confirmed, leaving Oakland set to return its rotation from 2020.
The A’s were the only team to make Fiers a freeagent offer this offseason, an industry source told The Chronicle. He’s accepting a pay cut to return to Oakland; Fiers was due to earn $8.1 million in 2020 before salaries were prorated for the short season.
Last offseason, Fiers’ public comments about the Houston Astros’ signstealing scheme during their 2017 championship season — Fiers pitched for that team — helped spur a Major League Baseball investigation into the Astros. Last month, Fiers told The Chronicle he hoped to resign with the A’s in part because he appreciated their fans’ support after his comments.
“It was crazy how much support I got and how much they really appreciated what I did, not only just for Oakland, but just for the game itself,” Fiers said last month.
The A’s ended the Astros’ run of three AL West titles in 2020 but lost to Houston in the division series. Fiers did not pitch against Houston in the regular season or the fourgame playoff series. Manager Bob Melvin said before the ALDS that Fiers was not deliberately held out of facing the Astros in 2020.
Acquired by the A’s from Detroit in an August 2018 trade, Fiers made a teamhigh 44 starts over the past two seasons.
After going 154 with a 3.90 ERA in 2019, a season that included his second career nohitter, Fiers was 63 with a 4.58 ERA in 11 starts in the pandemicshortened 2020 season. He made one start in the playoffs, lasting 12⁄3 innings in Game 3 of the first round against the White Sox.
Starters Chris Bassitt, Jesús Luzardo, Sean Manaea and Chris Bassitt are set to return, with lefthander A.J. Puk another rotation candidate if healthy.