A’s tender contracts to all players before deadline
The A’s tendered contracts to all unsigned players on their 40-man roster and agreed to terms on one-year deals with three players for 2022 before Tuesday’s deadline.
Oakland agreed to a oneyear deal with reliever Deolis Guerra — for $815,000, per the Athletic — after agreeing Monday with utility players Chad Pinder ($2.725 million) and Tony Kemp ($2.25 million).
Teams needed to offer contracts to arbitration-eligible and pre-arbitration players by Tuesday or allow them to become free agents.
Guerra, Pinder and Kemp were among 10 arbitrationeligible A’s. The others are corner infielders Matt Olson and Matt Chapman, starting pitchers Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea, closer Lou Trivino and outfielder Ramón Laureano — all key parts of the 2021 team.
All are now under control for 2022, though their salaries remain unsettled. The sides can continue to negotiate — though a potential lockout could slow that process — and, if unable to agree, submit salary figures to an arbitration panel for a decision.
There is also, as A’s officials have said, a possibility of any of those players being traded this offseason. Most are in line for significant raises and the A’s are considering a possible roster overhaul and payroll reduction after four straight winning seasons.
Contracts for arbitrationeligible players are often based on those given before to players with similar service time and numbers. MLB Trade Rumors offers yearly projections for those players’ salaries with frequent accuracy.
Olson, a top-10 MVP finisher in 2021, is projected to earn $12 million after signing for $5 million last year in his first offseason of arbitration eligibility, per MLB Trade Rumors.
The site also predicts salary jumps for Manaea (to $10.2 million) and Bassitt ($8.8 million), who are in their final year of arbitration eligibility, and Chapman ($9.5 million) and Montas ($5.2 million), both in their second arb year.
Still, the A’s were unlikely to non-tender any of their arbitration-eligible players and release them into free agency. Space on the 40-man roster can sometimes factor into non-tender decisions, but Oakland has several open spots after an outflux of free agents.
Guerra, 32, was a durable bullpen arm in 2021. In 53 appearances, he posted a 4-1 record and 4.11 ERA with a 1.11 WHIP that was second-lowest among relievers who worked at least 30 innings for the A’s.
Four of the A’s top year-end relievers — Yusmeiro Petit, Jake Diekman, Andrew Chafin and Sergio Romo — are free agents, so even with Guerra returning, the A’s have work to do to construct their bullpen.