MLB Rumors: 5 pending FAs who lost money in April

MLB rumors start swirling the moment Opening Day comes and goes. Slow starts are one thing. Certainly, they can be overcome. But painstakingly slows starts in a contract year are another thing altogether. It’s the kind crippling production than creeps into players’ subconscious thoughts and causees things like the shaving or growing of a beard, hiking the socks up high or changing an age long pre-game meal routine.

When’s there’s money on the line — millions of dollars — no knee jerk reaction or superstitious response to an elongated slump is too insignificant to not be addressed.

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Ian Desmond is a perfect example. In his 2015 contract season, after hitting .255/.313/.430 in 2014, he dropped off a fair bit. Desmond hit only .233/.290/.384 with a pitiful .674 OPS. He hit 19 long balls and drove in his lowest RBI total since 2011 of just 65.

Desmond subsequently rejected a $15.8MM qualifying offer from the Nats, holding out all the way until February 29, 2016. There was no multi-year security and the deal was not in the tens of millions of dollars. As we know, it was one-year and $8 million from the Texas Rangers. Not only was it nearly half of what Washington would have paid him, but he’s been forced to play mostly left field this year, despite having spent his first seven seasons in the league as a shortstop.

In effect, it was adapt and settle, or become irrelevant for Desmond. His troublesome April from 2015 .217/.287/.326 festered and bled over into his entire seasonal output. It cost him millions of dollars. Like Desmond, here are five players in 2016 not doing themselves any favors so far as a new contract (hopefully) awaits them this offseason.

Next: Number 5

5. Jered Weaver – LAA

Jered Weaver will turn 34 this offseason. He’s obviously on the wrong side of 30, but it’s not old in baseball years. Pitching wise back in 2010, Roy Halladay was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies and debuted for them in his age 33 season. Upon being traded, before ever pitching an inning for the Phils, he signed a $60MM extension, adding three years to his pre-existing deal. There was a $20MM vesting option for a fourth season as well.

Next season, Weaver will be only a year older than Halladay was at the time of his extension. However, you can bet Weaver won’t be getting anything near $20MM per season. He’s making $20.2MM right now at the backend of his five-year agreement signed in August of 2011 with the Angels, but he’s having issues being effective.

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Weaver’s got no zip left on his fastball. In 2011, his heater was pushing the radar gun to 94.5 mph. In 2016, the hasn’t thrown a fastball over 86 mph. Last season, his fastball was his fourth most used pitch in his repertoire.

While on the surface things look promising for Weaver at 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA, when we peel back the layers, the ugly truth shows itself. His peripheral stats stink. A 5.51 FIP is just asking for him to get a shelling soon. His K/9 of 4.2 is easily the lowest mark of his career and so too is his K:BB ratio of 1.57. For a guy once viewed as being an ace who had struck out over 200 batters in a season, Weaver is a far cry from his old self.

Playing at replacement level right now, Weaver will be lucky to land a contract in the offseason that guarantees him a spot in a rotation. Right now, he might be more in the vein of a reclamation project like the once electric Tim Lincecum, who also burnt his arm out with velocity woes at a premature age.

Next: Number 4

4. Kendrys Morales  – KCR

Last season for the World Series winning Royals, Kendrys Morales‘ bat was a beacon of light for the offense. In the first season of a two-year deal plus a vesting option for 2017, he led his club in RBI with 106, OPS (.847) and total bases (276) while tying for first in home runs with 22.

As the main man at designated hitter for KC in 2015, Morales slashed an impressive .315/.364/.489 in April alone. His 17 RBI were the fourth highest tally in the AL. Morales is making $1.75MM more in salary this season, but has compiled a simplistic .217-2-8 line compared to this same time last year.

In 2014 with time split between Minnesota and Seattle, Morales produced a line of .218-8-42 in 98 games and still managed to land a decent contract in Kansas City. But the Royals were looking for a diamond in the rough as a small market franchise. They struck gold last season with their championship squad and got a lot of production out of their 32-year-old designated hitter. Aside from 2009, last season was a career year for Morales at the dish and so far, April’s results show he’s on a downwards trajectory.

Next: Number 3

3. John Danks – CWS

Outside of being a southpaw capable of throwing over or near 150 innings in a season, John Danks hasn’t been a reliable starter at the Major League level since 2010. From 2011 onward, Danks has consistently lost equal or more games than he has won and posted an ERA well north of 4.00.

He entered the league as a promising 22-year-old back in 2007. Now 31, you would think some serious offseason training and a push to be more effective in a contract year with the White Sox would be his priority. Changing his repertoire, developing a new pitch, seeking counsel from a private pitching coach… anything. Instead, Danks seems content with mediocrity.

Behind Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Carlos Rodon and Mat Latos, the White Sox have one of the nicer rotations in the AL. Danks is the only wart. In April, he went 0-4 with a 7.25 ERA, 6.03 FIP and gave up five home runs, the most by any Southside starter. The opposition also hit .322 against him.

It could be a long road back to the Majors for Danks, as the White Sox pulled the trigger yesterday afternoon and designated him and his $15.75 MM salary for assignment.

Next: Number 2

2. Matt Wieters – BAL

On the surface, Matt Wieters has a lot going for him. He has good size, plus power at the catcher position, can hit from both sides of the dish and he’s a three-time All-Star with two Gold Gloves.

However, unlike many position players, Wieters has been afflicted by a shoddy UCL in his right throwing arm. 2014 was shaping up to be a breakout year for the backstop. As a 28-year-old, he was hitting .308/.339/.500 through the first 26 games of the season, adding five homers and 18 RBI to the mix. Then the elbow injury struck, he had TJ surgery and missed the rest of 2014 and the first couple months of 2015.

With the red flag of the UCL injury looming over his head and a not so productive 2015, Wieters chose to accept a one-year qualifying offer from the Orioles for $15.8MM. It’s a lot of money and certainly more than Ian Desmond got, but Wieters is showing future bidders for his services little right now in the way of being an impactful catcher in 2017.

With much of Baltimore’s offense being better than anyone’s in April, Wieters stumbled out of the gates with a .214/.290/.304 slash line. He has only three extra base hits, having gone deep only once, with eight runs driven in. Given the protection and talent surrounding him in the lineup, it’s difficult to see a silver lining.

Next: Number 1