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For fans of the nickname But I Don't Know What To Do With Those Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs, Thanksgiving came a day later but will be giving Royals fans joy and mirth for at least the next calendar year.
This morning, Dayton Moore and the Royals signed 37-year-old Jason Frasor to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2016 because what Dayton Moore contract would be complete without a mutual option? For the terms of the deal, we turn to Twitter and Andy McCullough, who first reported the terms of the deal:
Jason Frasor's deal is worth $1.8 million guaranteed: A $1.25 million base in 2015 and a $550,000 buyout for 2016.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) November 28, 2014
His 2016 option is worth $2 million. He can also earn $500,000 in performances bonuses in 2015 and another $500,000 in bonuses in 2016.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) November 28, 2014
It's hard to argue with Frasor at just $1.8MM guaranteed. He was the next-most reliable reliever [no, Brandon Finnegan is not a reliever and should not be counted upon to be one this season] down the stretch and into the playoffs after the Big Three. Aside from a bizarre, anomalous 2008 campaign that saw him walk 15.4% of opposing hitters, an extreme outlier on his résumé, Frasor has always been above-replacement level, averaging 0.5 fWAR, 0.7 RA9-WAR, and 0.8 rWAR over his past five seasons. Steamer has him projected as a 3.44 ERA, 3.48 FIP pitcher this season.
Despite the way in which Ned Yost tended to utilize Frasor after the Royals got him from the Rangers for organizational filler Spencer Patton, Frasor doesn't have an extreme platoon split, and should be able to be employed against both right-handed and left-handed hitting. His career splits:
- vs. LHH: .240/.337/.370 triple-slash against, .311 wOBA, 23.2 K%, 12.0 BB%, 3.84 FIP, 4.04 xFIP
- vs. RHH: .226/.302/.361 triple-slash, .293 wOBA, 22.2 K%, 8.6 BB%, 3.64 FIP, 3.80 xFIP
With the cost of a Win sitting somewhere in the $6.5-$7.0MM range, this deal seems like a win--albeit a smallish one--for the Royals, even after taking the potential bonuses into account. It also seems like it might be the rare occasion in which a mutual option may be exercised by both parties.
More importantly, But I Don't Know What To Do With Those Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs will get to strut from the bullpen to the mound in the sixth, presumably to a well-known television theme song.