The Weekly Bernie, 2/6/17: Khris Davis wins arbitration case over Oakland A’s

Welcome back to The Weekly Bernie! It’s the best dance in the game, so let’s get rolling once more!

• On Wednesday, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported that A’s outfielder Khris Davis won his arbitration hearing against the team. Davis will receive a $5 million salary in 2017. The A’s had offered $4.65 million. While this seems like a negligible difference, and some have been quick to call the A’s cheap, Davis’ $5 million dollar salary sets the baseline for his next two arbitration years as well. A small difference of $350,000 today could translate to a difference of more than a million dollars in two years. That being said, at $5 million, Davis remains a bargain. The left fielder spanked 42 home runs in 2016, and if he can learn to take a walk, he could become a truly great hitter.
• On Thursday morning, the St. Louis Cardinals announced that they agreed to terms with righty Carlos Martinez on a five year, $51 million contract extension with two club options. The 25 year-old flamethrower posted a 3.04 ERA over 31 starts in 2016, anchoring the Cardinals’ rotation. While there’s always risk with pitchers, Martinez is one of the most talented young arms in the game, and locking him up is well worth the gamble.
• The Kansas City Royals have agreed to terms with righty Jason Hammel on a two year, $16 million contract, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Hammel, now 34, has been a reliable back-end starter for the past three years (despite a forgettable second half of 2014 in Oakland). While he’s nothing special, Hammel will look to provide stability for a shaky Kansas City rotation.
• Bargain bin free agents have started to fly off the board. The Braves signed catcher Kurt Suzuki to a one year, $1.5 million deal; the Blue Jays added lefty reliever J.P. Howell on a one year, $3 million contract, according to Rosenthal, and also picked up righty Joe Smith, whose contract is not yet known; the Cleveland Indians are in agreement with lefty Boone Logan on a one year, $5.5 million deal with an option, per Rosenthal; the Rays are bringing back first baseman Logan Morrison on a one year, $2.5 million deal, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports; and the Mets are re-signing righty Fernando Salas and lefty Jerry Blevins for $3 million and $6.5 million, respectively, on one year deals.

Bernie’s Weekly Deal: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

At this point in the offseason, I don’t think any more major moves will be coming for the A’s. I don’t think any of the remaining free agents like Chris Carter or Matt Wieters fit the roster well enough to warrant an addition. The A’s might hit the minor league free agent market once more, though, and if they do, I’d like to see them maybe add a little more outfield depth in the form of Craig Gentry or Ryan Raburn.

What to expect this week:

I guess Mike Napoli, Joe Blanton and Matt Wieters will have to sign eventually? And who knows, maybe Chris Carter heads to Japan.

That’s all for this week. Feel free to dump any links in the comments below. Until next time - lean on, A’s fans!