Most teams don’t want to go to arbitration with their key players, but the Los Angeles Angels are a serious exception to the rule. The Angels like to battle for every nickel, and their latest example of this occurred with key pitcher Reid Detmers, who lost his arbitration hearing, with the news reported by Anthony Franco of MLBTradeRumors .com via Mark Feisand of MLB.com
The difference between what Detmers wanted and the Angels offer was remarkably small given the circumstances. Detmers wanted $2.92 million this season, which is a reasonable ask given that he had a strong season last year and he’s trying to make a successful transition to the starting rotation.
But the Angels thought differently. They offered $2.65 million, and a difference of $300K would be considered chump change for most organizations. Detmers did have a bout of elbow inflammation that sidelined him in mid-September, but he’s healthy now with no issues expected in spring training.
Detmers is a former tenth-round pick who worked full-time as a reliever last year. He threw 63-2/3 innings with an ERA of 3.96, which was a rarity on a staff that had few pitchers under 4.00. Detmers was the setup man in front of closer Kenley Jansen, and he racked up 13 holds while striking out over 30 percent of the hitters he faced, according to Franco.
His prospects as a starter are more uncertain. Detmers started for the first four years of his career, but he had an ERA of 5.00 over 75 career starts. He’s currently projected as the third starter in the Angels rotation behind Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Soriano, but the Halos also traded for Baltimore Orioles starter Grayson Rodriguez, and there’s a lot of competition for roles in the back half of the rotation.
Detmers was the only Angels pitcher to go to a hearing this year, and his loss was the exception rather than the rule. Players have won seven of the nine hearings to date, which is why most have elected to settle rather than enter a process where back-and-forth accusations about performance and worth are common.
It will be interesting to see if Detmers comments about this at any point. He’ll be in the spotlight if he makes the rotation, so he’ll have plenty of opportunities to do so, especially in a camp with new rookie manager Kurt Suzuki where rules about media engagement may end up being a work in progress.