The Braves signed pitcher Julio Teheran to a six-year, $32.4 million contract that includes a seventh-year option, and general manager Frank Wren characterized Friday’s move as a second step in a plan to build for the long term around top young players.
The first step came last week when the Braves signed All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman to a club-record eight-year, $135 million contract that bought out all three of his arbitration years and five would-be free-agent seasons. Teheran was still two years away from arbitration eligibility.
“He’s got a chance to be a top-part-of-the-rotation guy for a long time,” Wren said of the Colombian right-hander, who was 14-8 with a 3.20 ERA in 30 starts last season, his first full season in the majors.
The contract includes a $12 million option for 2020 with a $1 million buyout.
The contract runs through 2019, which could have been his first year of free-agent eligibility. If the Braves pick up the 2020 option, which seems likely barring injury, they will have bought out the first two seasons of free agency and the deal would be worth $43.4 million.
Teheran got a $1 million signing bonus and will make $800,000 in 2014, then $1 million in 2015, $3.3 million in 2016, $6.3 million in 2017, $8 million in 2018 and $11 million in 2019.
“I’m happy with the contract,” said Teheran, who turned 23 in January. “The first thing when I found out they wanted to (offer) me the contract, was to talk to my family and have all my family be on the same page. We all had the same position. It’s guaranteed money, and that’s going to be less pressure for my career.
“I don’t think the contract’s going to change the pitcher that I am. Just try to go out there and compete, win some games. I’m going to be relaxed now.”
Teheran had 170 strikeouts in a career-high 185 2/3 innings during the regular season, and in his last 18 starts he was 10-5 with a 2.90 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 108 2/3 innings.
If the Braves pick up the 2020 option — which seems more than likely, barring injury — they will have bought out the first two seasons of his potential free agency. The $32.4 million guaranteed amount was not far below Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner’s $35 million contract, the record amount for a pitcher with less than two full years of major league service.
“It gets us through his first couple of free-agent years,” Wren said. “Again, (the goal is to) hold onto our young players, and again a lot of this is the product of having the opportunity to move into Cobb County and into a new ballpark and hopefully an area that allows us to stay competitive for the long term.”
The Braves expect to have significantly increased revenue streams when they move into their planned new ballpark in 2017.
Wren said the Teheran contract was agreed to one week ago, but they had to wait for Teheran to get to the United States and pass his physical.
Wren said the Braves have other young players they hope to sign to long-term contracts. He wouldn’t name them, but it’s safe to assume that Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmons likely is near or at the top of the list.
“I don’t want to get into specifics,” he said. “We’ve identified a number of guys that we would like to have under long-term contracts, and we’ll keep working to that end. I’m not going to get into numbers, but we’ve identified players, and in some cases it’s not all going to be done this year. It could be over the next couple of years, as guys are at different points in their career and different stages.
“It’s not something that has to be done in 2014. We’ve identified what we think are core players, but that doesn’t mean they’re all going to be signed in the immediate term.”
