The Braves weren’t expected to tender a contract to pitcher Peter Moylan before the league-imposed deadline, but that wouldn’t necessarily preclude the Aussie reliever from returning to the team.
General manager Frank Wren said during last week’s Winter Meetings the Braves could non-tender Moylan and try to re-sign him as a free agent later in the offseason if he continued to progress from late-September shoulder surgery.
Major league teams had until midnight Monday to tender contracts to unsigned players who were under team control. Non-tendered player became free agents.
The Braves, who planned a Tuesday announcement regarding their player moves, were expected to tender contracts to all of their other remaining arbitration-eligible players: center fielder Michael Bourn, left fielder Martin Prado, starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens and reliever Eric O’Flaherty.
Moylan, 33, had arthroscopic surgery for rotator-cuff and labrum tears and wasn’t going to be ready for the beginning of the upcoming season. Typical recovery is six months.
The sidearmer made $2 million this past season and was limited to 13 appearances, missing most of the season while recovering from back surgery in May. That was followed by the shoulder issue that flared up just three weeks after he returned from the disabled list.
Moylan pitched in 80 or more games in three of the previous four seasons for the Braves, coming back strong in 2009 after missing most of ‘08 recovering from ligament-transplant elbow surgery, or “Tommy John” surgery.
If tendered a contract, he could have command a salary of around $2 million in his third year of arbitration eligibility. If tendered, the most his salary could have been cut was 20 percent, to $1.6 million.
Bourn made $4.4 million last season in his second arbitration year and was projected to make about $7 million this season. The three-time National League stolen base leader would be eligible for free agency after the season.
Wren previously said the Braves were interested in discussing an extension for Bourn, who hit .278 with 22 steals in 53 games after coming from Houston in a July 31 trade. A former All-Star and a client of agent Scott Boras, Bourn hit a combined .291 with 61 steals and a .349 on-base percentage in 2011.
The Braves were aware thag Boras typically takes his clients to free agency, unless their current teams make an overwhelming offer or players are adamant about staying put. The Braves have sought a young center fielder in trade discussions this winter, in case Bourn wasn’t retained beyond the upcoming season.
Prado and Jurrjens have had trade rumors swirl around them for two months. The Braves have insisted they didn’t need to move either for payroll reasons and would make a deal only if it improved the team.
After making $3.1 million in a season interrupted by a lower-leg staph infection, Prado was projected to receive about $4.5 million in his second year of arbitration.
Jurrjens was an All-Star before he was sidelined in September for the second year in a row by a right-knee injury. He made $3.25 million in his first season of arbitration eligibility and could have received a raise to $5 million for next season.
Left-hander O’Flaherty was part of a formidable bullpen trio with closer Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters. He could have received a substantial raise in his second year of arbitration, from $895,000 last season to perhaps $2.5 million.
If Moylan was non-tendered, the Braves, or any team, could negotiate a new salary with him as a free agent. At the November general managers meetings in Milwaukee, Wren spoke with Moylan’s representative, Adam Katz, about the possibility of signing him later this winter after seeing how rehabilitation went.
On Monday, Katz said he recently was given a positive update from the doctor who did Moylan’s shoulder surgery, Braves orthopedist Xavier Duralde.
Moylan was diagnosed with an incomplete tear of the rotator cuff in 2010, but had been able to manage the condition with cortisone injections.
He was a workhorse before and after his previous major arm injury. He had elbow surgery one month into the 2008 season and missed the rest of the year, after posting a 1.80 ERA in 80 games as a 28-year-old rookie in 2007.
After compiling a 2.84 ERA in a franchise-record 87 appearances in 2009, he finished the 2010 season with a 2.97 ERA in 85 appearances.
He’s been an improbable success story in the major leagues. He was out of American professional baseball for eight years and worked as a pharmaceutical salesman at home in Australia, playing for a club team on weekends, when he was invited to pitch for his country in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
When he switched to a sidearm delivery in deference to a previous back injury, Moylan almost immediately gained 10 miles per hour on his fastball. He drew notice in Australia, then from scouts during the World Baseball Classic in 2006.
The Braves signed him to a minor-league contract that March, and he made his major league debut a month later.
The heavily-tattooed pitcher, with his gregarious personality and dry humor, has become one of the most popular Braves among teammates and fans.
