Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy hope to overcome odds and pitch at a high level after their second Tommy John elbow surgeries, but it’s less likely to be for the Braves after both became non-tendered free agents Tuesday.
Medlen, Beachy and right-hander Gus Schlosser went non-tendered, while arbitration-eligible pitchers Mike Minor and relievers James Russell and David Carpenter were tendered contracts. Tuesday was the deadline for teams to offer contracts to their unsigned players.
Schlosser was the only non-arbitration eligible Brave to go non-tendered. He had a 7.64 ERA in 15 appearances as a rookie in 2015 and was 7-6 with a 4.15 ERA in 25 games (15 starts) at Triple-A Gwinnett. The Braves dropped him to open a roster spot.
Medlen and Beachy were injured on consecutive days in March at spring training and missed the entire season recovering from the second Tommy John surgery for each. Medlen was paid $5.8 million in what was his second season of arbitration eligibility, while Beachy got $1.45 million in his first arbitration season.
Baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that teams can’t offer such players a salary that’s less than 80 percent of what they made the previous year, and those who were injured usually get the same amount as the previous season through the arbitration process.
Medlen and Beachy seek to join Chris Capuano as the only major league pitchers to come back and pitch at a high level as starters for a sustained period after a second Tommy John surgery.
The Braves discussed with Medlen a one-year offer that guaranteed him $5.8 million, with a club option for 2016, but the salary in 2016 — which would’ve been his first year of free agency — was deemed unsuitable. The California native was drafted and developed by the Braves, and Medlen became a fan favorite and a year-round Atlanta resident.
“The business side (stinks),” said Medlen, whose wife, Nicole, gave birth to their second child last month. “I’m pretty bummed out, but we (Braves and him) mutually said the doors aren’t closed. Once you’re non-tendered, it doesn’t mean you can’t go back. Staying in Atlanta would obviously be good for us, with the new addition (to the family) and all.”
Medlen, the son of a truck driver, was raised in a working-class neighborhood and said he knows that turning down as much money as he did might seem unreasonable to many fans. He wasn’t comfortable discussing the particulars publicly and said he understood the Braves’ position.
“I’m going into this confidently knowing I’ll be able to pitch (long-term),” he said. “But they (Braves) had no money to spend. Coming off an injury I think I was just too expensive, the way the (arbitration) system is set up and all that.”
Medlen, who turned 29 in October, has a 34-20 record and 2.95 ERA in 152 career games, including 30-13 with a 2.96 ERA in 61 starts. He became one of the National League’s top starters after moving from the bullpen to the rotation in late July 2012, going 24-11 with a 2.36 ERA in 43 starts from through the 2013 season and winning three NL Pitcher of the Month awards.
“I don’t ever want that (money) to be the thing because I didn’t come from much,” he said. “I just felt like I’d be doing a disservice to everybody who ever fought for free agency to give that (first year of free agency) away.”
Beachy, 28, became a pleasant surprise after the Braves signed the former undrafted pitcher out of an independent league. He’s 14-11 with a 3.23 ERA in 46 starts and has 275 strikeouts in 267 2/3 innings, but has pitched in only 18 games the past three seasons (five games in the past two) because of three elbow procedures.
Of the three arbitration-eligible Braves who were tendered contracts, Minor is projected to get about $5 million if he goes through arbitration, while Russell could get close to $2.5 million and Carpenter more than $1 million.
