[外電] Rays Re-Sign Mike Zunino

1. 新聞來源：

mlbtraderumors

2. 新聞標題：

Rays Re-Sign Mike Zunino

3. 新聞內容：

By Mark Polishuk | December 16, 2020 at 3:01pm CDT

3:01PM: The Rays have announced the move. The escalators within the 2022 cluboption are broken down by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, as Zunino can
increase the option to $5MM if he appears in 80 games. Ninety games played
raises the price to $6MM, and it tops out at $7MM if Zunino appears in 100
games or if he gets traded.

12:26PM: The Rays have agreed to a new deal with catcher Mike Zunino, Marc
Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter link). It is a one-year
contract for the veteran backstop, with a club option for the 2022 season.
Zunino is represented by Jet Sports Management.

Zunino will get $3MM in guaranteed money, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets.
According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter), that $3MM breaks down
as $2MM in salary and a $1MM buyout of the club option. The exact value of
that club option will vary based on Zunino’s playing time, but it will fall
somewhere between $4MM-$7MM.

Tampa declined its $4.5MM club option on Zunino following the World Series,
though there was mutual interest between the two sides in a new contract.
Zunino will now return for a third season with the Rays, and he’ll help
fill a sizeable void behind the plate, as the AL champions also parted ways
with Michael Perez and Kevan Smith.

It’s probably safe to assume that the Rays will continue to look for more
catching help even with Zunino back, as his lack of offensive production overthe last two seasons makes him an imperfect fit as a starting catcher.
Zunino has hit only .161/.233/.323 over 373 PA in a Rays uniform, though he
did bolster that resume with a big performance in the 2020 ALCS to help TampaBay win the pennant.

Earlier in his career, it seemed as though Zunino would develop into an
offense-first catcher if anything, as he slugged 90 homers with the Mariners
from 2014-18. Apart from an overall strong 2017 season, however, Zunino
generally posted low batting averages and on-base totals, and detracted from
his power with a lot of strikeouts. Defensively, Zunino is well-respected asa game-caller and a handler of pitchers, but Statcast hasn’t been impressed
with his declining framing ability over the last two seasons.

Zunino’s new deal removes another name from the list of free agent catchers.
The Rays were one of many contenders known to be looking for catching, and
while Tampa obviously wasn’t shopping at the top of the backstop market
(i.e. J.T. Realmuto or James McCann), removing Zunino from the next tier downfurther narrows out an already pretty thin collection of available talent forteams in need of a catcher upgrade.

4. 新聞連結：

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/12/rays-to-re-sign-mike-zunino.html

5. 備註：

(1) 光芒隊以$2MM/1YR約附帶2022年球隊選擇權($1MM買斷金)簽回捕手Mike Zunino，後年薪水則是依照明年的出賽數而定，出賽80場則薪水是$5MM、90場則是$6MM、100場或被交易則是$7MM。

(2) 世界大賽結束後光芒隊拒絕他$4.5MM的選擇權，不過雙方仍有意願繼續合作，明年將是他第三年為光芒隊效力，而光芒其他捕手如Michael Perez被海盜從讓渡名單撿走、
Kevan Smith則是成為自由球員。

(3) 光芒簽回他就是寄望能找回他的接捕能力，而過去兩季攻擊端的表現對擔任主戰捕手的他頗不適任，在373個打席中僅繳出.161/.233/.323，不過他在ALCS的好表現幫助球隊闖進世界大賽。

(4) 早期Zunino以進攻型捕手著稱，2014-18年在水手共轟出90發全壘打，但也伴隨著低打擊率、低上壘率與不少被三振數。在防守端，他以掌控全局的能力所著稱，不過
Statcast顯示出他過去兩季偷好球的能力正在退步。

(5) 目前為自由球員的捕手如下：
Alex Avila (34)、Drew Butera (37)、Curt Casali (32)、Welington Castillo (34)、Jason Castro (34)、Robinson Chirinos (36)、Tyler Flowers (35)、
Dustin Garneau (33)、Bryan Holaday (33)、Sandy Leon (32)、Jeff Mathis (38)、
Yadier Molina (38)、Josh Phegley (33)、Wilson Ramos (33)、J.T. Realmuto (30)、Rene Rivera (37)、Austin Romine (32)、Kurt Suzuki (37)、Matt Wieters (35)、
Tony Wolters (29)。

(6) 光芒隊各位置人選如下：
A. C：Mike Zunino、Kevan Smith*。
B. 1B：Ji-Man Choi。
C. 2B：Brandon Lowe。
D. 3B：Yandy Diaz。
E. SS：Willy Adames。
F. UT：Mike Brosseau、Joey Wendle。
G. RF：Austin Meadows。
H. CF：Kevin Kiermaier、Manuel Margot。
I. LF：Randy Arozarena。
J. OF：Brett Phillips、Johnny Davis*。
K. DH：筒香嘉智。
*：本季結束即成為自由球員。

(7) Mike Zunino今年在光芒隊的成績表現(今年29歲；今年原計薪水：$4.5MM)：

G H HR RBI SO BB BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+

28 11 4 10 37 6 .147 .238 .360 .598 65
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