The Los Angeles Dodgers have apparently avoided salary arbitration with Tony Cingrani, as the lefty agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.65 million.
Ken Rosenthal was among those to initially report news of the deal; however, the team has yet to make the contract official as of late Saturday afternoon.
Cingrani was plagued by injuries last season, as he made just 30 appearances, pitching 22.2 innings and registering a 4.76 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. Still, his 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings was a career-best for Cingrani in seasons in which he had pitched at least 10 games.
Cingrani gives the Dodgers an intriguing left-handed option out of the bullpen for next season, capable of getting out both righties and lefties consistently.
He held left-handed batters to just a .200 batting average last season, while righties were only able to hit .235 off him.
Cingrani has done a great job in recent years of decreasing his walk totals, as it was typically something he struggled with as a member of the Cincinnati Reds earlier in his career.
He averaged 4.6 walks per nine innings during his time with the Reds but has averaged just 2.6 walks per nine innings on the Dodgers.
The improved control has been the biggest factor in his lower WHIP since joining the Dodgers, as his hits per nine innings totals have remained pretty constant.
As a member of the Reds, Cingrani gave up 7.6 hits per nine innings, and that has dipped just slightly to 7.3 with the Dodgers.
Cingrani was one of the Dodgers most reliable options when it came to stranding inherited runners on the base paths.
Cingani stranded 50% of runners he inherited in 2018, which led the team amongst relievers who inherited at least 10 runners.
For his career, Cingrani has stranded 40% of the runners he has inherited, so last year represented a nice improvement in that capacity.
It’s going to be really interesting if Cingrani can keep that up next season and the Dodgers feel comfortable using him in stressful situations.
It’s such a luxury for a manager to be able to deploy a reliever in a messy situation and have confidence they can escape the inning without damage.
Over his career, he has allowed just a .214 batting average with runners in scoring position, which is lower than his career total of .229 with no runners on.
He clamps down when the opposing team is threatening to score, and if he can stay healthy, he can be a valuable piece for that bullpen.
He has also proven to be extremely comfortable pitching at Dodger Stadium throughout his career, having benefited from leaving Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.
At Great American Ballpark, he has a .236 batting average against, while at Dodger Stadium he has a .181 batting average against.
He had a high ERA last season despite being stingy giving up hits, and the earned runs he allowed tended to come in bunches.
Of the 12 earned runs he allowed last season, seven of those earned runs came over the course of two games he pitched in.
Cingrani can certainly be a nice piece to utilize out of the bullpen, as he’s a lefty who can be inserted to get out both righties and lefties.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Has not been confirmed by the team yet, but Rosenthal and others say it is a done deal. All of the arbitration guys were tendered contracts. Cano-Diaz to Mets and 5 players to Seattle a done deal pending physicals. Bruce and Swarzak the only big leaguers in the trade, plus Mariners sending 20 million cash to the Mets.
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22 innings of 4.76 gets you $2.76 million? Say what? Just a shoulder injury? He’ll be fine? Ok. If that’s what they think.
Maybe Cano will bounce back in NY. He was one of those every day guys for over a decade. 8841 plate appearances in 14 years. He’s only 36. Only makes $24mm ….. until he’s 40. Still OPS’n at or over .800 though. It could work.
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Mets will owe him 100 million for 5 years. 20 mil a year. I think he might earn that in 2 of those years. Guy can still hit and he is better than anyone the Mets ran out there at second the last couple of years. But I think their main focus was Diaz. That guy is just plain nasty. And you are also right that the Mets have jumped into the Kluber talks. So far the Dodgers are grabbing scraps.
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Funny about Van Wagenen. For years the Mets fans have been complaining that Alderson (or the Mets ownership) wasn’t doing enough to get them to where they could compete with the Nats, etc. Now they hire a guy and his first trade is outside the box (or pushing the envelope if you prefer) and they’re screaming that he’s crazy. Damned if you don’t and damned if you do.
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Cano projects between 4-6 WAR. Diaz projects 37 saves. This is a bold move. If it works, and I think it will, the Mets are better. They are still 7 games behind the Nationals, but it’s clear they intend to contend. They are talking Kluber over bagels this morning.
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Bring back Fred Claire! That’s my new drumbeat……not really. But I wish Friedman would map out some sort of plan.. Reports from some sites say that it is 30-1 that the Dodgers will sign either Machado or Harper. I personally think there is no chance in hell they sign either. They are talking with Maldonado’s agent and if they sign any free agent I think they are leaning more towards relief pitching and a catcher. They have so many in house second base options. If they go for power, you could see Muncy there as the starter. Going to be an interesting month, and probably for us fans, a very frustrating month. Spring training is about 80 days away.
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I read something the other day that said of the two Farhan was the gambler and Andrew the conservative one. I guess we’ll see if that statement was correct this winter. Harper-Machado, we don’t have anywhere to play Machado and I may be in the minority but I don’t want to spend the money on Harper that it will cost to sign him. Don’t think he’s worth it, even if ownership OK’s it. Would rather see them spend the money in other ways. Let’s save up for Trout. If we don’t get Kluber, anyone out there think we should go for Syndergaard? If so, what do you think it would take to get him?
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Syndergaard is possible. I’d be careful with that. Why they want to get rid of Thor?
The West still ain’t all that. We can win it doing nothing.
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