Raisel Iglesias won’t likely pitch the entire 2016 season for the Cincinnati Reds. His workload limit will force him to the bench for some time during the season.
The Reds could afford to let Iglesias build up more strength in the minors to start the season if they choose. His last spring training start was his longest at just three innings. The thinness of the Reds’ rotation to start the season makes that unlikely, though.
The contract that Iglesias signed with the Reds allows him to opt out of it as soon as he becomes salary arbitration eligible. He will be salary arbitration eligible in 2018 unless the Reds decide to keep him in the minors for more than a month over the next two years.
Iglesias enters the 2016 season with 154 days of service time. If he remains on the Reds 25-man roster or disabled list for all or most of the next two seasons, he’ll all but certainly qualify as a Super Two. That would make Iglesias salary arbitration eligible for the 2018 season.
There’s not much the Reds can do now to delay the 2018 arbitration eligibility date. The Reds could have extended that time frame last year if the team had further delayed the debut of Iglesias or optioned him to the minors for an extended period of time during the team’s 98-loss season.
Iglesias will make $2.5 million this year. He’ll make $3.5 million next year. He’s already collected $3.5 million of his $5-million signing bonus and will collect the remainder of that after this season.
Iglesias is under to contract to make $4.5 million in 2018. Matt Harvey of the New York Mets was able to avoid salary arbitration in his first year of eligibility with a $4.325-million, one-year deal for 2015.
So even if Iglesias pitches like an ace the next two years, he stands to make about the same in 2018 whether he opts out of his contract or not.
The health of Iglesias has to be the greater issue for the Reds. He was placed on a shoulder strengthening program that delayed his spring debut. The Reds aren’t likely to let him throw more than 160 total innings this year based upon his workload last year, which was 124.1 innings.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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