Phillies agree to contract with Maikel Franco, avoid arbitration
By John Town
The Phillies have now avoided arbitration with three of their four eligible players, agreeing to a contract with Maikel Franco.
The Phillies continue to make deals just before the 1 p.m. deadline for arbitration with their players. Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia has reported that Maikel Franco has signed a $2.95 million contract for the 2018 season. This number is significantly lower than his projected arbitration of $3.6 million by MLB Trade Rumors.
This was the first time Franco was arbitration-eligible. He qualified for “Super Two” status, which means he ranks among the top 22 percent of players that have between two and three years of service time. The cutoff to attain this status was two years and 123 days; Franco has two years and 170 days. This means he got to be arbitration-eligible a year earlier than most players according to MLB contract rule.
This deal leaves Cesar Hernandez as the only player who still needs to agree to a contract for this season. Earlier Friday, the team re-signed reliever Luis Garcia. Cameron Rupp signed a deal Wednesday.
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Franco’s contract comes in the midst of the 25-year-old getting in some hot water with the Phils. He was suspended last weekend by his Dominican winter league team for staying out drinking until nearly 6 a.m. the morning of a playoff game. Reportedly, Philadelphia asked him to stop playing in the Dominican League and start preparing for spring training.
Focusing on spring training is probably the best for Franco. He is coming off the worst year of his major-league career so far. In 2017, he had a .230/.281/.409 line with an 81 OPS+. While he did hit 24 home runs, 74 players hit more and home runs are at an all-time high around the league. Franco’s -0.5 fWAR was the worst among all qualified third baseman.
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2018 will be a make-or-break season for Franco. He has been a letdown since his rookie year in 2015 where he showed signs of promise in 80 games. That year he had a .280/.343/497 line with 14 home runs and 50 runs batted in before a broken wrist cut his season short. The team still hopes he can return to that level of production.
Even if Franco does show signs of improvement, it may not be enough to preserve his place in Philadelphia. Two of the top third baseman in the game, Manny Machado and Josh Donaldson, will both hit free agency.
Both would certainly be more expensive than Franco, but offer significant improvements both offensively and defensively.
Next: Phillies avoid arbitration with Luis Garcia
For now, Franco will focus on improving in 2018 and trying to return to 2015 form.