The Diamondbacks announced Friday that they signed right-handers Merrill Kelly to a two-year contract extension covering the 2023-24 seasons. There is also a club option for the 2025 season. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that Kelly will be guaranteed $18 million in new money on the contract. Nick Piecoro from the Republic of Arizona adds that the right-hander will receive a $1M signing bonus and earn $8M in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. The 2025 Club Option is valued at $7M and comes with a $1M buyout. Kelly is represented by Apex Baseball.
Kelly’s new contract should eliminate all trade speculation for the foreseeable future. Kelly was an often-mentioned trade candidate ahead of the 2021 deadline due to his solid showing for a non-competing D-Backs club and a contract that only lasted through the 2022 season prior to today’s announcement. Instead, he will join the recently expanded Ketel Marte as a constant presence for a D-Backs team that, despite last year’s poor performance and a stacked division, clearly has no plans to demolish or take a step back.
Kelly, 33, was expected to make $5.25 million this season before hitting free agency for the first time next winter. That $5.25 million salary was set after Arizona received a club option for Kelly, who was originally signed to a two-year, $5.5 million, two-option contract after a strong run in the Korea Baseball Organization to the D -Backs came.
Before Kelly signed with Arizona, she had never pitched in the majors. Kelly, an eighth-round pick by the Rays in 2010, had never laid eyes on the majors with Tampa Bay before being lured to the KBO after a strong run in the upper minors. He spent the 2015-18 seasons pitching for the KBO’s SK Wyverns – now SSG Landers – where he had a 3.86 ERA with a 20.6% strikeout rate and a 6 walk rate. 6% recorded.
That performance was enough to tempt the D-Backs to bring him back to the States on a guaranteed multi-year contract, and Kelly has rewarded the D-Backs with three years of solid performance so far. In 427 2/3 innings, he posted a 4.27 ERA with a 20.2% strikeout rate, a 6.6% walk rate, and a 43.1% grounder rate. Kelly made 32 starts in his debut big league season and another 27 last year. His 2020 campaign was cut short by chest surgery, but he was the rare pitcher to hit back immediately from TOS to produce quality results the following season.
Given the solidity of Kelly’s work since that big-league debut, leaving with free agency just months before a bargain-priced renewal is a rather risk-averse decision. However, given his recent injury and the fact that he only cashed his first major league deal in his 30-year season, it’s understandable that he’s now opting for the safety of a new deal. The $18 million in new guarantees will eventually more than double his career earnings. And by penning that deal, he will further establish himself as the ambitious benchmark for little-known players who sign overseas hoping to eventually make money on a return to North American ball.
Now that Kelly is pinned to a stable back-of-the-rotation spot, he’s counted on to the side Madison Bumgarner, Zack Gallen and Luke Weber to round out the starting squad both this year and in future seasons. Experienced right-hander Zach Davissigned a one-year deal in March, not on the list, correct Dan Straly (another KBO returnee), left-handed Tyler Gilbert and view Corbin Martin are among the other options for the Diamondbacks as they try to recover from a dismal 52-110 performance last year.
There’s more to come.