Astros and Chris Devenski agree to a one-year deal

The Houston Astros and relief pitcher Chris Devenski were able to reach an agreement on a one-year deal and avoid arbitration.

According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Astros and Devenski have agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.525 million with a $2.625 million option for 2020. This has not yet been officially announced by the Houston Astros.

They were able to reach the agreement just ahead of the hearing, which was scheduled for today, Feb. 5 in Tampa, Florida. Devenski, 28, had filed a salary of $1.65 million and the Astros countered with a figure of $1.4 million but ended up meeting in the middle. This is unusual with Houston known to be a “file and trial” team, meaning one-year deals are rare once the salaries are filed, although multi-year deals can still be discussed.

Devenski’s performance had dropped off considerably last season when compared to his 2017 All-Star season and the previous season that earned him fourth in the voting for the Rookie of the Year Award. His ERA ballooned to 4.68 in 2018 from the 2.16 and 2.68 he posted in 2016-17 respectively. Over his three-year career, the right-hander saw his WAR drop from 2.8 in 2016 to 1.9 in 2017, and all the way down to 0.1 last season.

His $2.625 million club option for 2020 has some performance incentives built in, raising it to $2.725 million if he has 50 appearances in 2019, $2.825 million if he appears in 60 games and $2.925 million for 68 or more appearances.

As reported earlier, Devenski has been working on his delivery and mechanics this offseason, after finding some flaws watching videos from last season. We can only hope that he gets back to the pitcher he was in those stellar seasons he experienced in 2016 and 2017.