stlcard25 asked:
This was in Brian’s article on Gregerson earlier…
Because his contract would follow him on waivers, he isn’t going to be claimed if placed there and probably they Cardinals cannot get anything for him in trade. If he opts for free agency rather than accept a minor league outright, which would be his right, he would forfeit the remainder of his contract money due. Instead, he may swallow his pride and join Chasen Shreve in Memphis to keep the paycheck coming and try to earn his way back up to St. Louis.
Was this incorrect? That made it sound like the Cards had an out somewhere there.
It was correct. It was important to also read the prior paragraph.
“Some may think the Cardinals will be cutting their ties with the man they initially suggested would be their 2018 closer by releasing him, but that contract commitment may continue to be the primary reason Gregerson remains with the Cardinals organization.”
I was surprised the Cards were willing to just release him and eat the remaining commitment, but they know what they saw in his return and decided to cut ties instead. I can’t blame them for that.
To clarify on the money, if he is released, the amount due will be the remainder of his $5 million salary yet to be paid this season, a bit over $3.5 million. Then there is $1 million more to get out of the 2020 option. The only way the Cards can escape this commitment is if another team claims him off waivers, which like I said is very unlikely.
If he becomes a free agent and signs elsewhere for the rest of this year fairly soon, the Cards would get out of about $400K of that. (That is the remaining part of a $555K minimum MLB salary.) So their most realistic case is they still would owe him around $4.1 million.
Hope that helps explain.