Randal Grichuk and the Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to a one-year, $2 million contract, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. The 32-year-old will earn $1.5 million in base salary in 2024 with a $500,000 buyout on a mutual options for 2025.
Outfielder Randal Grichuk and the Arizona Diamondbacks are in agreement on a one-year, $2 million contract that includes a mutual option for 2025, sources tell ESPN. The deal will pay Grichuk $1.5M this year and has a $6M option with a $500,000 buyout and performance bonuses.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 17, 2024
Over ten years in the majors, outfielder has played on four different teams. In exchange for minor league pitchers Jake Madden and Mason Albright, Grichuk and CJ Cron were traded from the Colorado Rockies to the Angels this past season. Los Angeles brought Cron, and Grichuk on in hopes of them being factors in the team winning games. The Angels waived Randal on August 29th, but no team claimed him. In the following week, Los Angeles waived him once again and he soon became a free agent.
Arizona Lands Randal Grichuk
During the 2023 season, Grichuk’s worst pitch to see at the plate was a curveball. Randal batted .148 and struck out nearly 50 percent of the time when dealing with a curveball on a two-strike count. The 32-year-old outfielder’s most effective pitch to hit was a sinker. Out of 310 sinkers seen, Randal had a batting average of .310 against the pitch. He slugged .517 and only struck out 12 percent of the time he saw a sinker with two strikes. He put up a .333 average against cutters, sweepers, and splitters. Although his average was great against those three pitches, he saw those pitches combined less than 250 times. If he can improve his vision against the curveball, Grichuk should have a great 2024 season at the plate.
Grichuk’s 2023 Stats
Randal played 118 games with both the Rockies and the Angels in 2023. In 434 at-bats, Grichuk collected 116 hits, 16 home runs, 44 runs batted in, and two stolen bases with a .267 batting average. His best game of the season was on September 17th when he was a member of the Angels. In four at-bats, Grichuk recorded a double and a home run with two runs batted in during a 5-3 loss against the Detroit Tigers. Randal has five 20-plus home run seasons for his career, and in the prime of his career at 32 years old, he’ll be looking to make a huge impact with the Diamonbacks.
Photo Credit: © Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports
