{"id":27590,"date":"2019-12-24T14:38:52","date_gmt":"2019-12-24T19:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=27590"},"modified":"2024-12-28T10:32:39","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T15:32:39","slug":"kole-calhoun-comes-arizona-diamondbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2019\/12\/24\/kole-calhoun-comes-arizona-diamondbacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Kole Calhoun Comes to the Arizona Diamondbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kole Calhoun Comes to the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> on Tuesday reached a two-year deal with free agent outfielder Kole Calhoun<\/a><\/strong>. He will make $6 million in 2020 and $8 million in 2021. The deal also includes a $9 million club option for 2022 with a $2 million buyout. That’s a two-year, $16 million guarantee from the Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n

How Kole Calhoun Arrived in Arizona<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Los Angeles Angels<\/a> did not want to pick up Calhoun\u2019s one-year club option for $14 million dollars for the 2020 season. So, they made the move to buy out the last year of his contract for $1M. They know that Jo Adell<\/a><\/strong> is the future for them in right field.<\/p>\n

He had drawn interest from four other teams — the Miami Marlins<\/a>, Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>, Milwaukee Brewers<\/a>, and the Cincinnati Reds<\/a> — but chose Arizona due to being a local player. Calhoun went to Buckeye High School and was the West Valley High School Baseball Co-Player of the Year. He then played college baseball for Yavapai College<\/a> and Arizona State University<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Where He Will Play<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Calhoun arrives at Spring Training as the primary starter in right field. He has played 942 games there and has a .985 fielding average with 58 assists. He won a Gold Glove in 2015. We will see him play DH against the AL teams during inter-league play and he has played nine games at first base.<\/p>\n

Home Run Power<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2019 he had a career high 33 home-runs and has 140 over his eight-year career. His batting average has fallen off each year since 2016, but he made a dramatic turnaround last June. He reinvented his swing and finished with an .800 OPS and 18 homers over his final 87 games.<\/p>\n

Players with Arizona Ties<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Diamondbacks now have their sixth player with ties to the state of Arizona. Along with Calhoun, Kevin Ginkel<\/a><\/strong>, Josh Rojas<\/a><\/strong>, Merrill Kelly<\/a><\/strong>, Mike Leake<\/a><\/strong> and Kevin Cron<\/a><\/strong> all have a connection to the state of Arizona.<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>