Slugger Khris Davis, A’s reach agreement on one-year deal
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Athletics slugger Khris Davis is getting a $6 million raise after leading the majors in home runs last season.
Davis reached agreement Friday with Oakland on a $16.5 million, one-year contract to avoid salary arbitration.
The A's also agreed Friday to one-year deals with left-hander Sean Manaea for $3.15 million, second baseman Jurickson Profar for $3.6 million and shortstop Marcus Semien for $5.9 million and outfielder Mark Canha for $2.05 million.
Davis received a hefty raise from the A's last winter, then went out and hit a majors-best 48 home runs while setting a career high with 123 RBIs — not to mention leading the low-budget club back to the playoffs for the first time since 2014 before a wild-card loss to the Yankees.
While Oakland general manager David Forst has said signing Davis to a multiyear contract is a high priority, it wasn't at the top of the team's offseason to-do list and Forst said Davis understands that as the A's try to build another winning roster.
The 31-year-old Davis received the $10.5 million, one-year contract last January to more than double his salary after he beat the team in arbitration the previous winter.
He hit 43 home runs in 2017, connecting on the season's final day to surpass the season high he set the previous year for Oakland.
Davis and Jimmie Foxx from 1932-34 are the only players in Athletics history with three straight 40-homer seasons. Davis' 85 homers in 2017-18 were second during that two-year span in the majors only to Giancarlo Stanton's 86.
Before the 2017 season, Davis defeated the A's in an arbitration hearing — awarded a $5 million salary over the $4.65 million offered by Oakland. He had earned $524,500 in 2016 and that was his first time being eligible for arbitration.
Manaea pitched a no-hitter against Boston on April 21 in a bright start to a season that ended with the ace undergoing shoulder surgery in September. He is expected to be out until around the All-Star break.
Still, he went 12-9 with a 3.59 ERA in 27 starts and 160 2/3 innings. His no-hitter was the 12th in A's history and seventh of the Oakland era.
The A's acquired Profar from Texas in a trade last month and he will become the regular second baseman to replace Jed Lowrie, who landed with the Yankees on Thursday for $20 million over two years.
Profar, who in 2012 homered in his first big league at-bat before shoulder issues forced him to miss two full seasons, hit .254 with 20 homers and 77 RBIs in 146 games while playing all four infield positions for the Rangers in 2018.
Semien matched his career high playing 159 games — with 158 starts just like 2016 — for the second time in three seasons. He batted .255 with 15 home runs and 70 RBIs while committing 20 errors. Semien worked with former infield coach Ron Washington to improve his defense after making a majors-high 35 errors in 2015, his first year with the A's.
Canha batted .249 with a career-high 17 home runs and 52 RBIs in 122 games. The 29-year-old provides versatility to the lineup: In 2018, he played 62 games in center field, 51 in left, 10 in right, 15 at first base and was designated hitter in another three.
On Thursday, left-handed reliever Ryan Buchter agreed to a $1.4 million, one-year contract to avoid salary arbitration. Buchter more than doubled his 2018 salary of $555,000.
