Mike Fiers, A's Reportedly Agree to 1-Year, $3.5M Contract

The Oakland Athletics agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with veteran pitcher Mike Fiers, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Alex Coffey.

Fiers, who spent the last two-and-a-half seasons in Oakland, finished 6-3 with a 4.58 ERA and a 4.94 FIP in 11 appearances in 2020, per FanGraphs.

The San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser reported the A's were the only MLB team to table a firm offer and questioned whether other franchises were retaliating against Fiers.

The 35-year-old told The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich in November 2019 how the Houston Astros stole signs electronically during the 2017 season. For many, the scandal tainted Houston's World Series triumph.

Perhaps some teams were freezing Fiers out for blowing the whistle. His free-agent profile wasn't one of a pitcher likely to get heavy interest this offseason, though. He's on the wrong end of the aging curve, and he has finished with more than two wins above replacement twice since becoming an MLB regular in 2012.

Per Brooks Baseball, his four-seam fastball and sinker velocity dipped to 88.48 and 88.47 mph, respectively, in 2020. In addition, his strikeout percentage has fallen for three straight seasons, hitting a career low 14.4 percent last year, according to Baseball Savant.

From 2015 to 2019, Fiers averaged 31 appearances and nearly 172 innings.

A pitcher who can eat up innings while keeping his ERA relatively low will always have a place at the back of the rotation. Fiers is unlikely to make a big difference in Oakland's staff, though.