Victoria Eagles and Junior National Team alum Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) is poised to become the highest paid Canadian pitcher in major league history.

December 15, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some Canadian baseball notes from the past week

Pivetta poised to become highest paid Canadian MLB pitcher

Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) will likely become the highest paid Canadian pitcher in major league history this off-season. On November 19, the 31-year-old right-hander declined the Boston Red Sox qualifying that would’ve guaranteed him $21.05 million next season. That salary would’ve been the highest single-season salary ever by a Canadian major league pitcher, surpassing the $14 million that Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, B.C.) earned with the Chicago Cubs in 2012. The only other Canuck pitchers to earn $10 million or more in a major league season are James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.) who took home $12.5 million with the New York Yankees in 2020 and Eric Gagne (Mascouche, Que.) who earned $10 million in 2006 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and another $10 million in 2008 with the Milwaukee Brewers.

The most that a pitcher with a Canadian citizenship has earned in a big-league season is the $18 million that Jameson Taillon was paid by the Cubs last season. Taillon’s parents were born in Canada.

The market for Pivetta, and starting pitching in general, has been very strong this off-season and experts predict that Pivetta could be in line for three-year deal worth more than $60 million.

Mike Puma, of the New York Post, reported that Pivetta met with the New York Mets on Wednesday.

Pivetta, who made $7.5 million in 2024, went 6-12 with a 4.14 ERA in 27 games (26 starts) for the Red Sox in 2024. He struck out 172 batters in 145 2/3 innings.

Selected in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB draft by the Washington Nationals, Pivetta has pitched in eight major league seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies and Red Sox. He owns a career 56-71 record and a 4.76 ERA in 223 games (178 starts).

O’Neill officially signs with Orioles

On Tuesday, the Baltimore Orioles officially signed Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) to a three-year contract.

The O’s didn’t disclose the financial terms but the contract is for $49.5 million, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The deal includes an opt-out after the 2025 season.

Orioles GM Mike Elias is excited to have O’Neill on board.

“He’s a good defender. He’s really good in both corners,” Elias told reporters about O’Neill on Tuesday. “He’s a guy that can run a little bit here and there. He’s still very young. He’s 29 years old, and I think this was a very good roster fit and something that we were lacking.”

O’Neill has battled injuries over the course of his seven-year big league career, but Elias said he doesn’t expect the Canadian slugger to play all 162 regular season games.

“We’ll take good care of him,” Elias told reporters.

In November, the Red Sox declined to offer O’Neill a qualifying offer which made him a free agent. In his sole season with the Red Sox in 2024, the Langley Blaze and Junior National Team alum topped the club with 31 home runs. That total also tied him with Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) for the most major league homers by a Canadian. O’Neill’s .511 slugging percentage, .847 OPS and 2.6 WAR all ranked second (to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.)) among Canadian big leaguers in 2024.

The two-time Gold Glove Award winner has competed in parts of seven big league seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals and Red Sox.

McKay’s incredible longevity in pro baseball

Last week, I shared that Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Dave McKay (Vancouver, B.C.) will return as the first base coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2025 for his 55th season in professional baseball as a player or coach.

After my column was published, I received a note from Canadian baseball historian George Farelli, who has done some incredible research on McKay, that illustrates just how long McKay has been involved in professional baseball. When you count McKay’s minor league and major league games as a player or coach (from 1971 through 2024), Farelli estimates that McKay has participated in 7,924 games. That’s by far the most pro games by a Canadian. See the following list assembled by Farelli:

What could’ve been for Morneau in 2010

Minnesota Twins slugger Justin Morneau may have won the American League MVP Award in 2006, but he was on pace for an even better season in 2010 before he was injured in a collision with Toronto Blue Jays shortstop John McDonald while sliding to break up a double play on July 7 at Rogers Centre. In 81 games that season, Morneau had a .345/.437/.618 slash line, good for 1.055 OPS. He also belted 18 home runs and drove in 56 runs in just 296 at bats.

This graphic from Baseball Reference illustrates just how good Morneau was that season. His 4.7 WAR is tied for the highest for any player in an MLB season with under 300 at bats:

Stairs signed with Pirates 22 years ago

It was on this date 22 years ago that Matt Stairs (Fredericton, N.B.) signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The left-handed hitting slugger proceeded to bat .292 with 20 home runs and 57 RBIs in 121 games. He also had a .389 on-base percentage, .561 slugging percentage and a .950 OPS. That was his sole season with the Pirates.

Jenkins was a complete game machine

Friday was Canadian baseball legend Fergie Jenkins‘ 82nd birthday. I’ve dedicated a lot of space on this blog to his many accomplishments in Major League Baseball, but here’s another jaw-dropping stat that highlights Jenkins’ durability, courtesy of Marquee Sports Network:

Happy Birthday to Ken Crosby!

Happy 77th Birthday to former Cubs reliever and New Denver, B.C. native Ken Crosby! The Canadian right-hander made 16 appearances for the Cubs during the 1975 and 1976 seasons. His sole big league win came when he hurled a scoreless inning in relief in a Cubs’ 1-0, 11-inning victory over the New York Mets at Wrigley Field on September 24, 1975. Crosby relieved Cubs starter Rick Reuschel who had tossed 10 scoreless innings. Hall of Famer Tom Seaver also didn’t allow a run in 10 innings for the Mets, before reliever Skip Lockwood came in and issued three walks – including one that brought in the winning run – in the bottom of the 11th. It appears Crosby’s time in Canada was relatively short. He went to high school in Provo, Utah and was selected in the 10th round of the 1969 MLB draft out of Brigham Young University by the New York Yankees. He also spent time in the Cardinals’ organization before being dealt to the Cubs on July 22, 1975. He retired after the 1976 season.

Henke signed with the Rangers 32 years ago

Thirty-two years ago today – and just six weeks after serving as the closer on the Blue Jays’ first World Series-winning squad – Tom Henke signed a two-year, $8-million contract with the Texas Rangers, the team that had selected him in the fourth round of the MLB draft back in 1980.

Henke told me in a phone interview in the fall of 2023 that it was a painful decision to leave Toronto but he was told by the Blue Jays brass that Duane Ward would be replacing him as closer.

“I was pretty heartbroken because I wanted to finish my career in Toronto . . . I still had some good years left,” said Henke. “But I understand it now more than I did at that time – the business end of it. Duane was 28 and I was 34. They kind of put it that, ‘Tom, you are our past and present and Duane is our future.’ So, it took me a few years to get over that. I really wanted to stay there. And I wanted people to know that this wasn’t a greedy free agent leaving the nest. It was just one of those business deals where it just wasn’t in the cards anymore.”

In his first season under his new contract with the Rangers, Henke recorded a career-high 40 saves.

Interesting Toronto baseball trivia

Who are the only two players to have suited up for both the International League’s Toronto Maple Leafs (not the Intercounty Baseball League’s Leafs) and later the American League’s Toronto Blue Jays?

One of those players was Rico Carty. He was a catcher for 21 games with the Leafs in 1963 before returning to Toronto to play 236 games for the Blue Jays in 1978 and 1979.

Carty passed away on November 23 at the age of 85. He had been the oldest living former Blue Jays player.

So who is the oldest living former Blue Jays player now?

That would be 83-year-old Phil Roof. He also played 23 games for the Leafs in 1963 and three with the Blue Jays in 1977.

Rest in peace, Al Fitzmorris

Al Fitzmorris, who was best known as a starting pitcher for the Kansas City Royals in the mid-70s, passed away on December 4 at the age of 78 after a long battle with cancer.

I was reminded this week by Blue Jays historian Paul Bychko that Fitzmorris was briefly a Blue Jay. The 6-foot-2 right-hander was selected by the Blue Jays in the Major League Baseball Expansion Draft on November 5, 1976 with the 13th overall pick. That same day the Blue Jays flipped him to Cleveland for catcher Alan Ashby and first baseman/outfielder Doug Howard.

Fitzmorris would pitch parts of two seasons with Cleveland before finishing his big-league career with the Angels in 1978.

In total, Fitzmorris was 77-59 with a 3.65 ERA in 288 appearances (159 starts) in parts of 10 big league seasons.

BWDIK: Henke, Jenkins, McKay, Morneau, O'Neill, Pivetta, Stairs