Jhoulys Chacin’s watershed moment appears to have arrived. A year after sparring with the Rockies over his weight and conditioning, he has impressed them with his recovery and performance following a pectoral injury. Now the right-hander has accepted the Rockies’ offer of a two-year contract worth $6.5 million, pending a physical.
The deal would leave one arbitration season before free agency following the 2014 season.
The ability of the Rockies’ rotation to rebound hinges largely on Chacin, a potential ace, and lefty Jorge De La Rosa, the team’s highest-paid player at $11 million. The Rockies hope security can push Chacin toward a career year, or at least the promise he showed in 2011.
In the conversation for an all-star berth through June of the 2011 season, Chacin slumped horribly after developing forearm soreness. He went 3-13 with a 5.14 ERA in his next 21 starts before being optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs last May.
The move was rescinded when Chacin revealed a pectoral injury created arm fatigue between innings, compromising his velocity and location.
Through therapy, Chacin returned successfully in September. A five-man rotation was reinstalled as Chacin went 3-2 with a 2.84 ERA.
Chacin’s deal leaves outfielder Dexter Fowler as the Rockies’ lone arbitration player unsigned. Fowler, in his second year of arbitration as a former super-two player in service time, wants $5.15 million, with the club at $4.25 million — leaving $4.7 million as the midpoint.
