Headlines

  • Braves Claim Ha-Seong Kim From Rays
  • Jason Adam Likely Headed For Season-Ending Quad Surgery
  • Mariners Promote Harry Ford, Release Donovan Solano
  • Phillies Sign Walker Buehler To Minors Contract
  • Red Sox Extend Aroldis Chapman
  • Administrative Leave For Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz Extended “Until Further Notice”
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Top Starters Unwilling To Go Year-To-Year

By Tim Dierkes | April 11, 2011 at 8:49am CDT

Baseball players, starting pitchers in particular, are a risk-averse bunch.  Given the choice between multiyear security and maximized earnings, they almost always choose the former.  You can't blame starting pitchers for wanting to lock in an eight-figure payday well before free agency, given the risk of a career-altering injury.  Still, I'm surprised that no ace starter has been willing to roll the dice and go year-to-year before hitting free agency in recent memory.

Here's the list of active starters who received Cy Young votes since 2007 and were willing to delay their own free agency with a multiyear contract:

  • Felix Hernandez, C.C. Sabathia, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Cliff Lee, Trevor Cahill, Roy Halladay, Adam Wainwright, Ubaldo Jimenez, Tim Hudson, Josh Johnson, Roy Oswalt, Justin Verlander, Brett Myers, Bronson Arroyo, Matt Cain, Zack Greinke, Javier Vazquez, Dan Haren, Ervin Santana, Brandon Webb, Johan Santana, Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Fausto Carmona, Jake Peavy, Brad Penny, Aaron Harang, Carlos Zambrano, Jeff Francis

Some were locked up well before free agency, while others signed extensions with just one year to go.  And the above list doesn't include guys like Ricky Romero, Gavin Floyd, Wandy Rodriguez, Johnny Cueto, Scott Baker, James Shields, Ricky Nolasco, and Yovani Gallardo.

Most top starters who didn't sign extensions and reached free agency as early as possible did so because of injuries, Erik Bedard for example.  Zambrano came very close, going to arbitration all three times and signing his five-year extension a few months before free agency.

A few frontline starters remain on the year-to-year path, such as David Price, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Jered Weaver, and Francisco Liriano.  Weaver, a Scott Boras client, seems most likely to be doing so to maximize his earnings.  Nothing wrong with that, and we don't know what the Angels offered, if anything.  Weaver could be a 30-year-old free agent after the 2012 season, with over $20MM in arbitration earnings in his pocket.  John Danks, Matt Garza, Shaun Marcum, C.J. Wilson, and Jeremy Guthrie are also on the year-to-year track currently.

Though they signed multiyear deals, Tim Lincecum and Cole Hamels each left at least one arbitration year uncovered, as well as all free agent years.  They've got the best of both worlds, locking in over $20MM without delaying free agency.  Edwin Jackson isn't at their level, but he's another starter who snagged an eight-figure contract and remained on track for free agency as early as possible.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Uncategorized

Free Agent Contracts Gone Sour
Main
2012 Contract Issues: Pittsburgh Pirates
View Comments (9)
Post a Comment

9 Comments

  1. Lunchbox45

    14 years ago

    If Angels don’t resign Weaver, he will get an absolutely massive deal.

    Reply
  2. ateam043

    14 years ago

    Dodgers need to sign Kershaw to a extension asap. I believe this is his last pre-arbitration year, but still.

    Reply
  3. JGaryW

    14 years ago

    Um, Tim Lincecum anyone?

    Reply
    • Lunchbox45

      14 years ago

      “Though they signed multiyear deals, Tim Lincecum and Cole Hamels each left at least one arbitration year uncovered, as well as all free agent years”

      Reply
  4. N1120A

    14 years ago

    You left out Chad Billingsley’s rather team-friendly deal signed just about a week ago.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Braves Claim Ha-Seong Kim From Rays

    Jason Adam Likely Headed For Season-Ending Quad Surgery

    Mariners Promote Harry Ford, Release Donovan Solano

    Phillies Sign Walker Buehler To Minors Contract

    Red Sox Extend Aroldis Chapman

    Administrative Leave For Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz Extended “Until Further Notice”

    Cubs To Sign Carlos Santana

    Red Sox Release Walker Buehler

    Pirates Place Isiah Kiner-Falefa On Outright Waivers

    Randy Rodriguez Recommended To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Padres Place Xander Bogaerts On IL With Foot Fracture

    Cardinals To Promote Jimmy Crooks

    Red Sox To Promote Payton Tolle

    Corey Seager To Undergo Appendectomy, Not Ruled Out For Season

    Frankie Montas To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Guardians Release Carlos Santana

    Brewers Place Trevor Megill On IL Due To Flexor Strain, Sign Erick Fedde

    Guardians Place Carlos Santana On Outright Waivers

    Astros Reinstate Yordan Alvarez From Injured List

    Nathan Eovaldi Likely Out For Season Due To Rotator Cuff Strain

    Recent

    Poll: Who Will Win The AL East?

    Braves Select Hayden Harris, Designate Wander Suero

    Shelby Miller Undergoing Testing After Feeling “Pop” In Elbow

    The Opener: Farris, Orioles, Yankees, Astros

    Braves Claim Ha-Seong Kim From Rays

    Every Team’s September 1 Call-Ups

    Brewers Outright Oliver Dunn

    Jason Adam Likely Headed For Season-Ending Quad Surgery

    Padres Re-Sign Martin Maldonado To Minor League Deal

    Pirates To Recall Nick Yorke

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version