The Angels, Brewers and Rangers join the previously reported Phillies as a few of the teams with interest in free-agent left-hander Dallas Keuchel, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
As a onetime American League Cy Young winner (2015) who ranks among the majors’ top 20 starters in ERA (3.28) and fWAR (18.2) since his breakout 2014 season, Keuchel entered the winter as the most accomplished rotation piece available. Nevertheless, the soon-to-be 31-year-old has gone without a contract for nearly two months, and has watched several other starters – including newly minted $100MM man Patrick Corbin – ink lucrative pacts.
Both Keuchel and agent Scott Boras are partly responsible for the hurler’s unemployed status, of course, as they’re reportedly seeking a five- to six-year deal worth big money. At the outset of the offseason, MLBTR predicted a four-year, $82MM pact for Keuchel, who, as a qualifying offer recipient, would cost a team more than just a major chunk of cash. Because Keuchel rejected the Astros’ QO, both the Angels and Rangers would give up their second-highest 2019 draft pick and $500K in international bonus pool space to sign him. The Brewers would face a lesser penalty, though, as they’d only have to surrender their third-highest draft choice.
Among Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Texas, the Brewers are arguably the best fit on paper for Keuchel. Milwaukee came within a game of a World Series berth in 2018, but it did so in spite of an uninspiring-looking rotation – one that has since seen Wade Miley reach free agency after a surprisingly effective campaign. The problem is that the Brewers might not have the payroll room to make a headline-grabbing splash on the open market. Meanwhile, having already added starters Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill in free agency, the Angels may be done addressing their rotation this winter, as Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com suggested Thursday. And the Rangers, unlike the Brewers and Angels, are in a rebuild and aren’t targeting a playoff berth in 2019. As such, even though their rotation is in dire need of help, it may not make sense for the Rangers to fervently pursue a high-priced starter – excluding Japanese import Yusei Kikuchi, 27 – over the next year or two.
Buy/Sell? Dallas Keuchel gets at least $100M?
Sell. 4/80-4/90 is my call.
Buy. Seems like an est. MLBTR underestimated
Four years $82M seems low for this SP market.
I think he gets exactly $100M guarantee.
Sell 100% dude is not worth 6 figures plan and simple.
Math & spelling are hard.
He’s not worth League minimum?
I have him at 95,000 a year and 2 weeks paid vacation.
Yo I think you hit it on the head Xabial. 5/100
Four years, 74 mil.
Sell. I view Keuchel as one of the free agent land mines of this off-season.
You’re paying for league leaders in ground ball rate. In 2017, it actually led all of baseball. In 2018 it was still respectable 53.7%. He doesnt have swing miss stuff, but something be said about reaching 200IP in this day and age.
Good defensive teams should have interest, doesnt surprise me Angels interested with generational defensive shortstop haha. See them as the best fit.
He’ll get 5/110. Mark my words. And Bryce still isn’t going to the Dodgers OR Yankees. God speed, X.
take Rick Porcellos contract and add 10 mill…that’s that’s contract
Sell. 1/3 of the teams are rebuilding and are collecting young assets, 1/3 are smaller market, and the other 1/3 won’t exceed luxury tax for him.
It’d be pretty cool if the angels get him!
Naw, they’ll regret it as much as CJ Wilson
CJ Wilson made an All-Star team with the Angels. Through over 200 innings twice. Led the AL in games started his first year with the club.
He wasn’t a good signing, but hardly a horrible one. The Angels have made much worse signings.
Typical Halo clown wanting this guy….
So are you satisfied with the Angels starting pitching off season ?
If they really want to keep Trout they need to get someone.
You’ve been arguably the biggest angels fan clown on the boards this offseason
I don’t want keuchel as an angel. We’ve had so many bad experiences with players on a decline. I would of preferred Corbin . But oh well
I guess I’m a Halo clown too. As an Angels fan, I’d like Keuchel but I doubt that the payroll can fit him in unless they trade Calhoun and another guy for him.
To the Reds for 5 years at $112M
To the Reds 5 years at $115M
Reds don’t have that kind of money after taking on Kemp and arbitration for Puig/Wood. Unless they are going to completely blowup the payroll I can’t see them affording 18M per for Dallas
Or more than 18M per possibly
reds are paying 7 million total after getting 7 million from the dodgers and offloading Bailey’s salary. they have the cash
The net payroll add for the off season so far for the Reds, all things considered, is +$4M. Management stated they would add net $30M. They have room.
Are you bidding against yourself?
glad to see the braves aren’t on the list
Would love to see him in the Brewers rotation especially to split up all those righthanded pitchers but I dont know if you sign him or start locking up some of these young guys with that money. We now are finally seeing the end of the tunnel of Brauns contact so we could make it work
Yes if brewers can backload his contract, Braun off the books after 2020
I would be shocked if the Brewers put out the kind of money for him that he’s expected to get. Were treated to article after article assuming the Brewers are in on any mid-rotation starter because their staff is so thin and bemoaning the loss of Wade Miley, who started only 16 games and threw a total of 80 innings. I guess the Crew can’t shake the reputation of being the place where worn out starters like Jeff Suppan, Kyle Lohse and Matt Garza go to cash in and die
Definitely one of this years most polarizing FA SP!
Dare I say.,. This year’s Jake Arrieta? 😉
decent comparison–both guys won the Cy in the same year but then regressed to the mean (which is likely to happen after a careee-year in which a Cy is earned), or regressed to below their career lines, thus hurting their FA status. Thing is, Arrieta lost velo and had to make adjustments whereas Keuchel never had the velo to begin with, so i dont really see him dropping off a cliff like a lot of other guys who depend on strikeouts.
Don’t even know why the Rangers are on that list
Best fit Brewers
Best offer will be Angels
Please stay away from Atlanta
It’s a typo
Rangers should only be on minor league list.
Gave up the most hits in the American League last year. Glad it’s not my money.
Dumb comment, he was not at his best but he also had 200+ IP and had a meh 9.4 H/9. Looking at the hits alone is idiotic. He is probably not worth the contract he is wanting but it’s because of a lower ground ball rate that lead to harder contact that made those hits more painful. Besides, groundball pitchers have a tendency to allow more singles than punch out pitchers but the singles are often mitigated by the double plays induced by ground balls and weak contact.
Who wants to pay 100mill for a 4era?
the rangers would be crazy to get him , if they did forsure they would be trading mike minor
why does angels need him? time to find a closer and a lh pen pitcher. also a lh outfielder for rf.
you’re content with Harvey and Cahill?
too many starters and not enough money for other positions.
Considering the health issues that all of their starters have had, including the newcomers, I would say they don’t have enough starters
I agree with you. Spend on the pen.
He isn’t injured enough to overpay fort he Angels. They only sign bottom feeders to ridiculous contracts. Cahill and Harvey. Maybe if he was asking for 35 million and had been on the DL 80% of the time the Angels would of raced over to sign him.
that just may be! but aren’t you a bottom licking troll?
Bubba – Maybe you should proof read before you post.
Guess I’m the only one thinking Houston would re-sign him.
No, I still like it’s a possibility if he doesn’t receive a 9 figure offer. Too many Astros due for big pay days in the next year or two though, and that’s why he will probably end up elsewhere. My best guess is west coast.
So why isn’t Houston trying to resign him? I don’t see their name anywhere. Sounds like a red flag to me.
They made him a QO and he rejected it and chose free agency.
Because several offensive players are due to get paid over the next couple of years. Not to mention Verlander and Cole too.
Stay away from Atlanta
Better yet, Go to Philly
Wonder if he’d sign with the Braves for 3/60 or if the Braves would even be willing to offer that due to AA’s tunnel vision on getting maximum value for the buck
I think surely every team is technically interested just doesn’t mean they should (:
Best he go to an NL team…….
A different game without the DH. Much easier on a Pitcher. And AL hitters know him too well.
Cincy is a real possibility.
Surprised the Yankees weren’t mentioned
He wont go to either team. The interest is probably not mutual. Especially for Keuchel to Milwaukee.
Why wouldn’t Dallas be interested in going to Milwaukee? They clearly provide him with the best opportunity to make another World Series run. Unless you are strictly talking either market size or AAV.
While they may one of the better bets to make the playoffs in the NL, they definitely don’t give him the best bet for a World Series run. The Red Sox, Yankees, and Astros are all better clubs with a better WS chance. May even include the Rays too. The Dodgers and Cubs are also just as likely (if not more) than Milwaukee.
One they will never repeat what they did last year. They got extremely lucky without a #1,2 and 3 starter.
If I’m Keuchel I’m going to either the Brewers or Braves.
Can you get around having to pay a draft pick by having another team do it for You? Say the Braves wanted both Keuchel and Harper but only wanted to pay the QO on one instead of 2. Enter team 3, another mid market team that is willing to take the QO offer hit for the Braves. They sign Harper and immediately flip him to the Braves by trade for a prospect list and cash considerations of say 30 million basically as a thanks for burning your pick for us payment.
Please think this through
I would rather bring in Gio Gonzalez , and then bring in some bullpen arms. Let Keuchel go to philly. They need another starter to slot between nola & arrieta.
The Rangers did acquire 750k in international pool money in the Profar trade and traded for an additional pick in the trade of Claudio.
That would definitely lessen the added burden of signing Dallas. Coincidence?
I don’t think Dallas Keuchel, would ever play for Jon Daniels. Most unstable organization in Baseball.. But they are my team to watch, haven’t missed a game in 8 Years.
Keuchel will not become an Angel simply for the fact they won’t spend the money on an older player who wants more than one or two years. If Trout bolts they will be left with to many older players than wanted. But what do I know as I thought they would be in on Machado to play third and I thought also that Albert would retire to help out the team. Merry Christmas everyone.
Keuchel also cost the Angels a draft pick. Not worth it.
Did you really think Albert would retire to help out the team? Wouldn’t he be leaving like $90 million on the table, at this point? I get the “legacy” argument, but nobody’s going to leave $90M on the table, or even half of that.
A gamer, a soft contact control pitcher who never threw hard, hasn’t really been hurt all that much (one injury he had was from sleeping badly, he got better pillows, and the Astros DL use the last couple of years has also been seemingly precautionary), so frankly I would pay him. He’s also a lefty with winning playoff experience who fields his position well, I mean wtf do you want.
As an Astros fan of course would rather see him out of the division at least if we are to lose him.
I used to like and knew Keuchel was a good pitcher. But I also have seen he is on his decline part of his career now.
Which means one thing. With the Phillies interested in him, they will get him. Because that is what they always do! There is always talk for years of the Phillies being in on trading or signing a player. Then when the player finally reaches those decline years they finally trade or sign the player. For cheap (to the Phillies management minds), but as an overpay for every other team and Phillies fans for an declining player.
Then the sad part. The Phillies and their fans are stuck with a contract of a declined player that no one else wants at an exhorbitant contract the Phillies ownership gave to an already declining player.
Book it! The Phillies will sign Keuchel (with some of their “stupid money”) and he won’t provide them with any of his CY Young year’s stuff.
I like Keuchel and wish him the best of luck in getting signed by a team. But he is NOT the pitcher the Phillies need in reaching the next level in their rise to the top. They needed someone like Corbin or Happ and they blew both of those opportunities.
Now they are left with the declining pitchers left out there or unless they can make some trade to another team for someone else that is more on the rise in their career.
But, instead this will be another Freddy Garcia, Hellickson, Morton, Burnett and the list can go on wrong time move by the Phillies. All of those pitchers had great years and could have been awesome for the Phillies at the right times in their careers. But as the Phillies always do…they wait until they can get them cheaper. (In their minds.)
Here goes the stupid money!
You can use less words for all that hot air
Disagree with you that Dallas is on the decline. Still has the same speed on his pitches but if you have seen him pitch you’ll notice he’s not getting any help from the umps for some reason.
He would help any team, still fairly young and can field his position better than any other pitcher. Believe the Astros are waiting to see what the market does before they make their move on resigning him. Dallas is an Astro through and through. He belongs in Houston. Dallas to Houston!
And all the umps are turning against him? From what I saw, he had a few consecutive games (for about a month or so) where he got lit up this year and last year.
But if the umps are turning against him, more of a reason he doesn’t want to come to Philly. There are a bunch of umps against the Phillies team in general. i.e. Joe West confiscating Austin Davis’ player positioning card. haha
Dallas Keuchel, is a good pitcher however, I don’t think he’s good enough for that big of a contract.. He will do good against AL West, not so good against AL East. Probably have continued success in NL. Best fit for Keuchel, is to stay where he is with reasonable guaranteed money and longer terms. I don’t look at stats much but I have watched him pitch against the Rangers and other AL Teams.
Big money and long contracts are killing baseball.. Working man struggles for the money to see a baseball game. Football is already a Rich mans game.
Cahill and Harvey are not rotation solutions for Angels. They need more than that to keep Trout interested.
It’s amazing how you people know all this stuff. You can read Trout’s mind and the future. I’m sure you also thought the A’s would win close to 100 games last year.
The Brewers could afford Keuchel. I’m not sure signing a 31 year old coming off a rather average year to a multiyear deal with AAV in excess of $20 million makes much sense though. Last year Brewers were rumored to be interested in Darvish. That would have been a disaster.
The predictions from this site was 4 years at around 80 million dollars. If the Angels sign him for that, I have no problem with that offer.
But not a 5th year.
If Tyler Skaggs is starting the year as the team’s fifth starter, you have a pretty good staff.
That would leave the sixth starter Barria. I’ll take a 6th starter who had a 3.46 ERA last year. That’s not a bad rotation.
I believe this is going to be yet another “Boras blunder” where he overvalues his client so much that he priced him out of the market and ends up having to take a discounted 1-2 year deal late in free agency. While Boras has many success stories behind him, he also has a lot of failures too…with most teams already acquiring what they need at SP, Keuchel is getting dangerously close to being unwanted at the value Boras has placed on him and become the next Boras victim.
Rangers need to pass. He’d require a multi year deal for big bucks. Texas has 5-6 guys coming up the pipeline that will be in AAA or AA next season. Just commit to the rebuild and let’s be really good in a few years.
If he is willing to take a 1, 2 or even 3 year contract a lot more teams would be interested.