Jan. 30: Wacha has been seeking a two-year deal worth roughly $30MM, writes USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. That would trail only Justin Verlander and Nathan Eovaldi for the largest two-year deal given to a starting pitcher this winter, and clearly Verlander isn’t a relevant point of comparison in this instance. Generally speaking, second- and third-tier starters who’ve signed two-year pacts in free agency have landed in the $16-25MM range over the past several years.
Jan. 28: Michael Wacha, the top remaining free agent starting pitcher, is seeking a two-year deal, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Wacha is the last remaining starter from MLBTR’s Top 50 list, where he was predicted to take home a two-year, $16MM deal.
So far only the Twins and Orioles have been reported as teams to have shown interest in Wacha, although the Twins’ reported interest came before they acquired Pablo Lopez from the Marlins. The Orioles have seemingly maintained an interest in Wacha throughout the winter, but it doesn’t appear as if talks have ever gotten particularly serious between the two parties, though that can obviously change quickly.
Baltimore does still make a bit of sense as a landing spot for Wacha. They came into the off-season looking for starting pitching, and have so far added only Kyle Gibson on a one-year, $10MM deal in free agency, as well as a recent trade for Oakland’s Cole Irvin, so they could be in the mix for another arm. Speculatively, a return to the Red Sox could make a bit of sense for Wacha, while the Angels could be a fit too if they plan to utilize a six-man rotation this season.
Wacha, 31, is coming off a strong campaign for Boston, where he threw 127 1/3 innings of 3.32 ERA ball over 23 starts. Secondary metrics weren’t particularly encouraged by Wacha’s work. His 20.2% strikeout rate was below the league average, and he benefited from a career-low .260 average on balls in play as well as a career-high 80.3% left-on-base rate. Teams are also surely wary of that fact that his 2020-21 seasons had amounted to a 5.39 ERA. Nevertheless, it 2022 was a strong season for the veteran right-hander, and even some regression could still make him a solid back-of-the-rotation option for a number of teams.
Wacha’s desire for a two-year deal seems reasonable enough, particularly given how well starting pitchers have tended to fare this winter. There are some injury concerns there which may give a few teams some pause, although a two-year pact is hardly an onerous long-term commitment. He’s landed on the injured list four times due to shoulder injuries throughout his career, including a month-long absence this past season.
It’s possible a number of teams are more interested in Wacha as a one-year option, in which they can see whether or not his 2022 performance can be repeated without having to commit to an additional year. That sort of deal could interest a number of rebuilding teams as well, as a strong start would turn Wacha into a solid trade deadline option. At 31, Wacha is also young enough that he’d still be in a position to land a multi-year deal next winter were he to have to back up his 2022 numbers with another valuable season in 2023.
The White Sox make a lot of sense especially after the Clevinger ordeal and his salary likely never getting paid during his upcoming suspension.
It took MLB like 18 months or so to investigate the Bauer situation, so I’d have to agree. Clevinger will have to sit out 2 years while this gets sorted out.
Depends on the situation. All are different (none is good though). As to Wacha, it seems like one + an option seems fair. $5m + an $8.5m option with a $1.5m buyout?
He is not signing for $5 million, not a chance. Made $7 million last year and pitched quite well.
I think you’re close Dewey, just too light in the first year.
I’d say 8.5m this year, and, a dual option for a second year. 5.5m team option in year two that converts to a 8.5m player option if a benchmark is hit… say 150 IP? Then put a 1.5m buyout on it.
Guarantees a 10m payday, but spreads the cbt out and gives the player a chance at a 17m contract should he hold up and perform.
Make it 1 year offer at ~7.5M$ and a mutual option that pays him ~8.5M$ in 2024 or a ~.5M$ buyout and I think he and his agent are at least sitting at the table if not outright signing the papers on said offer. Camps open in less than 3 weeks time, still a little early to sign a 1 year or a 1 year with a TOPT contract but it’s getting close to the wire.
He also only pitched 130+ innings which was a recent high. The deal guarantees him $7.5m for next year and allows him to re-enter free agency if he has another solid season. If someone was going to guarantee him more, he would have signed already.
He would have already signed somewhere in my view. Only 1 year and minor league deals are probably left. He’s got too much risk for most teams facing threshold issues. For. The Orioles are too cheap and I’m not sure either Sox team will pay more. A wild card might be Oakland. I realize I’m outside of the box here but as cheap as they are, I can see them taking a shot and if he’s healthy and pitches well, they have a great trade chip in 07/31.
I’m thinking he’s ran into teams not giving a 2nd year, teams he hasn’t desired, or any 2 year offers have been to low of AAV. Yes his total innings have been low. Yes his advanced metrics point to a lot of luck as far as traditional stats. Just if pitchers like Boyd are getting $10 million AAV, I think Wacha should b in the $8-10 mil range. Lower on 2 year higher on 1 year.
The musical chairs music is slowing down quickly, and he better find a seat soon. There are always a few guys that overshoot their market every year and end up being frustrated.
In the meantime…love the fact that we have folks make up proposed deals for players that they don’t know and won’t be paying, having no knowledge with respect to all of the circumstances involved…and then we all argue strenuously about it as if we know better.
love the fact that we have folks make up proposed deals for players that they don’t know and won’t be paying,
=============================
Everyone does this. We know enough to plausible arguments on the numbers. We have no information on the medicals, but I don’t think it is unreasonable to conjecture about what a player might get, or what we might offer.
@jb – Sure, but it is the passion, the certitude and the anger that come out that is remarkable.
Delusional. 10-15 per year, two years guaranteed.
Most of this is simply an educated opinion. But GMs have years-long plans. The Yankees, for example, are planning on a middle infield of Volpe & Peraza. No matter what the fans think, and whether Volpe & Peraza succeed, none of should be arguing in favor or against it.
The second issue, and bigger issue for me, is when the posters get all crazy about injuries and one-off bad seasons. Probably none of know whether injured guys might be good investments. There is a whole lot of science that goes into this.
I remember a bunch of the old-timers (known collectively as the Fellowship of the Miserable (FOM) arguing vehemently every time Papi was rested. They actually thought they knew more than the manager about his health. That was just insane.
@Carver, it has been reported he wants a 2 year deal. Similar pitchers have been getting $8-12 million AAV. He made $7 million last season. It’s pretty easy to make an educated guess as to what he’s looking for.
@tigers – That is my point, in a way. MLBTR does a pretty good job with the projections and other sites have some as well. Why argue too much about it? We all have an idea of what we think most of these guys are worth, and that plus $5 will get you a coffee at your local coffee shop.
So, when Taj was signed for his number, it made me blink a bit. I clearly don’t love Taj as much as DD valued him and thought that the projections by mlbtr were closer to the mark. It was a hot market and I have to trust the Phils that they think that they can get another gear out of him. I can’t lose my mind over what to me seemed to be something of an overpay. Especially when the team is spending over the tax line to keep things going. The cost for Trea…shocking in one sense, but not in these times. Not my money and they got the best available IMHO.
If they had signed Profar for 4 years and $60M….well, then I lose my lunch.
Not necessarily. The Aroldis Chapman thing wrapped up in like a month.
MLB has been investigating Clevinger since last summer and there aren’t any legal charges involved to my knowledge.
I’d hope/expect this one to wrap up sooner.
@RyanD44 100% agree, innocent till proven guilty. If these allegations are true he should be in jail and banned from baseball for life. Most people go by guilty till proven innocent. I’ll wait for the legal system to decide
Ryan, the one on Instagram is not the one making the charges to MLB. That is his previous ex on Instagram.
If he signs a one year deal, he’ll get at least 10 million.
Thom, from who at this late stage?
I’m guessing multiple teams would give Wacha a one year, 10M contract. Right now, he’s still looking for a two year deal.
Please no. Wacha sucks.
NO, Sox will go with Davis Martin.
Why pay a man $15 million to throw 127 innings? Same old, same old. Clubs pay more to pitchers who pitch less. Why?
MOM!
HA!
Great handle. Shaker was my favorite player growing up.
Pretty surprised that no one has grabbed him yet. Also surprised no one has been able to get more out of him. His raw stuff has always been better than his actual performance.
A 3.32 era for a weak team in a hitter’s park in a tough offensive division, he performed at a pretty high level last year. I’m assuming the hold up is some sort of medical issue that are making teams worry about a 2 year contract.
The ERA is fine, but the underlying numbers are consistent with the rest of his career. He seemed to experience a little bit of luck last year.
Not medical unless something happened in the offseason we don’t know about. His numbers without the shift were towards the bottom of the league, and teams are probably thinking the problem will be exacerbated by the new shift limits
Wacha’s ERA was inflated by 2 blowouts at the end of the season. For most of the season he carried a 2 ERA.
His xERA was the same as 2020. His k% and b% both declined. He was a 1.5 fWAR pitcher going the wrong way in his 30’s. I can see why teams are hesitant to go longer than a year.
I like the shift argument, gonna be some big changes next year.
OOF!
At that roughly $85,000 per out he’s expecting to get paid I’d imagine he sits on the market until a contender has a catastrophic ST injury they can’t fill, or, more likely just sits.
Time for a reality check.
Exactly. No team in a calm state is likely to hand over $30mil or close to it, to Wacha at this point. But a desperate team in March? Maybe.
Get him Preller!
ABSOLUTELY!
Why? They already have 4 #5 starters, they very much could use another #1 or #2 starter
Musgrove and snell are fives?
No they are # 2/3. The potential 5s are Lupo, Martinez, Morejon, Honeywell, Groome, Weathers, Knehr, etc…
Ahh I see yeah thats fair. The wording just felt like you meant 4 #5s in the rotation.
Good luck. He would have gotten it by now if it was possible…unless he is asking too much.
2 for 15 sounds reasonable
2 years for $15 million total sounds reasonable
2 years for $30 million is not
Still hoping the Reds sign him, but they have said no more additions, the idiots.
He’ll get a better deal in a year if he takes a one year contract and repeats his 2022.
Orioles also got Irving. Not saying that should take them out but to say they only got Gibson isn’t right.
Irving, the 142nd fastest gun in the West.
And they also Cole IRVIN.
Showing your age, Arnold Ziffel. But a great comment.
If I was the NY Mets I would sign him sometime during the season you two old starters are going to breakdown or need to have a start or 5 skip.
Remember Mets fan you let your workhouse starter leave and go to Texas.
Actually, our workhorse left and went to Toronto.
Aside from Verlander’s Tommy John Surgery and Covid he has started 20+ every season since his rookie year. Also started 30+ 13 times. He has actually been the poster boy for durability throughout his career.
@Logistics Guy: Nobody let deGrom leave, certainly not fans who have no control of such outcomes. It was the player’s decision.
Your right Mets fan did not let the club workhorse starter leave. It was S.C and B.E
My mistake thanks for the correction
@Logistics Guy: It wasn’t them either, and it wasn’t their decision to make. The Mets no longer had contractual control over deGrom. He was a FREE AGENT, which means the FREE MARKET allowed him to leave New York, and he was able to choose where he wants to work. That’s a right he earned as a FREE AGENT. It’s what being a FREE AGENT means.
deGrom threw 156 innings over the past two seasons. THAT is the workhorse? What company do you do logistics for so I can avoid it.
not a mets fan.however their work horse was basitt.he went to toronto.degrom went to texas.he will spend half the season in a wheel chair.bad signing by the rangers
Irving, the 142nd fastest gun in the West….
Say it one more time and it’s going to be hilarious.
Would have been a good signing for the Pirates instead of Rich Hill, I’d feel somewhat comfortable overpaying him for two seasons, or a one year deal with an option to bring some stability to the rotation.
I agree. Would be nice to have him anchor the middle of a rotation with Contreras, Keller, Oviedo, and Brubaker. But I’m pretty happy with this rotation as is, especially if they can get something out of Velasquez.
He’s so darn inconsistent though.
That;s why a two year deal makes a lot of sense for clubs. If you have him for two years, there is a much better chance of getting a good season from him. With a one year deal, you are basically coin flipping.
Hiflew, that is the most ridiculous logic I have read today. Thank you.
At least you were able to follow along. Congratulations and you’re welcome.
Idk how that makes sense. If he sucks next year you’ll be able to resign him for a lower rate the following season.
Boston should sign Wacha. Metrics, schmetrics, he was thee team’s best and most consistent pitcher all season.
I can’t figure out what the BoSox are doing this offseason. I agree, Jack, seems like re-signing Wacha for 2 yrs seems reasonable enough. Unless he doesn’t pass the physical. Lol.
Blue Jays should take him as a back end starter, and a mentor for the younger guys, considering he’s been pretty good.
3 of 5 starters are older than Wacha and one a year younger. He is not needed for a mentoring role. He is not gonna sign with a team to pitch out of bullpen either, unless a team was offering absurd $. Blue Jays just don’t have the need and are not a good fit.
As someone else’s body of risk (if he inks somewhere for a year only) he will/or could be re-considered by Toronto et al in July…
I wait this out.
Best handle ever. Shaker was my favorite player growing up.
Dude, I’ll coast on this all through spring!
Um, no.
Let me guess… SF signs him to a 2 year deal with a player opt-out/player option after year 1. Idk why they call those different things when they are literally the same thing.
SF actually makes a ton of sense for Wacha and the team.
Wacha Wacha
For all you Zappa fans that’s Wacha-Ja- Wacha.
I see the White Sox FO wetting their pants over such a player:
Older pitcher with best results more than 5 years ago? Check
Up and down results resulting in bottom dollar offer? Check
Hoping that he has a good year? Check
When everyone else refuses to give a two year contract, maybe, just maybe, there is a reason that you shouldn’t offer one either.
I see Wacha as a prime candidate to track down Andy Benes and get him to teach him the forkball. Wacha is a big guy with presumably large hands. So in that way he profiles similarly to Dave Stewart, Mike Moore, Chuck Finley, and Benes. It could turn his career around in a similar fashion.
If I was a team still looking for a SP I would take Greinke over Wacha..way more consistency.
Problem with Grienke, he gets hurt a lot now
I’d want Wacha to prove himself for a second year, before I give him a second year. Maybe a contract with an incentive. Perhaps the second year kicks in if he meets a reasonable milestone or two.
At this side of 30 with a track record of inconsistency, there’s not much upside here.
2 years is a long time for a guy whose never good for consecutive years.
Was this written before the Os traded for Irvin? Literally no mention of him. Orioles no longer a fit. Wacha wouldn’t accept 1 year with Os and they’ve already gone in another direction. They now have Gibson, Irvin, Bradish, Kremer, Wells, and Rodriguez with Means coming back in June. Not to mention Hall, Baumann, Watkins, and Zimmerman still want to start.
I was here to say the same thing. The article states “Baltimore does make plenty of sense as a landing spot for Wacha. They came into the off-season looking for a couple of starters, and have so far added only Kyle Gibson on a one-year, $10MM deal”. No mention of the Cole Irvin trade. The article needs to be updated.
You forgot Voth, too.
Nowadays you only have to be good your walk year and still make the big bucks so yeah I want a multi year contract.
I wish the Pirates signed him but instead, we have a near 43 year old in the rotation. The future looks bleak
If you’re actually a Pirates fan, you wouldn’t prefer an overpriced Wacha over the younger pitching coming up. Hill is on a one year, Wacha wouldn’t and still won’t, take a one year.
wacha,will take a 1 year deal if all 30 teams refuse to give him 2 years.that being said theres a sucker team out there, that will get tricked into a 2 year deal.the yankees were stupid enough to give rodon 6 years.my point is theres alot of incompitent gms out there.
Rotation is actually looking better than it has in a long time. You’ve got Contreras, Keller, Oviedo, Brubaker all penciled in as starters. Yes Hill is old but if he’s a serviceable back end starter then I think you are ok. Not to mention other guys who could start (like Velasquez) and high level prospects who could be up by season’s end.
I don’t see how the future can look bleak, especially for pitchers, when we have Priester, Burrows, Ortiz, Solometo, Chandler, Nicolas, as well as the myriad of position player prospects like Gonzales, Rodriguez, Davis, Johnson, and Peguero. Not to mention many under the radar guys like Malcom Nunez, Jared Triolo, and Dariel Lopez.
@MLB1225 tell me how well they are after reaching the majors. There is not a stand out star
Ortiz looked pretty good at the major league level. Endy is literally the best performing prospect they’ve ever had. Gonzalez had a great second half. Solometo made an impressive debut and many prospect publications gave him borderline top 100 consideration. If he continues to pitch fairly well and stays healthy, no reason both him and Chandler aren’t both consensus top 100 within the next year. Saying the future looks bleak is outright ignoring much of the progress many of the Pirats’ minor leaguers made last year.
Oakland. 1 year for $14M. Flip him at the trade deadline.
The prevalence of metrics means teams value guys more similarly than ever.
The metrics scream last year was a fluke. And without old school baseball guy to say “I’ll take the veteran with the low ERA” in the front office a guy like Wacha will be available.
Ten years ago the Angels or another later adopter of analytics would’ve snatched him up then been baffled when he can’t come close to repeating last year.
The Angels still can’t develop talent on the pitching side, regardless to the fluke year the starting pitching had last year. Who is the closer on the Angels? Set-up guy? Same old crap in the bullpen always costing them big time.
Speaking of “old school” the manager Nevin is a Neanderthal.
“Speaking of “old school” the manager Nevin is a Neanderthal.”
Yeah!
Like that Snicker guy in Atlanta. What is it with teams keeping those guys on?
Sandoval, Detmers, Suarez, Barria and to an extend Ohtani were all developed in the Angels system.
Not including Ohtani they had a 3.34 ERA including a no-hitter last season. With Ohtani that is a 3.08 ERA last season.
The previous year with all the injuries it was a 3.98 ERA. Still better than league average.
How many teams had a homegrown bullpen? Zero you say? Exactly.
The bullpen pieces that will be part of the 2023 squad had a 3.76 ERA last season. That is better than league average.
Estevez 3.47 ERA and Herget 2.48 ERA will share the closing duties according to that Neanderthal Nevin. Not Clase or Diaz, but not Rogers, Melancon, or Kimbrel. Middle of the pack.
Tepera (3.19 ERA over the last 2 seasons) and Loup (2.42 ERa over the past 2 seasons) are the setup men as of today. Rodriguez is returning from injuries and there is this kid named Joyce you should look into. Hardest throwing pitcher in baseball. Went from the draft to AA and excelled.
Pitching isn’t the Angels problem anymore. Hitting is.
The Angels have lots of problems.
I don’t think Michael Wacha solves any of them.
Wacha is a slight upgrade from Tucker Davidson but I’m not expecting Tucker to win the last rotation spot anyway.
Dodgers
I’m pretty sure the teams are wondering which Wacha will show up. He’s been struggling for years, then all of a sudden….2022 appeared.
I will never understand how anyone would think Martin Perez is worth a qualifying offer and Wacha is only predicted to get 2 years at 8 million AAV for a lower guarantee over 2 years than Perez gets over 1. Wacha even had past success, while Perez was a consistently terrible pitcher except for his 3.62 ERA season.
Crazy Perez getting that.
The Rangers haven’t shown that these are all good decisions, fwiw.
They have been drafting pitching for years and just failed miserably.
Now they’re like screw it let’s throw billions at these old guys and try another whole model….
I am not exactly impressed yet.
Yep. That’s my point. I would disagree on deGrom. He was set to get maybe close to 50 million on the open market for a few years, but say he gets 150 innings (he had several 200 inning seasons). That’s 75% of a season and translates to 37.5 for 150 innings if it’s 50 MM for 200. That one and maybe Seager help with tickets. Beyond that, I do think Evoldi, Gray, and Semien were setting money on fire, and they need to be more efficient. However, it’s the trashy development folks. This guy whose name is always censored, Kip Fa[[gg]], is largely responsible for taking top guys and screwing them up. Profar, Pérez, Martin, Tavares, Leiter, Winn, Olt, and many others come to mind. I don’t get this obsession with the GM when it’s the rest of the organization screwing up. Aside from those reckless signings, most failures are at the bottom and not top. I do think trades would make more sense if you can’t develop even Arod talent into anything, and these moves have been too one-sided. Either they get 2 shortstops and ignore pitching mostly or just get starting pitching and ingore major additions to left field and the bullpen. I do have to say guarantees mean very little. It’s the annual average that matters to budgets.
The rationale (not MY rationale mind you) with Perez is that he had a terrific platform year, and, knowing his past history while thinking about Rick Porcello (one-year-cy-wonder) knows it may be his best chance at securing a significant money and length deal was then and there. While the QO is a bunch of cash for one year, it’s only one year for a player that will continue to age with less likelihood of another amazing platform year.
So, as. Fo type maybe you roll the odds that the QO is rejected in an attempt to secure a several year long deal. For a guy of perez’s history, 18/1 vs even 58/4 is a no brainer, as the player you go with the 4.
Then again, maybe you want him around a few years and hope the QO, once declined, depresses the market to where you get a more affordable deal out of it all.
O’s could still sign him. 6 or 7 mil for 2yrs with innings incentives to push it to 8 million. 2nd yr club option/2 mil buyout.
I just don’t see how he raises the bar for the O’s at this point.
The O’s needed a good pitcher. It’s OK there is still time.
His agent was probably playing hardball, and he may be left without a chair.
It happens.
Why did I think Wacha was 36-37 years old. He has been around forever.
He did come up at 21.
The Tigers are interested in signing Wacha in 3-4 years once he’s thoroughly washed,
The O’s are fine at SP now.
Bradish, Gibson, Irvin, Kremer, Wells, Voth
Then G-Rod, Hall, and Means at some point. No need for a Wacha anymore.
The O’s need a step ahead from the next wave, whether it is Denoyer, Rom, Povich, Baulmler, etc..
The O’s need one of those type of guys to take a step forward to fill a gap.
Not another 4-5 starter
Denoyer won’t be a starter & the other 3 are more of the #4 variety.
, G-Rod is the guy with the potential to be the anchor. I’m high on Bradish too. DL Hall also but at this point—I have a hard time believing the control will be good enough to be a TOR arm.Seth Johnson could be a wildcard when he comes back.
Still likely that the O’s will need to bring in a TOR guy at some point.
Wacha is probably not getting a two-year deal unless a team gets desperate down the line during training camp
So thaaaats what’s been holding him up…
Rodriguez probably doesn’t start after August unless the O’s use a six man rotation. He’ll be on a pitch count. Means probably won’t start until August and there’s no telling if he’ll be in full form. With injuries and a mostly unproven staff, there’s no reason the O’s shouldn’t take on a relatively low cost veteran.
12m 2 ears
That’s a tall price for just 2 ears.
Orioles don’t have room for another #5.
#5? Last year Wacha pitched better than our 3-5
To hell with advanced metrics and all the other metric crap. They get rated on wins, losses, era innings etc. Same with the hitters, average, runs scored , home runs, rbis etc This saber metric crap is for the nerds who couldn’t play sports. All a bunch of Sheldon coopers
Okay, but you want a pitcher who posted an ERA under 4.00 for the first time in 100+ IP since 2015, and has pitched just 150+ frames two times in ten seasons? Sabermetrics or not, you’re going to bet on his last 127.1 decent innings against the 673.1 innings before where he had a 4.62 ERA and gave up nearly 10 hits per nine innings?
Sign him bloom, he’ll be our number one this year lol. Kidding aside, could get something for him in July if he performs like last year
And if not, who cares about $30million of someone else’s money, right?
I don’t think that’s how Chaim got his job.
a Wacha Wacha Wacha
Dude will be sitting unless he changes his time.
1yr 1 mil to rebuild showcase 2022 wasn’t a fluke to the Padres.. LFGXD!
Bad the 3 years prior to ’22. When you set a goofy price off 1 decent year (not many IP either)-nice to see clubs collectively have a “wish you the best” response.
He’s gonna go unsigned the entire season if he expects to get $15 million AAV. This was his first decent and relatively healthy season since 2015, and the sustainability of it is questionable at best.
About as succinct and realistic comment on here. He’s not worth this kind of money for one year, and certainly not two. Small sample, but the last month of the season he wasn’t very good at all. At this point, he’s probably hoping a contending club has a sudden hole and they will spend, but I don’t know how they ignore his previous few years before 2022.
I’d say one year worth $10 mil., maybe an option for a second year. I get the market has been very friendly to pitchers this year, but we’re almost in February. If teams weren’t willing to pay his asking price in December, they sure aren’t going to now. Only team that might get desperate enough to do so is the White Sox after the Clevinger incident .
Well, that demand explains why he’s not signed yet. I’d say, 1 yr, $10M, w 2nd year team option at $12M, but $2M buyout. I don’t see him getting his ask, even in an inflated market.
For the White Sox, this would basically be a redo of the Clevinger deal, so I’m hoping (but highly doubting) something gets done.
He’s delusional if he thinks he can get 2/$30M at this point. Half that is more in line with predictions. If he were on that level he might’ve gotten a QO which he assuredly would have taken. If he wants to play this year, he has to drop his asking price.
Agree. The article says 2years / $16-$25M. $25M is not gonna happen
What is he smoking?
He might get 2/$25M, or more likely 2/$22M.
Even those are hard to see at this point. The teams that’d be likely to sign him wouldn’t go past 1/$10M.
Or maybe 1/$15M.
I think most teams already have their payroll allocated by this point in the offseason. One indication is we’re seeing teams address pitching needs via trade like MIN and BAL just did, which basically means they used non-monetary resources to fill rotation spots. In other words they don’t want to increase payroll at these prices and would rather trade players to get another SP.
Even look at KCR, they just flipped Taylor and Mondessi to free up money to sign Greinke. At this point most teams would need to clear payroll to add him (i.e. SD dumps Pomeranz to sign him or something like that).