Dallas Kuechel is Somehow Still a Free Agent. Where Should He Go?
If Craig Kimbrel doesn’t get the contract he wants this winter, he would be well advised to sign a 1 year deal and try again next winter. He’ll probably make about $15-18 million now and will have another shot at a $40 million-ish deal in a year.
If Bryce Harper couldn’t get his $330 million deal with Philadelphia, he reportedly had a 4 year, $40 million per year offer on the table from the Dodgers.
We’ve discussed on this blog for a very, very long time that teams would be well advised to sign players to extremely high Average Annual Value (AAV) deals with short duration, because it’s not the money owed to a particular player that handicaps teams in this $10.3 billion a year industry, it’s the opportunity cost of having a bad, old player that’s making a lot of money take up one of the 25 roster spots that should be used for someone better.
Albert Pujols should be competing this Spring for a job. Instead, he’s the Angels everyday first basemen/ DH simply because they owe him a ton of money.
Anyway, Dallas Keuchel. He’s not in the same position as Kimbrel and Harper. Kuechel is a 31-year-old former Cy Young award winner, known as a soft-thrower who doesn’t overpower anyone. He’s coming off a down-ish year when he led the league in hits allowed. While it seems like he probably isn’t done as a productive starting pitcher, it’s more likely that he
He really needs to cash in now.
And yet, it’s now March 5 and he’s without a team. He’s perhaps the biggest victim of the weird, slow, frozen stove of the past 2 years.
He’s got to go somewhere though, so what squad makes the most sense?
Milwaukee Brewers
We’ve seen the Brewers swoop out of nowhere before to snag surprising free agents and we know they have a championship caliber team.
Milwaukee has a solid lineup led by reigning MVP Christian Yelich and the game’s most dynamic bullpen, which evolved dramatically over the course of
If the Brewers could get Kuechel to agree to 3 years and $40 million total (less than he no doubt wants, but generational money nonetheless) maybe this could be a match. Or maybe the Brewers are a little wary after their previous 3 year deal for a starter over 30 went poorly in the Kyle Lohse experiment.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers are losers of the last two World Series. They need to get that taste out of their mouths and they certainly don’t want to be the MLB’s version of the Buffalo Bills.
Moreover, the NL West is strong and Clayton Kershaw is already having shoulder problems, so they may need Kuechel to help them win the division and he’d certainly be a massive help in October.
With the money they offered Harper, the Dodgers clearly have the cash.
Los Angeles Angels
This one might not match up so well. I just got done telling you that Kuechel is most likely after a multi-year deal and the Angels, if they signed the lefty, would probably be looking for a short term deal that allows them to really, really go for it now, while Mike Trout is under contract, and then lets them blow things up if he leaves.
Still though, if the Angels are going for it, a proven starter is about the biggest thing they need.
Colorado Rockies
This one’s kind of out there but the Rockies just gave a massive extension to their cornerstone Nolan Arenado and they’re coming off a 91 win season which took the to the NLDS so maybe they’ll want to add a veteran sinkerballer and take a run at it this year?
-Max Frankel
