Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Price of a Hurler


  • Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery and Patrick Leonard for one good, not great, front-line starter and one back-end starter.
  • $147 million, AAV (average annual value) of $24.5 million, for one good, not great, front-end starter.
  • Middle to back-end starters on the market are getting contracts with AAV of $5-13 million and multiple years.
  • Jeremy Guthrie has been guaranteed 71.4% of the GDP of Tuvalu (it's a country, look it up).
  • JEFF FRANCIS GOT A GUARANTEED CONTRACT. JEFF FREAKING FRANCIS.
This is the world we're living in. Pitching is scarce.

In this world, two things are certain. First, major league pitching is no longer cheap. A flyer on a veteran now costs millions of dollars. Second, developing young pitching is more valuable than ever. There is no other way of acquiring affordable pitching, whether the cost is players or cash.

When presented with this context, the Twins recent trades of center fielders for starting pitching looks even better. And both moves were widely hailed in the media. 

Going forward, it will be interesting to see what the rest of the market (guys like Ryan Dempster, Anibal Sanchez and Kyle Lohse) will receive. Will demand for starters continue to be a dog fight or eventually diminish? Are all players becoming more valuable or primarily starters? If nothing else, it's certainly something to keep your eye in the remaining months of the off-season.

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