Needs elsewhere are bigger, where there is a better chance of getting what you paid for in free agency
www.stltoday.com
Ben Frederickson
Inflation is everywhere.
Gas pump. Grocery store. Bullpen.
Yes, it’s true.
MLB teams this offseason are tripping over one another to throw big paydays at “proven” relievers, handing out whopping contracts to volatile arms, driving prices up, up, up along the way.
The Astros gave 32-year-old Rafael Montero three years and $34.5 million after he helped Houston’s electric bullpen lock up a World Series championship. He had a 2.37 ERA this season, the first time in the right-hander’s eight-year MLB career that it was lower than 5.52 in a season in which he had at least 25 appearances. That’s some serious trust he can repeat what he did in 2022, or at least come close.
The Padres gave nearly 32-year-old first-year major-leaguer Robert Suarez five years and $46 million, with the chance to opt out after three seasons and chase a bigger deal then. What are the chances he continues to defy the league well enough to use that opt-out clause?
And then there are the Mets, who gave All-Star closer Edwin Diaz five years and $102 million, making him the recipient of a record deal. He’s elite. But still ...“I was communicating with a number of agents yesterday,” MLB Network’s Jon Morosi said Monday during a TV hit. “And the agents were telling me, ‘Wow, the relief pitching market is excellent right now.’ When you’ve got Suarez, who didn’t have any major-league experience before last season, getting a five-year deal with an opt-out after three? And then Montero, who struggled in 2021, and you consider he had an ERA above 6.00 a year ago at this time, and he gets a lucrative three-year deal? I’ve had a number of agents tell me this is a really good offseason to have a high-leverage reliever as a free agent.”
Translation: It’s a really risky offseason to be betting significant money on bullpen pieces.