Free Agency Flashback: 2017 (SP)
Jan 20, 2022 22:47:44 GMT -5
Astros GM (Max), Jays GM (Sanders), and 2 more like this
Post by White Sox GM (Michael) on Jan 20, 2022 22:47:44 GMT -5
I've decided to have a look back at previous FA classes and how those contracts turned out. I'll do more if people enjoy it. I figured I'd begin with the 2017 class of pitchers. Why? The league loves discussing SP contracts and how crazy they are. Since this was five FA cycles ago, all these contracts are completed, so we can fairly judge them. On to the list, where players are listed with their 2017 age:
Danny Duffy (28) to Twins, 3 yrs @ $17.6m/yr
Duffy was only 28 years old coming off a career year with a mid-3s ERA and good K/BB rates. Duffy remained relatively healthy for the entirety of this contract, giving solid but not great innings. It’s hard to say if the contract was worth it, I think it was ok value. If we plopped 28 year old Danny Duffy into today’s ODC market, he would’ve been offered majority ownership of the Twins.
Ivan Nova (30) to Rockies, 3 yrs @ $9.9m/yr
Nova was the classic innings-eater in ODC for a while. An innings-eater’s-innings-eater. You’d pay top dollar (4th round pick) to acquire a guy like this for the playoff run. And he did exactly what you’d expect for the 2017-19 Rockies.
Rich Hill (37) to Nationals, 1 yr @ $26.5m
I mean, where to even start with a GM as proficient as Bryan. I’m surprised he couldn’t get the WTD (winning team discount) on this one, but even paying top dollar, this deal worked out pretty well. Hill pitched to a 3.32 ERA across 135.2 innings, but it was his 1.86 ERA in September that helped the Nationals to their third consecutive title.
Bartolo Colon (44) to ?, 1 yr @ $5.2m
Colon was in the Nelson Cruz “fuck it he’s gonna be good forever I guess” era at this point, but then he actually sucked in 2017. Had he repeated his 2016 (3.43 ERA across 33 starts), this would’ve been an absolute steal. Good gamble that just didn’t work out, as Colon had a 6.48 ERA and somehow was allowed to start 28 games that year.
Homer Bailey (31) to Diamondbacks, 5 yrs @ $4.4m/yr
Believe it or not, it took 26 bids to get up to that number. Who could believe a bidding war involving Bryan, Jason, and Justin could be so excruciating. Ultimately the other GMs were no match for Bryan’s pure skill and willpower. But apparently the D-Backs won him even though Bryan had the last bid. This led to Bryan placing a hex on Homer Bailey, who was like the Chris Davis of pitching for this stretch of time, just getting playing time because of his contract. Like go look at the numbers, he was so fucking bad.
Cole Hamels (33) to Astros, 3 yrs @ $35m/yr
Honestly hard to argue with this contract – Hamels had been rock solid for a decade, and his 2016 season featured his characteristic low-3s ERA across 32 starts. Hamels was decent from 2017-19, but didn’t give you enough in any particular category to call this deal good value.
Clay Buchholz (32) to ?, 4 yrs @ $6m/yr
This contract ended up being really weird. Buchholz was miraculously a god in 2018, with a 2.01 ERA in 16 starts for the Diamondbacks?? Does anyone actually remember that occurring? But he sucked/was injured/didn’t play for the other three years, so I guess this didn’t exactly work out for our mystery owner.
Charlie Morton (33) to Orioles, 4 yrs @ $2.5m/yr
I’m afraid this will embolden Jeff to retroactively call himself the 2017 GMOTY. But honestly, this has to be one of the best contracts in ODC history. Morton was a top-20 pitcher from 2017-19 on a bargain ass deal.
R.A. Dickey (42) to Nationals, 1 yr @ $5.5m
Enjoy the winning bid, a relic of when we were not big hardasses about the bidding format:
“Money left
Around 6.5 mil will adjust later when I got on computer”
It was never adjusted, which leads me to believe Bryan’s computer was stolen, as he was never a man to go back on his word.
Danny Duffy (28) to Twins, 3 yrs @ $17.6m/yr
Duffy was only 28 years old coming off a career year with a mid-3s ERA and good K/BB rates. Duffy remained relatively healthy for the entirety of this contract, giving solid but not great innings. It’s hard to say if the contract was worth it, I think it was ok value. If we plopped 28 year old Danny Duffy into today’s ODC market, he would’ve been offered majority ownership of the Twins.
Ivan Nova (30) to Rockies, 3 yrs @ $9.9m/yr
Nova was the classic innings-eater in ODC for a while. An innings-eater’s-innings-eater. You’d pay top dollar (4th round pick) to acquire a guy like this for the playoff run. And he did exactly what you’d expect for the 2017-19 Rockies.
Rich Hill (37) to Nationals, 1 yr @ $26.5m
I mean, where to even start with a GM as proficient as Bryan. I’m surprised he couldn’t get the WTD (winning team discount) on this one, but even paying top dollar, this deal worked out pretty well. Hill pitched to a 3.32 ERA across 135.2 innings, but it was his 1.86 ERA in September that helped the Nationals to their third consecutive title.
Bartolo Colon (44) to ?, 1 yr @ $5.2m
Colon was in the Nelson Cruz “fuck it he’s gonna be good forever I guess” era at this point, but then he actually sucked in 2017. Had he repeated his 2016 (3.43 ERA across 33 starts), this would’ve been an absolute steal. Good gamble that just didn’t work out, as Colon had a 6.48 ERA and somehow was allowed to start 28 games that year.
Homer Bailey (31) to Diamondbacks, 5 yrs @ $4.4m/yr
Believe it or not, it took 26 bids to get up to that number. Who could believe a bidding war involving Bryan, Jason, and Justin could be so excruciating. Ultimately the other GMs were no match for Bryan’s pure skill and willpower. But apparently the D-Backs won him even though Bryan had the last bid. This led to Bryan placing a hex on Homer Bailey, who was like the Chris Davis of pitching for this stretch of time, just getting playing time because of his contract. Like go look at the numbers, he was so fucking bad.
Cole Hamels (33) to Astros, 3 yrs @ $35m/yr
Honestly hard to argue with this contract – Hamels had been rock solid for a decade, and his 2016 season featured his characteristic low-3s ERA across 32 starts. Hamels was decent from 2017-19, but didn’t give you enough in any particular category to call this deal good value.
Clay Buchholz (32) to ?, 4 yrs @ $6m/yr
This contract ended up being really weird. Buchholz was miraculously a god in 2018, with a 2.01 ERA in 16 starts for the Diamondbacks?? Does anyone actually remember that occurring? But he sucked/was injured/didn’t play for the other three years, so I guess this didn’t exactly work out for our mystery owner.
Charlie Morton (33) to Orioles, 4 yrs @ $2.5m/yr
I’m afraid this will embolden Jeff to retroactively call himself the 2017 GMOTY. But honestly, this has to be one of the best contracts in ODC history. Morton was a top-20 pitcher from 2017-19 on a bargain ass deal.
R.A. Dickey (42) to Nationals, 1 yr @ $5.5m
Enjoy the winning bid, a relic of when we were not big hardasses about the bidding format:
“Money left
Around 6.5 mil will adjust later when I got on computer”
It was never adjusted, which leads me to believe Bryan’s computer was stolen, as he was never a man to go back on his word.
