Johnny Cueto pitching himself out of offseason payday
In what has been the motif for him since joining Kansas City in late July, Johnny Cueto struggled on the mound for the Royals in Game 3 of the ALCS. The 29-year-old failed to make it out of the third, getting tagged for eight earned runs in 2+ innings of work.
Cueto once seemed poised to enter next spring in the first year of a fancy new contract with a big-market team. He’ll be just 30 on Opening Day of 2016, has logged at least 170 innings in six of his eight major-league seasons, has placed in the Top 5 of National League Cy Young Award voting twice, posted sub-3.00 ERA seasons four times and made a trip to the All-Star Game.
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But things have gone south for the long-time Red in his time as a Royal. He ended the regular season with a 4-7 record and a 4.76 ERA in 13 starts with Kansas City, and whether or not Cueto would have a spot in the Royals’ postseason rotation remained a hot topic prior to the ALDS. He pitched eight innings of two-run ball in his second start against the Houston Astros in the ALDS, but allowed four runs in six innings in his first start of the series.
Once considered one of the game’s most dependable pitchers, Cueto now embodies total uncertainty as much as any pitcher in the game at the moment. And it begs the question of just what will happen to him in free agency this winter. He was previously pegged to land a long-term deal with annual pay competitive with the top pitchers in the game. But could Cueto now be facing a one-year deal?
In mid-July, it would’ve been laughable to suggest Cueto would fall anything shy of a megadeal. But recent struggles leave him a candidate to take a one-year deal with a club in a pitcher-friendly ballpark with eyes set on hitting it big next winter. Cueto will still be entering just his age-31 season, and a strong season to pair with his strong career track record would still leave him in position to get paid handsomely if he can get back on track.
Otherwise, the former All-Star will be looking at a multi-year deal with a much lower base salary than he previously anticipated. Though if Cueto doesn’t believe he can get it together again, he may opt for job security over a shot at a big payday. But regardless, it appears that Cueto has officially fallen out of the fraternity of elite pitchers set to hit the open market this winter, and his bank account will be at least temporarily suffering as a result.