5. Jered Weaver – LAA
Jered Weaver will turn 34 this offseason. He’s obviously on the wrong side of 30, but it’s not old in baseball years. Pitching wise back in 2010, Roy Halladay was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies and debuted for them in his age 33 season. Upon being traded, before ever pitching an inning for the Phils, he signed a $60MM extension, adding three years to his pre-existing deal. There was a $20MM vesting option for a fourth season as well.
Next season, Weaver will be only a year older than Halladay was at the time of his extension. However, you can bet Weaver won’t be getting anything near $20MM per season. He’s making $20.2MM right now at the backend of his five-year agreement signed in August of 2011 with the Angels, but he’s having issues being effective.
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Weaver’s got no zip left on his fastball. In 2011, his heater was pushing the radar gun to 94.5 mph. In 2016, the hasn’t thrown a fastball over 86 mph. Last season, his fastball was his fourth most used pitch in his repertoire.
While on the surface things look promising for Weaver at 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA, when we peel back the layers, the ugly truth shows itself. His peripheral stats stink. A 5.51 FIP is just asking for him to get a shelling soon. His K/9 of 4.2 is easily the lowest mark of his career and so too is his K:BB ratio of 1.57. For a guy once viewed as being an ace who had struck out over 200 batters in a season, Weaver is a far cry from his old self.
Playing at replacement level right now, Weaver will be lucky to land a contract in the offseason that guarantees him a spot in a rotation. Right now, he might be more in the vein of a reclamation project like the once electric Tim Lincecum, who also burnt his arm out with velocity woes at a premature age.
Next: Number 4