MLB Free Agency: Five Free Agents That Teams May Regret Signing
By Jason Reed
C.J. Wilson
C.J. Wilson is a veteran arm who has served his dues in MLB. Wilson could likely contribute to a team solely on his veteran presence, and perhaps become a long reliever out of the bullpen. While his numbers have declined, he can still perform at a decent level and could very well finish his career in the bullpen. The problem with signing Wilson is the money. Spotrac, which was within $100,000 of Bartolo Colon‘s contract, estimates Wilson’s contract to be just about $15.5 million.
Wilson is not worth that price tag, especially with his likely role and his downward trends. Wilson has been a shell of himself and has struggled to remain healthy. After starting at least 33 games for four consecutive years, Wilson has only appeared in 21 games since the start of 2015. While pitchers like Rich Hill have been able to rebound from injury, Wilson’s track record doesn’t look promising.
Wilson just had shoulder surgery this July, and has failed to pitch in a game since July of 2015. Yet his value based on his past performance remains high. Not only is it a risk signing Wilson due to his health, but his production before the injury was already diminishing. Age gets the best of every player, and age was hitting Wilson. In 2014 he posted a 4.51 earned run average, and 3.89 the following year. Although 2015 showed improvement, a 3.89 ERA is still not that impressive, and coming off of a near 21-month absence likely means it will be even worse.
Wilson could likely provide a team with a small workload in the bullpen, but wherever he ends up, they will regret paying the price.