Four Available Free Agent Arms Who Might Help Your Team
A number of interesting free agents remain unsigned, and a few of the pitchers could help the back-end of a contending rotation.
We are nearly two months into the Major League Baseball off-season, and a number of interesting free agent players remain unsigned.
Much of the focus for commentators has been on power hitters who remain available. That is entirely understandable, as they are a few big name bats still out there on the market.
Sluggers such as Jose Bautista and Mark Trumbo could bring needed power to the middle of a contending batting order.
But if you are like me, you believe that most big winners do so with strong pitching and stellar defense.
Having quality, reliable, experienced pitchers on the back-end of a starting rotation can often be the difference between a .500 club and one that contends for a postseason berth.
Most contending teams are uncomfortable giving a spot in their starting pitching rotation to a prospect, no matter how talented.
A few of the more talented of these youngsters could emerge to get such a shot as the season moves along. But to open the year, most contenders would prefer established arms taking the mound every fifth day.
A number of solid options have already been taken off the market. Rich Hill, Jeremy Hellickson, and Clayton Richard re-upped with the Dodgers, Phillies, and Padres respectively.
Among those who have found new homes, Bartolo Colon moved to the Atlanta Braves, Edinson Volquez to the Miami Marlins, Derek Holland to the Chicago White Sox, and Andrew Cashner to the Texas Rangers.
There remain a number of pitchers on the free agent market who have tasted big league success in the past. In the right situation, some of these pitchers could help a contending rotation.
While none of these pitchers is likely to contend for a Cy Young Award, they could all provide a couple of dozen starts and eat up valuable innings.
Let’s take a closer look at four of the top remaining free agent starting pitchers: Brett Anderson, Doug Fister, Colby Lewis, and Jason Hammel.
NEED AN EXPERIENCED FREE AGENT LEFTY?
Brett Anderson won 11 games as a 21-year old rookie with the Oakland A’s back in 2009. He struck out 150 batters in 175.1 innings over 30 starts that season. For that performance, Anderson finished sixth in voting for the AL Rookie of the Year honors.
Trying to wrap him up contractually, the A’s signed him to a four-year, $12.5 million deal in early 2010. Thanks to injuries, including Tommy John surgery in 2011, he would never live up to that rookie year promise.
Since coming back from the TJ surgery in late 2012 and moving on to pitch with both the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers, Anderson has battled other injuries. A broken finger cost him three months in 2014, while back injuries have proven debilitating ever since.
Anderson did not fare well at the tail end of this past 2016 season. He was given three starting opportunities by the Dodgers. Anderson then earned his lone victory in a relief role on September 29 at San Diego.
WHO MIGHT BE IN THE MARKET?
The Yankees, Mariners, and Pirates are among the teams who have been linked to Anderson this off-season. With his injury history, he is certainly unlikely to receive much of a guarantee beyond a spring training invitation.
Anderson will turn 29 years old just before pitchers and catchers are due to report. As stated, he is left-handed, which always leads to second and third chances. He also has 685.2 innings of big league experience under his belt. He made postseason starts in 2012 with Oakland and in 2015 with the Dodgers.
Having earned more than $46 million over the course of his career already, Anderson is now simply looking for a shot to contribute. His best role might be as a lefty out of the bullpen. But as an experienced southpaw, someone is going to give him at least a look for the back-end of their rotation.
DOUBLE-DIGIT WIN MACHINE
Doug Fister has shown over eight big league seasons that he knows how to win ball games. The righty who will turn 32 years old just before spring training begins has won in double digits five times, including a dozen wins in the 2016 season.
As recently as 2014, Fister won 16 games for the Washington Nationals and finished eighth in the NL Cy Young Award voting. He began the 2015 season back in the Nats rotation. But after struggling through the first 4+ months, he was relegated to the bullpen.
In January 2016, Fister signed a one-year deal with the Houston Astros as a free agent. He made 32 starts, going 12-13 with a 4.64 ERA and 1.425 WHIP.
Fister has postseason experience, having made eight starts over nine appearance in the playoffs. Again as recently as that 2014 season, Fister pitched well and won Game 3 of the NLDS for the Nationals over the San Francisco Giants.
POTENTIAL RISK AND REWARD
His relatively poor performance over the last year and a half, as well as his age, are what teams are going to have to balance against his experience.
Fister has put nearly $31 million in career earning in the bank already. While he would certainly prefer a multi-year deal, I would expect someone to nab Fister for one year at between $8-10 million.
The usual suspects in the Yankees, Pirates, and Mariners are all reportedly in on Fister. He has also been linked to the Marlins and Phillies, though the latter is likely out now with yesterday’s acquisition of Clay Buchholz.
AGING FORMER FIRST ROUNDER
Colby Lewis was the Texas Rangers first round pick at 38th overall in the 1999 MLB Amateur Draft.
By 2003, Lewis was making 26 starts and winning 10 games in the Texas rotation. It wasn’t enough to earn him protection, however, and the Detroit Tigers selected him off waivers.
An injury early in the 2004 season resulted in rotator cuff surgery, and knocked Lewis off the mound for the better part of two years.
After bouncing through the Washington and Oakland organizations over a couple of seasons, Lewis decided to try to resurrect his career in Japan.
In 2008, Lewis signed with Hiroshima, and over two seasons there showed that he still could pitch effectively. Lewis went 26-17 with a 2.82 ERA in Japan, earning him another shot back in the states.
BACK TO THE RANGERS
That shot would come with his original MLB organization. Back with the Rangers, Lewis went 12-13 in the 2010 season, helping the club win the AL West crown.
After shutting out Tampa Bay over five innings of a loss in Game 3 of the ALDS, he came up huge in the ALCS. There Lewis won a pair of games against the New York Yankees. In the clinching Game 6, Lewis allowed just a run on three hits.
Lewis then pitched well in his lone World Series start, a 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants in Game 3 that would prove to be the only Texas win in that Fall Classic.
He helped Texas repeat in the AL West with a 14-10 season in 2011, and again made four postseason starts as the Rangers returned to the World Series. Lewis was the starting pitcher in the pivotal Game 6, leaving with the game tied at 4-4.
This was the famous game where Texas held a two-run lead with two outs and two strikes in both the 9th and 10th innings, one strike away from a world championship, only to watch Saint Louis rally to tie. The Cards would win it in the 11th, then win the World Series the following night.
MORE ELBOW TROUBLE, AND ANOTHER COMEBACK
Lewis went 6-6 through June in 2012, but his right elbow began barking. Sidelined until after the All-Star break, he would make just one more start before needing surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon. That surgery would sideline him for much of 2013, and he would appear in just seven games between AA and AAA in the minors.
In each of the last three years, Lewis has re-signed with Texas on one-year deals. He has gone a combined 33-28 over 81 starts, tossing 491.1 innings as a reliable 4th starter type.
This past year he even started in Game 3 of the ALDS vs the Toronto Blue Jays. Lewis was roped around for five runs and five hits in just two innings in a game that the Jays would eventually win by 7-6 to sweep the series.
Now 37 years of age, Lewis could probably be had on a one-year, $5 million deal – maybe even for a million or two less.
The Rangers are reportedly considering bringing Lewis back. However, his experience, especially in the postseason, would seem ideal for many contenders, especially at his price and contract commitment length.
JASON HAMMEL
Hammel is easily the best all-around starting pitcher currently available as a free agent. Now 34 years old, he was the Tampa Bay Rays choice in the 10th round of the 2002 MLB Amateur Draft out of Treasure Valley Community College in Oregon, of all places.
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He made his big league debut with the Rays in 2006, and bounced between their pen and rotation over the next two seasons. In April of 2009, Hammel was dealt to the Colorado Rockies, and pitched out of the Rox rotation for most of the next three years.
Colorado dealt Hammel to the Baltimore Orioles just prior to spring training in 2012. Hammel made 20 starts for the O’s, but needed knee surgery just after the MLB All-Star break, ending his season.
He returned to make 23 starts over 26 appearances in 2013, importantly showing that he was healthy, as Hammel was due to become a free agent for the first time.
HAMMEL WITH THE CUBS
Hammel signed as a free agent with the Cubs, but Chicago dealt him along with Jeff Samardzija at the trade deadline to the Oakland A’s in exchange for a prospect package that included Addison Russell.
That same off-season, Hammel re-signed as a free agent with the Cubs once again. Over the last two years he has gone a combined 25-17 with a 3.79 ERA over 61 starts pitching at the back end of the rising Cubs rotation.
Hammel has allowed just 306 hits in 337.1 innings with a 316/93 K:BB ratio in these last two years. He started once in both the 2015 NLDS and NLCS for the Cubs, and has seven career postseason appearances, including a half-dozen as a starter.
There are still a handful of teams who would appear to be potential contenders, and would seem to need another experienced starting pitcher. Among these are the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, and Miami Marlins.
Next: ALL IS QUIET FOR NOW ON THE JASON HAMMEL FRONT
The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers could each use another veteran starter, and the Seattle Mariners could actually use two of these guys. The right free agent arm could help swing the AL West race, and if I were the M’s, I would be all over Hammel right now.