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MLB Free Agency: Will Dallas Keuchel Sign with a Team this Year?

By Tyson Shushkewich

A reasonable price for Keuchel will determine his 2019. Photo by Loren Elliott/MLB Photos via Getty Images.
A reasonable price for Keuchel will determine his 2019. Photo by Loren Elliott/MLB Photos via Getty Images. /
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(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

The Bad News

Now the bad news with signing Dallas Keuchel.

With the rejection of the qualifying offer, he will be tied to a draft pick compensation for the Houston Astros and will impact international amateur draft bonus pool money.

Any team that signs him this season will be tied to those loses, and depending on the situation, teams may not be willing to sacrifice that much to sign him (more towards the rebuilding teams).

Draft picks and international free agency funds may not be worth giving up for Keuchel, whether it be a long term deal or short term playoff push.

Another aspect standing in Keuchel’s way is that he is not game ready. As much as he can say he is training and working out, the best practice is in live games against professional hitters and he is not getting that experience at Rice University.

I do think that his working/training is the next best thing to not being able to pitch live games, but it’s tough to get into the rhythm like starting pitchers do in the big leagues.

You throw side sessions and pitch every 5-6 days, and Dallas is just not able to get that repetition starting pitchers get into, which could hurt his progress.

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