There are less and less quality starting pitchers on the board for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles to try and sign after the St. Louis Cardinals added Mike Leake to their team with their mind almost completely focused on some sort of revenge against the Chicago Cubs.
But who is left on the market for the teams mentioned above, who seem to be short of acquiring the player they want each time? Well, Scott Kazmir is the name coming up mostly in talks at the moment. The 32-year old right handed pitcher is coming off an inconsistent season in which he played well for the Oakland A’s but the trade to the Houston Astros saw most of his numbers going in the wrong direction, which has slightly hurt his leverage in trying to earn big money. Kazmir probably wants a four or five year deal, but it’s hard to believe anyone is going to give him that kind of contract.
Another player who is especially on the minds of the Nationals and Orioles is Wei-Yin Chen, who had his best season in 2015, which has made the 30-year old lefty looking for a $100 million, five-year deal. The Orioles aren’t going to give him that kind of money or length of deal. The Nationals? It’s not beyond them to over commit like that, but five years? Chen is probably going to come back down from that demand pretty soon.
Another name that keeps popping up, especially in regards to the Dodgers, is Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins. Are Miami actually shopping him? Maybe they’re trying to gauge just how much they can get for one of the best young pitchers in baseball. There are a number of teams looking into the prospect of signing him, but with the Marlins looking for the kind of haul the Atlanta Braves got when they traded away Shelby Miller, it’s hard to see anyone in the league capable of giving up so many prospects and young talent.