Despite not playing a single game last season, Bronson Arroyo is getting plenty of interest before the beginning of the 2016 MLB season, with his former team the Cincinnati Reds looking to bring him back, but the Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins are also interested in signing him.
Arroyo has been visiting Cincinnati, a team he played for from 2006 to 2013 before signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who he played only 14 times for before an injury. He bounced around last season from Arizona to the Braves and to the Dodgers, recovering from Tommy John surgery. Eventually, he was bought out of his contract, which means the Dodgers are basically paying him $4.5 million for the 2016 season.
While the Reds are all about rebuilding and young players, they’re also about value, and Arroyo, turning 39 in February, brings that. He won’t cost them anything (or close to that) and for a team filled with second-year players in their rotation it won’t hurt to have someone with plenty of experience and is also quite at home in the organization to have around.
The Nationals might have the edge over the Reds when it comes to Arroyo as being the more lucrative team to land at. They won’t offer him a lot of money, but at this stage of his career, Arroyo wants to play, and probably for a team that might be doing it beyond September. The Nationals are contenders, the Reds aren’t. Depending on Arroyo’s priorities, it’s not that difficult of a decision to make.
The Miami Marlins, linked to about every available starting pitcher on the free agency market and also some that need a trade in order to get them, are also interested in Arroyo. Whether or not he’s better than other they have their sights on is subjective, but obviously, he’s probably one of the cheaper options out there for teams looking to make a minor addition.
Arroyo started more games than anyone else in baseball from 2004-2013, pitching in 2074 innings that decade, third behind C.C. Sabathia and Mark Buehrle. He was never a low ERA kind of guy, but he’s always been quite effective in the strikeout-to-walks ratios. On his final season in 2014, playing for the Diamondbacks (14 starts), Arroyo had a 4.08 ERA with a 1.291 WHIP, striking out 2.47 batters per walk.