LOS ANGELES -- Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta's agent, Scott Boras, pushed back on the notion Arrieta isn't an elite pitcher just because his fastball velocity dropped this year, while also insisting it's way too small of a sample size to judge the free-agent-to be.
"The question becomes what's (Clayton) Kershaw averaging?" Boras asked on Saturday afternoon from Dodgers stadium. "He's throwing 92.5 mph. (Zack) Greinke is throwing 91.8 mph. (Max) Scherzer, when he was a free agent, was throwing 92 mph.
"We're going to sit here and evaluate a player on a 60-day moment or a 10-start moment when he has three years of history.