The case for one of the most surprising contracts of baseball’s offseason requires you to value fit over cost.
The Royals are giving a 31-year-old mid-to-back-of-the-rotation pitcher $70 million over five years, and we’ll get to how and why they can afford this in a minute, but either way this is a little like paying the surge pricing on Uber because you just really need a ride right now and you don’t want to risk waiting for a cab.
Ian Kennedy, owner of the second-biggest contract in Royals history, is the $5 bottle of water in your hotel room.