1 year, $11 million.
1 year, $12 million.
2 years, $24 million.
Those are the contracts recently handed out to veterans Lance Lynn (St. Louis Cardinals), Kyle Gibson (St. Louis Cardinals) and Kenta Maeda (Detroit Tigers), respectively.
Are free agents Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha worthy of at least that much per year? Let me think...yes.
Maeda made fewer starts, pitched fewer innings, had a worse ERA and was older than Lugo and Wacha in 2023 but still got $12 million per year with the Detroit Tigers. Lynn’s fWAR in 2023 was 0.5 while Lugo and Wacha’s were 2.