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Potential gems among upcoming free-agent pitchers
- Updated: August 30, 2016
If your favorite team has fallen from contention because of lackluster pitching, you’ve probably peeked at the upcoming free-agent class. And after examining the list — which looked a lot better before Stephen Strasburg signed a seven-year extension with the Nationals — disappointment assuredly set in.
There isn’t an ace for you — or your team’s owner — to fall in love with.
In some ways, that will make the upcoming offseason even more intriguing. The market won’t remain in neutral for several weeks while the likes of David Price and Zack Greinke consider franchise-altering offers, as was the case a year ago. This offseason, the story will be which general managers, scouts and analytics departments will find the next J.A. Happ, whose 1.85 ERA over the final two months of last season catapulted him to 17 wins so far in 2016 — while earning a $10 million base salary.
Here are the prospective free-agent pitchers who have done the most to improve their value, relative to where it stood at the outset of the 2016 season. (By this definition, we’re leaving off star pitchers like Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen, whose performances have been in line with recent seasons.)
Rich Hill, LHP, Dodgers Hill, 36, really belongs in a category unto himself. When the Dodgers acquired him at the Trade Deadline, general manager Farhan Zaidi described Hill as being “on pure performance, as good or better than any starting pitcher traded in the last week or so.” And that was accurate. With Hill, the question has been how many of those performances he’d have over the balance of the regular season. Hill has made only one start as a Dodger, but it was predictably excellent: six shutout innings and a victory against the archrival Giants. Hill, who made two independent-league starts in 2015, is a better free agent now after posting a 2.09 ERA in 15 Major League starts. How much better? His health will dictate that.
Joe Blanton, RHP, Dodgers Blanton’s metamorphosis has been as dramatic as any pitcher on this list. He was seemingly on his …
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