10:00pm: The Diamondbacks’ offer was for six years and $120MM, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports. The $20MM average annual value of the rejected offer already surpasses the $15MM-$18MM range cited by Rosenthal.
6:48pm: D’Backs GM Dave Stewart tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that he also visited Cueto in the Dominican Republic in addition to meeting with Dixon, and that Cueto already turned down one contract offer from the club. Stewart said the D’Backs are still interested in Cueto and understood why the initial offer was rejected. “When you’ve still got the two big guys who haven’t done anything yet, [David] Price and [Zack] Greinke, you kind of want to wait,” Stewart said. “Depending on how [Dixon] sees his client, and he probably sees his client above [Jordan] Zimmermann, it puts you in a situation where you want to wait and see what happens.”
Though Stewart didn’t specifically comment on Rosenthal’s reported gap in Cueto’s asking price and the Diamondbacks’ comfort zone, he did imply that his team may have to spend more in order to land the righty.
“I guess ultimately that decision is going to be made by ownership, if we can go there,” Stewart said. “Having a conversation with him gave us an idea of what’s going to happen and what he’s thinking. We’re going to have to wait and see how this thing plays out.”
1:18pm: The Diamondbacks met with Johnny Cueto’s agent last week, sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The expectation, however, is that Cueto’s price will exceed with Arizona is comfortable with paying. The D’Backs want to spend roughly $15MM-$18MM on a free agent starter, while Cueto figures to get more than $20MM per year (link).
Earlier this month, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reported that the D’Backs were discussing Cueto internally, so it seems that they have at least taken the next step by reaching out to agent Bryce Dixon. Pitching names like Shelby Miller, Yovani Gallardo and John Lackey have been linked to Arizona via trade and free agency, but those arms would come with a much more modest price tag than Cueto. Names like Jeff Samardzija and Kenta Maeda represent some of the pricier options that have been mentioned as possible targets for Arizona.
There have been whispers about Cueto’s injured elbow affecting his market, but in a recent interview, Dixon made the case that if Cueto had been hurt, he wouldn’t have been able to deliver such strong results for the Royals in two of his postseason outings. Overall, though, Cueto did not give the Royals exactly what they expected when they acquired him over the summer. In 13 regular starts, Cueto posted a 4.76 ERA. He also pitched poorly in two of his four postseason outings.
Recently, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes ranked Cueto as the offseason’s No. 8 free agent and pegged him for a five-year, $115MM deal.
I think this seems like a really solid fit. Diamondbacks have a lot of young and promising pieces and are definitely a team on the rise. Throughout his career, Cueto has been a big game pitcher, which is something AZ needs. Also, a return to the NL is something that I think would definitely benefit Cueto. This would be a good move for Dave Stewart and LaRussa. This would take the Dbacks from an exciting team to a legitimate contender.
Except when has Arizona shown they’d be willing to spend that kind of money on a free agent pitcher? This is all show for their fans so they can say, “See, we tried” before they settle for someone like Gallardo.
As a D-backs fan I sadly agree. I can hear Derrick Hall now. “We didn’t want to make any move that would hamper our ability to spend in the future.” The D-backs being cheap this season is all but a forgone conclusion.
They do have a conservative approach in Arizona.
It;s been a while, but they did outspend everyone on Randy Johnson back in 2000. It’s a rare occurrence, but that shows that Arizona can spend if they want to.
That was a different ownership
Gave Cody Ross 3/29m with another option when nobody else was going to get close either. I remember Boston wanted him back on a 2y deal, but far less money, then the D-Backs blew him way with that offer.
davebee : Gallardo may not be Cueto, but he’s not bad, either. Consider he’s been with Milwaukee in recent years.
Like the Padres with Pablo Sandoval last year?
good thing the Pads didnt get him last year, Solarte had better numbers
Does the team that signs Cueto tell him to stop doing the varied delivery times or just let him be? He seemed better when he relied on it less.
The varied deliveries are only good in the playoffs and against certain teams/players. It worked against the Mets, for example, because some of their players have a leg kick so by changing the delivery times, specifically by being quicker, throws hitters off because they can’t do a proper leg kick.
Cueto would fit with the dbacks, they have a solid line up and all they need is an ace to with corbin and bradley.
I believe the d backs and the braves can make a trade, it is known the d backs want pitching julio t shellby m for aj pollock ……….. maybe a couple more pieces coming from the braves? Then the diamondbacks sign a bat . Instead of wasting money on pitchers they can buy a bat or two I hear they have a new TV deal. Maybe justin Upton J hey cespedes ? On the braves side they have pitching coming maybe contending 2017?
Teheran and Miller for Pollock? And another piece from the Braves?? LOL. You’d be hard pressed to get Miller straight up for Pollock.
Pollock is more valuable than Miller or Teheran, and with Teheran’s down year, AJ might be more valuable than both.
Doesn’t get any mire biased than this. Miller is only 25 with a 3.22 career ERA, he has numbers very similar to those of Jordan Zimmermann. If Miller was a free agent he’d be getting 20m+ a year.
Pollock was one of the best players in baseball last season, but lets get real, its very unlikely that he will ever have another season like that.
I’d have to disagree there. Even if pollock develops into a 30/30 player he’s not worth more than two pitchers under 26 with ace potential. Especially on a team with numerous OF options and and a bunch of mediocre sps.
Pollock is a top 10-15 most valuable asset in baseball. That’s not far from Lindor/Correa/Betts territory. He’s worth Miller and Teheran and quite a bit more.
lol he is most certainly not worth both even with Teheran’s down year
Obviously you are not very familiar with the DBacks. He is not going anywhere and he’s worth more than BOTH of those pitchers combined.
AJ Pollock proved this year he is one of the best OF in the game. His numbers were amazing and pairing him with Goldy makes them arguably two of the best players in the NL at their positions. The lack of attention and respect they get is unbelievable. If they add a top tier pitcher this team will be in contention for the NL West.
Yup! Exactly.
Interesting given La Russa and Cuetos past.
Oh you’re right. I didn’t even think about the cardinals-reds scuffle. Most of that is between Yadi and dat dude BP though
But Cueto is the one who kicked Jason LaRue in the head.
Yeah but bad blood all around. Cueto had his part in it too with that kicking.
And Tony is known to hold a grudge. Ended a players career. Really surprised they’re going after him
If they add Cueto , and he goes with corbin bradley and the other pitchers in the system, they can make some noise, they already have a solid line up
Fangraphs has the D-Backs 27th in pitching so I think they need Cueto and another pitcher to compete in the West.
Yeah, I’m not sure why people are puffing them up so much. I dont think they’re a pitcher away. They really need a full pitching overhaul to compete.
Let’s call it Cueto and Maeda. Then you have Corbin and Ray. Bradley or another #5 to complete a legit rotation with a high scoring offense and # 1 defense. That’s a contender.
Need to rebuild the pen, too
I wouldn’t count on Ray. He could have easily been a flash in the pan last year, and actually wasn’t that good. And their pen is a disaster.
Yeah. A Cueto / Leake or Cueto / Maeda combo would be needed. Add 2 starters and 1 bullpen piece and the DBacks are contenders. Legit.
I’m fascinated how these deals go down, for example did the Tigers say with Zimmermann- “if you take our offer around and shop it, we’ll pull it”. Or is there an assumption there will be a “final call” for last bids. It seems that with Stewart flying there and trying to close a deal before Price/Greinke, that he was offering below market right now take or leave it style. I wonder what Stewart thought of Zimmermann and his eventual contract.
I think 5/110 plus a second shot at free agency at age 34 was all it took for Zimmerman. Ilitch has the cash flow for that whereas others may have needed to go more years/lower AAV.
Based on what Avila did with two free agents (Davis and Soria) and with several teams in potential trades (New York, San Diego, Reds), Avila does seem to have a “take or we are moving on right away” mentality. Zimmermann took it.
Stewart was not able to closer like Avila did for whatever reason.
‘Fraid the dbacks will always have trouble attracting pitchers. Shame.
6/120 isn’t a terrible offer, but it is a bit low. Another $10M would probably do it. 6/130 is around what I think he’ll sign for.
130 is low too, that’s what Cain signed for 4 years ago.
Pretty descent offer, although Cueto would probably have to have been blown away by the offer to take it that soon in the off-season. He’ll probably be able to do at least a little bit better after Price and Grienke sign.
wow he may regret that decision, I sure as hell wouldn’t give him that much money
Very interesting. I see 6/120 as pretty good for him. He’s definitely not on the level of Price and Greinke and I consider him to near Jordan Zimmerman in terms of production, who we now know is making 5/110. This may be an offer Cueto comes back to, if In fact Dave Stewart is speaking truth in saying Arizona is still pursuing him.
Recency bias. Take out the last half of 2015 (which I know is very hard to do) and he’s right up there with Price and Greinke. Yes, he’s that good. You can argue that post trade deadline 2015 is his baseline now, because of age, injury, or what have you. But he’s got a career 3.30 ERA in one of the best hitting parks in the majors (122 ERA+, which is near identical to Price and Greinke), had a 6 WAR season to his credit, and isn’t 30 yet. Dude’s a top 5 pitcher in baseball.
Cueto is absolutely not a top 5 pitcher in baseball. From 2013 through 2015, Cueto has amassed 9.6 WAR, putting him 25th in baseball. Ranking him behind Lance Lynn, Tyson Ross, and Chris Archer. he’s a good pitcher, but hardly an ace.
Except WAR for pitchers is based on FIP and Cueto has outpitched his FIP in every year he’s been in the majors. FIP just doesn’t work for some pitchers and Cueto is one of those pitchers.
He got a ring and wants to chase another while getting his well-deserved coin. Contenders only for Cueto, not a team on the come up.
You’re crazy to think the D’backs won’t be contenders in 2016, especially if we sign Cueto
They aren’t contenders at all. Only a fool will think otherwise.
2nd best offense in the Nl, a pretty solid bullpem, + Cueto = Not contenders at all?? LOL
Of course, you’re probably one of those people who don’t know who David Peralta or Ender Inciarte are.
Inciarte is a league average player. Peralta’s better, but this is still a 2 1/2 player team (Goldschmidt, Pollock, Peralta) with a rotation that boasts Robby Ray as their #2, and an awful bullpen. That’s a 500 team if everything goes right. And they have the Dodgers and Giants in their division.
That “league average player” has 9.0 bWAR over the last two seasons. Peralta racked up 53 XBH and an .893 OPS. In addition to that, they have an average third baseman in Jared Lamb and a catcher with power in Castillo. Fill in the middle infield, and that’s the best offense in the NL.
The pitching is in need of far more attention. They need 2 starting pitchers and at least 2 relief arms to get into contention. That’s not going to happen in one year, but if the D-Backs grab a 1/2 starter this offseason, there will be plenty of relief options on the market next year and an opportunity to go after a cheaper 2/3 option. That’s a more or less complete team, on a budget.
they aren’t favorites by any means but they are a team on the cusp of being a contender, I wouldn’t be shocked at all if they finished ahead of the dodgers next year
Very generous offer by the Arizona Diamondbacks. I thought that would’ve been enough to sign Johnny Cueto, but I can see Cueto and his agent’s reasoning in waiting to be second pickings to David Price / Zack Greinke.
It was a good offer, but I think he made the correct decision turning it down. I think he will get Lester money. I would bet his threshold to accept would be 6/140.
Its amazing to think these guys are rejecting $120 mm deals, there are lotsa people around the world who would greatly appreciate that money
Things are finally getting interesting…
2 months later….”I was just playin, diamondbacks.” – Johnny Cueto
Man the Dbacks are an amateurish sieve. With what other team would we know that they got rejected on a major offer to a free agent?
Can 21st century players get any more greedy? Wait….there are dumb questions.
You’d rather the owners keep the money? They aren’t going to pass it on to you in cheaper beer, that’s for sure!
Supply and demand, my friend. You’d do the same in his position- a position which, remember, he’s worked very hard to get to. He didn’t just fall backward into his paycheck
No lesson learned from ownership on the Bronson Arroyo deal… Except for this time they are willing to offer top dollar. This blows my mind! If they are willing to go after six years for Cueto at $20M/yr then grow up and get after other big fish… Or don’t mess Ian Kennedy up in the first place and already have him locked up for the next 2 years for$10-12M/yr. I think they could get a lot for A.J. Pollock right now and I would much rather have Carlos Carrasco than Johnny Cueto for the numbers on the table.
Cueto should have accepted this, I do not think that there is much better for him out there, he is injury prone and inconsistent. The D-backs would be crazy not trade AJ Pollock for Shelby Miller, Julio Teheran, and possibly one minor leaguer. All three have virtually the same contract, and then spend big money on an outfielder instead of a pitcher. I would rather have cespedes than cueto any day.
Ace money yet he’s not one
1. Thats not ace money. Ace money is what Price and Greinke are about to get and what Scherzer got.
2. Cueto is a #1 pitcher.
Cueto’s career FIP- (park adjusted) is identical to Price’s and Greinke’s. And he’s younger than both.
the dodgers are looking to trade for shelby miller for joc pederson , if they get miller then they can forget bringing greinke back
Not surprising. Cueto is better than Zimmermann and doesn’t have a pick attatched to him. He should get more than that.
Also, I think there is a bad perception around Cueto after his terrible 2nd half last season. With the Reds, he was seen as one of the better pitchers in baseball.
Zimmermann is more consistent and Cueto had really bad stretches last year, which will take several teams off his list. Maybe Cueto has more upside (barely), but he has much more injury risk (at least at the front end of the contract).
I wouldnt say Cueto “barley” has more upside, Cueto is the better pitcher. Cueto is a #1/2 where as Zimm is more o f a #2/3. Cueto has typically been about a 4.5 win pitcher where as Zimm has been more of a 3.5 win pitcher.
Cueto has also topped 200 innings in 3 of the last 4 seasons so I wouldnt call him more of an injury risk than JZimm who has had TJS
Before Cueto got traded to the Royals, people were putting him in the same breath as Price and Greinke (and for good reason, he had an ERA in the 2’s for the 4th straight season)