Johnny Cueto rejects $120 million offer from Diamondbacks
Major League Baseball’s hot stove season continues to heat up, although it’s most recent development sees a player actually move away from inking a lucrative contract.
According to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, free agent pitcher Johnny Cueto rejected an offer from the Arizona Diamondbacks that would be worth $120 million over six years. The Diamondbacks have prioritized adding a frontline starting pitcher to its staff this winter, and have made the former Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals pitcher its top priority.
Arizona general manager Dave Stewart traveled to meet with Cueto in the Dominican Republic, where Cueto turned down the offer over the past week. The indications offered by Stewart on the meetings with Cueto and his agent Bryce Dixon is that it was not location that was the issue, rather it was Cueto is seeking a more lucrative deal.
The idea that Cueto could be searching for more than the $20 million average annual value of the offer from Arizona is not surprising. The reports come on the same day that pitcher Jordan Zimmermann agreed to terms with the Detroit Tigers on a five year, $120MM deal.
Zimmermann and Cueto were generally viewed as the top pitching options available on the open market this winter behind Zack Greinke and David Price. With Zimmermann’s pact bringing him home an average of $22MM per year, it is likely that Cueto is looking to strike a mark closer to the range that Price and Greinke are rumored to be able to land, which could approach the $30 million mark, annually.
Arizona has looked to stay below the $20 million mark in addressing their pitching search, and the offer to Cueto shows willingness to adjust to what the market is demanding. It is unclear about if this is their financial roof to pursue Cueto or any other option this winter, but Stewart has indicated that the team will regroup regarding Cueto in light of him declining this offer.
The $120 million offer would far surpass the largest contract in team history thus far, which was the six years and $68.5 million given to Yasmany Tomas last winter.
Cueto is one of the more interesting free agents in this year’s class, as he had drastically different splits after being dealt to Kansas City at the trade deadline. His ERA rose nearly two runs from 2.62 to 4.76 with Kansas City, while changes in approach regarding his pitch selection lead some observers to believe he could have been pitching through a reoccurrence of the elbow injury that sidelined him a few years ago.
However, he made all of his starts throughout the Royals’ run to a World Series victory and still is maintaining heavy interest from a number of suitors this winter. Overall in 2015, Cueto produced a 11-13 record, with a 3.44 ERA, while striking out 176.