MLB Free Agency: Bronson Arroyo draws interest from two more teams

Listen, I understand the issue with draft-pick compensation. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, if a player declines a qualifying offer from his current team and opts for free agency, it will cost his new team a compensatory draft pick.

Even still, I would be miffed if I was a free agent starting pitcher like Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana, or Matt Garza (and Garza won’t even cost his new team a pick). Inconsistent though those three guys can be, they are still relatively proven guys with top-of-the-rotation stuff. Yet they find themselves with almost no interest in the free agent market while two other starting pitchers get all the love.

Masahiro Tanaka has a strangle hold on things because of sustained hype and his age, but he is still somewhat unproven. And then there is Bronson Arroyo, who seemingly has half of the league interested in him despite a 5.5 K/9 in 2013.

Nick Cafardo has the latest update on Arroyo’s market:

"Action was picking up on Arroyo by Friday afternoon. Two new teams were involved, according to a source close to the situation. Arroyo was still seeking three years, and at least one team was moving closer to offering a deal for that third year, either through a vesting option or straight up.”"

The Minnesota Twins have reportedly been consistent in their interest in Arroyo. Throughout the off-season the Baltimore Orioles have been linked to him as well, and Cafardo notes that the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies are now interested (in addition to the two “mystery teams”).

Arroyo makes sense for many teams, especially those like the Orioles or the Yankees, because he has a high floor. Even with a low ceiling, teams know they can count him to keep them in games and get them close to 200 innings for the season. There’s a lot of value in that, and right now it is more appealing than the boom or bust free agents on the market.