Five MLB free agents who could have qualifying offer issues

Yovani Gallardo

Ian Kennedy isn’t the only right-hander that has seen his market take a turn for the worse this winter. Yovani Gallardo has found it equally difficult to find a buyer now that the big money players have seemingly closed up shop.

On the surface, Gallardo looks like an ideal rotation piece. He went 13-11 with a 3.42 ERA and a 4.00 FIP in 2015 while playing his home games in the hitter friendly Globe Life Park in Arlington. Additionally, he went over 180 innings pitched for the seventh straight season and kept his HR/FB rate at a respectable 0.74 last season.

The biggest detriment to Gallardo is that he just doesn’t miss enough bats. His K/9 ratio dipped for the third straight season, dropping to a career-low 5.91. At 29-years-old, Gallardo also watched his fastball velocity drop to a more mediocre 90.5 MPH.

While he’s struggled with diminishing raw stuff, Gallardo has become increasingly difficult to barrel-up. His groundball rate has hovered in the high 40% range for each of the last five seasons as he learns to pitch around contact.

While that might be showing a crafty pitcher in the works, teams aren’t so sure he can keep it up, especially if he continues to pitch in the American League. His stuff currently tracks as a mid-rotation arm, but his salary range projects higher. Add in draft pick compensation, and you can understand why teams have backed off a bit.

Gallardo tracks a lot like Kyle Lohse did in 2013. That winter the right-hander lingered on until the end of March until latching on with the Milwaukee Brewers. Gallardo may need to wait until camp gets started and hope for a similar break. Otherwise, it may be tough to find a good deal.