One free agent each MLB team should sign right now

Los Angeles Dodgers: Jake Arrieta

The Dodgers were involved with Yu Darvish throughout his free agency before he ultimately signed with the Cubs. He reportedly received an offer from Los Angeles in the neighborhood of six  years and $100 million. That wasn’t enough to keep Darvish, and it won’t be enough to land Jake Arrieta.

Los Angeles is clearly not completely content to stand pat with their current roster if they were willing to make a nine-figure offer to Darvish. The Dodgers have shied away from going that long with free-agent pitchers, but could consider making a shorter offer with a higher annual value to woo Arrieta.

Arrieta is not viewed as enthusiastically by the analytics community — of which the Dodgers are a leader — as Darvish. He does not project as well into his mid-thirties because of his command issues and reliance on fastball movement to generate weak contact. Strikeouts are not Arrieta’s game, even when he was running away with the NL Cy Young in 2015.

Instead of going out to six guaranteed years, the Dodgers should consider offering Arrieta five years with a higher AAV and a vesting option for a sixth year and plenty of incentives and bonuses for good performance. Last year was a dream season for the Dodgers, and the rest of the National League continues to improve. The Dodgers need a splashy move to complete their offseason, and Jake Arrieta is the best choice left on the market.