Stud right-hander Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs has looked like the most dominant pitcher in Major League Baseball this year. With a 5-0 record to go along with a 1.00 ERA, a 0.78 WHIP, and 32 strikeouts in his first five starts, Arrieta is somehow managing to top a 2015 campaign in which he beat out the likes of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke to win the NL Cy Young Award. But with Arrieta already 30 years old and arbitration-eligible in 2017, it raises the question: how much is he exactly worth in the long-term aggregate?
According to a report by Jon Heyman of MLB Network on Friday, the Cubs and Arrieta are far apart in contract extension talks with Arrieta supposedly wanting a seven-year deal but the Cubs only putting an offer for four years on the table. Heyman also notes that there is no optimism that a long-term agreement will be reached any time soon.
as said on @MLBNetwork, arrieta and cubs are apart in contract talks (4 years vs. 7) no optimism for long deal soon.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) April 29, 2016
While Arrieta’s numbers more than speak for themselves, he has suffered in the past from shoulder inflammation as well as bone spurs in his pitching elbow that required surgery back in 2011. Still, we’ve seen similarly-dominant pitchers who are even older than Arrieta command six- and seven-year deals in the very recent past (see: Greinke, Zack and Price, David).
For Arrieta, who just threw the second no-hitter of his career last week and was subsequently flattered by PED accusations, there’s no rush to get a long-term deal done right now. But if the Cubs want to keep him in the Windy City for as long as possible, it’s probably time to start thinking about ponying up some serious dough, especially if Arrieta keeps up this torrid pace.
H/T theScore
