Dallas Keuchel is a former Cy Young Award winner who has been one of the better pitchers in baseball for several seasons now, which is why it is somewhat surprising that he remains a free agent as January nears. Asking price could have a lot to do with that.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported on Friday that the Philadelphia Phillies have been pursuing Keuchel, but they do not want to give the left-hander the five-year contract he has been seeking.
Sources: #Phillies pursuing Dallas Keuchel but thus far have been unwilling to meet Keuchel's request of a 5-year contract. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 28, 2018
Keuchel will turn 31 on Jan. 1, and his ERA jumped from 2.90 in 2017 to 3.74 in 2018. He made 34 starts for the Astros and threw over 200 innings, but his strikeout numbers were down a bit to 6.7 per nine innings and his 1.31 WHIP was his highest in six years. It’s possible teams view those as signs that he could be losing effectiveness, but Keuchel remains an elite talent who can be virtually unhittable when at his best.
While a recent report indicated that Keuchel wants to pitch in a big market, he may have to take less than a five-year contract to make that happen. Big-market teams would probably prefer to commit more dollars to him over a shorter span than be paying him when he’s 35, and it sounds like the Phillies are of that mindset.
