Chicago Cubs: Predictions for the top 5 remaining free agents

Chicago Cubs: Am I the Tom Glavine of this generation?

After Scott Boras dubbed his client the Tom Glavine/Andy Pettitte of this generation, you can be sure he’s looking for some serious dough in free agency.  Dallas Keuchel has been a very consistent member of the starting rotation for the Houston Astros since 2014.

Many considered him the best pitcher on the market this offseason, and he’s left-handed. Although he’s 31, he is an extreme ground-ball pitcher who doesn’t throw harder than 90 MPH very often, meaning he could fare very well at an age when other harder-throwing pitchers usually decline due to drops in velocity.

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So again, why hasn’t he signed?  We’ve seen Patrick Corbin, Nathan Eovaldi and Charlie Morton already sign deals this offseason, leaving Keuchel as clearly the best option left.

Corbin signed a six-year, $140 million deal with the Nationals, Eovaldi signed a four-year, $67.5 million deal with the Red Sox and Morton signed a two-year deal with the Rays that will pay him $30 million.  J.A. Happ, who re-signed with the Yankees and represents another option for teams looking for pitching help, signed a two-year deal worth $34 million with a vesting option that could turn it into three years at $51 million.

Morton is 35, so he wasn’t getting a long deal. Ditto for Happ at 36. Eovaldi is 28, but had injury concerns.  Corbin is 29 and was the crown jewel of the offseason because of his age and production, but he’s probably not a lot different than Keuchel, just younger.  So, where does Keuchel compare and who is going to spend the money to get him? Will he get a Jake Arrieta like three-year,$75 million after looking for a lot more?

My hypothesis here: He splits the difference between the Arrieta deal and what he was supposedly looking for (five years) and Scott Boras sheepishly agrees to a four-year deal with the team who drafted him, the Astros.