And the flip side is how the "hit" rate for these deals compares to the more lucrative deals pitchers have signed the last few years. Without looking too hard into it, I'd wager they're pretty similar - of course, there are more opportunities for a long-term deal to go south, so maybe that's kind of misleading.They're not alone in that strategy!
LAD one-year SP deals since 2020:
Alex Wood, Jimmy Nelson, Clayton Kershaw (2), Tyler Anderson, Andrew Heaney, Danny Duffy, Noah Syndergaard
SFG one-year SP deals since 2020:
Kevin Gausman (2), Tyler Anderson, Drew Smyly, Alex Wood, Anthony DeSclafani, Aaron Sanchez, Carlos Rodón, Matthew Boyd, Jakob Junis
BOS one-year SP deals since 2020:
Martin Pérez (2), Garrett Richards, Michael Wacha, Rich Hill, James Paxton*, Corey Kluber
Kershaw someone skews the equation there but he counts. The Giants struck gold with Gausman and Rodón.
The results haven't been terrific for Boston, but I don't think it's an awful strategy. Particularly if there's still bruising after the Sale and Price deals.
But just off the top of my head, though, I think about Seattle giving a huge deal to Robbie Ray when - last year, anyway! - they probably would have been better off just sticking with Tyler Anderson and reallocating the money elsewhere. Toronto got a good year out of Gausman but a lousy one out of Berrios. Texas spent a ton of money on its rotation, but would it surprise anyone if Eovaldi and deGrom missed significant time and Perez and Heaney couldn't recapture last year's successes? It would not.