Five pitchers - Corey Kluber, Joe Musgrove, Joey Lucchesi, Jon Lester and Tyler Chatwood- will be pitching for new teams in 2021.
Several days ago, Kluber reportedly signed a 1-year contract with the New York Yankees worth $11 million. Today, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Musgrove to the San Diego Padres in a deal which also involved the New York Mets who acquired Joey Lucchesi while the Bucs get five prospects.
Tonight, two former Chicago Cubs pitchers signed free agent contracts. Lester signed a one year deal with the Washington Nationals for an undisclosed amount with a mutual option for 2022 while Chatwood signed a one year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays worth $3 million.
All five pitchers had down seasons in 2020.
Kluber, 34, was one of the best pitchers in the AL between 2014 and 2018 winning two AL Cy Youngs in 2014 and 2017 with the Cleveland Indians, was plagued with injuries during the 2019 season. After picking up his option for 2020, the Tribe traded Kluber to the Texas Rangers for whom he threw one inning. I understand the Yankees wanting to seek out a veteran like Kluber with the imminent departure of Masahiro Tanaka. Aside from Gerrit Cole, the Yankees are relying on the unproven Jordan Montgomery, Deivi Garcia and Jonathan Loaisiga and the unpredictable Domingo German. It remains to be seen if Kluber can be healthy much less return to his Cy Young form.
While Musgrove earned a World Series ring with the Houston Astros in 2017, he has never had a winning season in five major league campaigns. In 8 starts with the Bucs in 2020, Musgrove went 1-5 with a 3.86 ERA. However, Musgrove, who turned 28 last month, will be pitching in his hometown and will be the in the middle of a rotation with the likes of newly acquired Blake Snell and Yu Darvish. Perhaps this will be a breakthrough season for Musgrove. Joey Lucchesi was part of the Padres rotation in 2018 and 2019 but was the odd man out in 2020 recording a 7.94 ERA in three appearances last season. It is not clear if Lucchesi, 27, will be in the Mets starting rotation or start the season in the bullpen.
After six seasons with the Cubs during which he earned his third World Series ring, Jon Lester joins the Nats' starting rotation as well as former Cubs teammate Kyle Schwarber who signed with D.C. last week. Lester, who turned 37 earlier this month, recorded a career high ERA of 5.16. As recently as 2018, Lester led the NL in wins with 18. However, it would appear Lester is at the tail end of an illustrious career which is closing in on 200 career wins. Lester could be still a good piece in the middle of rotation which includes Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. But I would say the jury is out.
Tyler Chatwood returns to the AL for the first time since his rookie season of 2011 when he was with the Los Angeles Angels. After five seasons with the Colorado Rockies and the past three with the Cubs, the 31-year old Chatwood will join the Blue Jays rotation. In five appearances with the Cubs in 2020, Chatwood went 2-2 with a 5.30 ERA.
It will be interesting to see which, if any of these five pitchers rebounds in 2021.
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