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As the pitching dominoes have started to fall in free agency, Nathan Eovaldi is starting to see his market develop with two playoff contenders interested in the veteran right-hander.
Per MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, the Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles are among the teams that are intrigued by Eovaldi.
The first notable free-agent starter came off the board on Monday when Yusei Kikuchi agreed to a three-year, $63 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
Things hit another level for the market late Tuesday night when the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers got Blake Snell to agree to a five-year, $182 million contract, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Jorge Castillo.
Snell’s deal includes roughly $62 million in deferred money, which brings the net present value of the contract to around $162.5 million over five years.
Spotrac @spotrac
With $62M of his 5 year, $182M contract deferred, Blake Snell stands to account for an estimated $32.5M against the #Dodgers tax payroll for the next 5 seasons.
LAD now projects toward a league-high $304M tax payroll for 2025 (but are very much not done).
This is going to be of interest to Eovaldi as he negotiates a contract. He was never going to get a deal in the same ballpark as Snell, but the average annual value of his deal when he does sign could be impacted by these other contracts.
Kikuchi’s deal with the Angels, in particular, is probably close to the type of deal Eovaldi can seek. Eovaldi is a year older than Kikuchi (34 to 33), but his track record in MLB is superior.
Since 2019, when Kikuchi came to MLB from Japan, Eovaldi’s ERA is more than half a run better (3.96 to 4.57). Kikuchi does have an edge in innings pitched (809.2 to 722.1) because Eovaldi has been susceptible to injuries throughout his career.
Both the Orioles and Braves need to come out of this offseason with at least one pitcher, ideally a frontline starter. The Orioles may lose their ace with Corbin Burnes being a free agent and likely looking at a contract of at least $200 million.
The Braves have already said Spencer Strider won’t be ready for the start of next season after undergoing internal brace surgery on his elbow in April. They are also in danger of losing Max Fried in free agency.
Eovaldi isn’t a No. 1 starter at this point in his career, but he’s a quality mid-rotation option for a playoff contender going into 2025. He had a 3.80 ERA with 166 strikeouts in 170.2 innings for the Texas Rangers last season.
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