Name the player who would come up and give you similar numbers for an entire season. I bet you can't. And that's the problem. Maybe *someone* could do it, but you don't know who, and it might take all season to figure out who it is. There's value in predictability and a known quantity. Plus upside if he performs like last year
If Harrell pitches like he did last year he is probably getting released. I think Feldman is a servable starter, but its crazy to give a .500 pitcher 10 million a year. This move proves why its best to draft and develop your own pitchers, because when you have to acquire them in free agency you always end up overpaying.
old, injury-prone, and "finally putting it together" meant 150 innings. Unlikely that he'd be able to replicate that, health-wise. Also couldn't even get through 5 innings in most starts, which taxes the bullpen even more than it already is on a bad team Plus the possibility that Feldman's season last year was actual improvement once he became a 100% starter. In which case he'd be WAY better than Bedard, even if Bedard could stay healthy
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Feldman has passed his physical. Deal with <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Astros&src=hash">#Astros</a> official.</p>— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/statuses/409731078967283712">December 8, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
At first glance, I really don't know about this move. It seems like a major overpay. But I trust Lunhow.
But Feldman has never been an innings eater himself. Bedard has actually been healthy the last couple of years. Most players don't suddenly find themselves at 30.
If think it's an overpay, check out all the other FA pitcher signings this offseason. Feldman actually appears to be slightly under the market rate.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>scott feldman received a frontloaded contract. $12M in '14, $10M in '15, $8M in '16. $30M over 3 yrs in total. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23astros&src=hash">#astros</a></p>— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/statuses/421651981992603650">January 10, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Smart move. I still don't like $30M for Scott Feldman, but that was going to be true of almost every pitcher available. Just have to accept they get paid.
Nice contract. It keeps the $$$ in line with his value as he gets older, and it also has a nice PR benefit of making the payroll seem larger next year. That doesn't matter a lot to me, but it does matter a lot of locals.
