PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – One of the veteran baseball writers reports the Pirates are going after a big fish, this time a starting pitcher.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports GM Ben Cherington has emerged ‘as an aggressive suitor’ for veteran left-handed pitcher Framber Valdez.
His value is in the $30 million range and reports he was looking for something in the neighborhood of three years, $90 million. Likely his contract value has dipped, to that point, the Reds signed Eugenio Suarez last week for $15 million, much less than expected.
The 32-year-old has pitched his entire eight-year career with the Astros going 81-52, 3.36 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and an 18.9 WAR. Last season he was 13-11, 3.66 ERA, 31 starts, 192 innings, 187 strikeouts, 68 walks, 1.24 WHIP and a 3.8 WAR. He had the highest ERA he’s had since 2019, the most walks of his career and led the league in wild pitches.
Valdez was sitting at a 2.62 ERA heading into August and in the last two months of the season, he had six outings giving up at least four runs. In September he was 1-4 with a 6.51 ERA and 1.59 WHIP.