After a midseason in which the White Sox traded away a good portion of their rotation and bullpen, many speculated if they would bring any of those players back in the offseason. This will not be the case for Lance Lynn and Reynaldo Lopez, as they agreed to deals with new teams yesterday.
It was reported yesterday that Reynaldo Lopez signed a 3/30 million dollar deal with the Atlanta Braves, joining former White Sox relief pitcher Aaron Bummer. This is a great deal for Lopez, as he finally gets to free agency and gets his payday. For the Braves, this is a bit of a head-scratcher. According to Sportrac, this deal brings the Braves to the highest amount of money spent on the bullpen, a staggering 42.4 million dollars. This is 23.5% of their payroll. White Sox fans know that this is not the way to build a team, as relief pitching as a whole is typically inconsistent. To make matters worse for the Braves is the fact that this is the year that Lopez is making the least amount of money. He will only make 4 million this year, compared to 11 for the next two years. The bullpen salary will only go up for them.
While there are reports that the Braves are going to stretch Lopez out to be a starter, I’m not sure how effective that will be, considering he has not started consistently in a few years. If they are successful, I cannot imagine that he is much more than a back-of-the-rotation arm, which would be a bit pricy for 10 million averaged out annually.
However, if Lopez turned out to be a frontline starter, this would be a great deal. I just don’t see that happening. He last started consistently in the majors in 2019 where he was one of the worst starting pitchers. He gave up the most earned runs and gave up 35 home runs, not great. He bounced back and forth to the minors after that but finally realized his potential as a starter/two-inning guy in 2021. That should be his role, as that is what has worked recently for him.
Overall, this deal is a bit pricey, not this year, but especially the years where he is making 11 million. He has shown he cannot be an effective closer, but instead a very good middle relief pitcher. That is just a lot of money for a guy that does not close games. This is a great deal for Lopez himself though, and I am glad he got paid.
The other pitcher who was paid a decent sum of money is Lance Lynn. He agreed to a one-year deal worth 10 million, but according to Jeff Passan, it could make its way up to a 2-year, 26-million-dollar deal if the Caridnals exercise the option and he hits the performance boost escalators.
For Lynn, this is a nice little payday and he gets to go back to where he started his career. This is a deal in which the Cardinals hope he bounces back and pitches like his 2021 version. He has not been that guy for a while, but he was much better on the Dodgers after the trade away from the Sox last year.
At this point, assuming he is closer to the Dodgers version, he is nothing more than a back-of-the-rotation arm. I am not sure what direction the Cardinals are trying to go, but this could work out for them if he pitches like they think he can. Payroll does not seem to be an issue for the Cardinals, as 10 million for a back-of-the-rotation arm should won’t break the bank, but it is not necessarily the smartest of moves, especially for a team that finished in last place in their division.
This is a solid amount of money for Lynn and I hope that he can bounce back, as he really was fun to watch for a bit on the White Sox.
It is nice to see some movement on the free agent market, so hopefully the rest of the league follows suit and there is a flurry of signings.
