In December, Joe Saunders was non-tendered by a Diamondbacks team that wasn't wild about the idea of paying him something like eight million dollars. Saunders thus became a free agent. But don't you feel bad for Joe Saunders. Joe Saunders will be just fine. From Ken Rosenthal:
Joe Saunders Receiving Assortment Of Offers
Saunders and his agent would like a three-year deal. Saunders and his agent probably will not find a three-year deal, but it is not impossible. As for the Marlins, there’s recent word that they’re not very interested, but, who knows?
I think Saunders catches a lot of flak from the online baseball community. People are still laughing about his won/loss records back in the day with the Angels. But over the past three years, Saunders has posted the same ERA as Bronson Arroyo. He's posted about the same FIP as Ross Ohlendorf. He's posted the same xFIP as J.A. Happ. He's posted about the same strikeout rate as Jason Marquis. And he's posted the same walk rate as Dave Bush. When you consider that company, then - oh wait, I get it. Joe Saunders isn't very good! And he's 30 now!
Joe Saunders is a back-of-the-rotation starter. If nothing else, he’s durable - he’s made at least 31 starts in each of the last four seasons, and he’s only once been on the DL, for about the minimum amount of time. There is some value there. There’s just...there’s just not very much. I should hope that Joe Saunders doesn’t get a three-year contract, unless he gets a three-year contract worth one- or two-year contract money.
See More:
More in: Joe Saunders Heads Back To Arizona
