Quote:
Originally Posted by jd1020
They signed Lester to a 150M contract and Heyward. Lester's contract is a bargain as far as pitchers of his caliber are concerned...
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Jon Lester - so good that his $150 million contract is 'a bargain'.
Jose Quintana - 'nothing special'.
Jon Lester's WAR over the last 5 years - 16. Jose Quintana' WAR - 19. Average fastball velocities are virtually indistinguishable. Respective arsenals are extremely similar. In terms of park/league adjusted ERA, Quintana has had better seasons in 2 of his 4 full seasons and in total there within percentage points of each other with Lester having a slight edge. Park/league adjusted FIP tightens up even more and still has a 2/2 split with Quintana now a tick ahead of Lester.
Okay. We'll just chalk this bit of insanity into standard emotional fan responses. We all have them. If you want to continue to act like Quintana is Jaime Garcia or something, be my guest. But 'nothing special' isn't right - he's a damn good pitcher who'd probably get somewhere north of $25 million/season on the open market and you'd have to pay him for 2-3 years too long. You guys will pay $33 TOTAL for the next 3+ years, all of which are his prime season.
You got a hell of a lot of value here. It may still not work out - pitchers are volatile, but don't shortchange the return.