It seems complaining has finally gotten Bronson Arroyo the attention he has been seeking. The starting pitcher has been hanging out on the free agent market for some time and with pitchers and catchers set to report in the coming weeks, he has been wondering why no one is calling his number. After pleading his case to ESPN.com, three teams have now thrown their name in the hat after Arroyo was forced to lower his contract demands.
The biggest hang up with Arroyo was his requests. Naturally, the veteran preferred a long-term contract with whichever team he signed with. The right-hander wanted a three-year contract while most teams are only offering a two-year deal.
The New York Post reports that due to lack of interest, Arroyo is no longer demanding a three-year deal. He is planning on meeting the market and only requesting two years and a salary worth $22 million. Arroyo is not planning on getting any lower than that. He felt his original asking price was extremely fair and could not understand why no team was accepting it.
"I get [Clayton] Kershaw," Arroyo said, via ESPN.com. "I get why he got all that money. But then you've got guys like Dice-K [Matsuzaka], who came over here and was good for the first couple years but then didn't pan out. And when he doesn't pan out, they all just forget and go on to the next guy who's not proven, and pay him. Meanwhile, they forget about guys like me, who have done the job for the last eight or 10 years, and treat them like they've never done anything in this game. That's hard, man."
USA Today's Bob Nightengale is reporting that because of the lowered demands, the Arizona Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles are now interested in Arroyo along with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The baseball insider notes that Arizona are slight favorites for the pitcher.
The lack of interest around Arroyo is puzzling. At 36, he has never been on the disabled list once in his career. He has logged at least 199 innings in each of the last nine seasons while keeping a solid ERA and strikeouts vs. balls ratio. The free agent is best suited for a ballpark that cuts down on home runs so the interest in Arizona makes sense.
It looks like Arroyo could be off the market within the week. While the pitcher has not actually received a formal offer from any of the three teams, his agent is beginning negotiations.
