The baseball season is nearly a third of the way complete, yet prized free agents Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel still remain unsigned.
Both pitchers could prove to be a valuable pieces to a contending team this year, but neither has been willing to come down from their asking price. This situation could be coming to a resolution soon though, as an important date in the baseball calendar is rapidly approaching.
The MLB Draft will begin next Monday, which is important for these players because both Keuchel and Kimbrel were extended qualifying offers by their former teams. Since they declined the qualifying offer, each player has draft pick compensation attached to them if they were to be signed prior to the MLB Draft. As long as they do not sign before 11:59 EST on June 2nd, that compensation will be nullified and teams will only have to spend money to acquire Keuchel or Kimbrel.
According to Keuchel’s agent, Scott Boras, the left-handed starting pitcher will not be on the open market for long as scouts have been flocking to his client.
Keuchel has reportedly been throwing simulated games to prepare himself for his MLB return and to showcase himself to scouts. Boras claimed that they had so many scouts at the game, that they had to open up a hot dog stand.
Boras clearly has incentive to create a narrative that teams are knocking down his door to sign Keuchel, but due to the lack of starting pitching depth around baseball, there is likely plenty of suitors for Keuchel’s services.
Two of the biggest potential suitors for Keuchel could be in the Mets division, as both the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves need the rotation help.
While the Mets were at one timed rumored to be interested in Keuchel, that signing does not seem likely at this point, especially with the recent uptick in performance by Jason Vargas. Vargas has allowed one run or less in four of his last five starts.
The impending signings of Keuchel and Kimbrel has been one of the biggest question marks to this season so far. Now we should finally be getting an answer to that question in the near future.
