Latest Predictions on Top Starting Pitchers

Price is in line to win his second Cy Young Award after going 18-5 with an AL-best 2.45 ERA while leading the Blue Jays to their first postseason berth since 1993.

Price will be 31 years old next summer, and concerns of signing starters his age to long-term deals are warranted, But there’s always a team with financial ability that takes a leap, a la Lester ($155 million over six years) and the Nationals’ Max Scherzer ($210 million over seven years).

The $200 million figure that Scherzer and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw hauled has been thrown around Price’s conversation since as early as February.

Price said this summer he’ll place a premium on signing with a contender “able to win now and in the years in the future,” and the Cubs are a perfect embodiment.

While Kershaw struggled through the first half and Hyun-jin Ryu weathered ongoing injury, Greinke kept the Dodgers afloat and finished with the majors’ lowest ERA (1.66) in 20 years.

…one GM suggested he should get multiple offers for $125 million over five years, at a minimum, with the likely winning bid at about $150 million over five years, or perhaps even more.

Kansas City is in the ALCS for the second-straight year, has a great clubhouse and ambitious general manager in Dayton Moore, but Cueto will likely be out of its price range.

Regardless of how the rest of the postseason plays out for Cueto, the contract that Cueto can realistically expect to land in free agency is likely very similar to the the seven-year, $155 million deal Masahiro Tanaka signed with the New York Yankees after leaving Japan for MLB prior to the 2014 season.

Cueto, who turns 30 in February, finished second in the NL Cy Young voting in 2014 and led the NL in starts twice in three years, but missed significant time in 2013 with an elbow injury.

As Heyman reported, the Yankees will be in the market for pitching this offseason, and Cueto wouldn’t be out of their price range.