I have no interest in Arrieta. His numbers suggest a steady decline into the twi-light of a bloated contract. Lynn I like much more, both for price and potential.
That said, the Crew has some excellent trade bait in the OF. Acquiring a front line starter through the trade route is much more appealing to me than signing a FA, especially for a starting pitcher.
Let's face it: small market teams have a 2-3 year window to try and win it all once they've got their re-build chips in order. Having a FA SP on a 5-7 year deal for 120 million plus is not a good fit for the Brewers' strategic direction IMO. What good is an old, untradeable Arrieta to the Crew in 3 years time? At that point, he'll be consuming 33% of their annual payroll.
Agreed on the Cubs and the overpayment/length of contract. But I guess for a cashed up team, it's SOP. 3 years from now when Yu is ragged and posting 4+ era's, they can cut him and sign the next guy.....maybe the Mets can pull an Adrien Gonzalez then and pick him up for the minimum, lol.
