Diamondbacks linked to free agent pitcher Bronson Arroyo
Dec 26, 2013, 8:36 PM | Updated: 8:39 pm
Free agent pitcher Bronson Arroyo is without contract after turning down a two-year deal at baseball’s winter meetings, according to a report by ESPN.
Arroyo, who turns 37 in February, has been in the big leagues for 14 seasons, spending the last eight with the Cincinnati Reds. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick said the pitcher is seeking a three-year deal and is a potential fit with all of the Los Angeles Angels, Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks, along with the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates, who originally drafted Arroyo in 1995.
The remaining free agent pitchers — Matt Garza, A.J. Burnett, Jason Hammel, Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana and Masahiro Tanaka — will inevitably play a major role in the market for Arroyo.
With a lifetime 138-127 record and a 4.19 ERA, Arroyo is hardly the most attractive of free agent pitchers available, especially considering his age.
Arroyo is 6-5 in 13 career starts at Chase Field, posting a 4.52 ERA in 83.2 total innings pitched at the venue. Since 2000, only two pitchers have allowed more home runs than the right-hander, who has given up 314 longballs in his career.
An innings-eater, Arroyo has tossed 200 innings or more in all but one of his last nine seasons — only failing to do so in 2011, when he managed to throw 199.0 innings.
Last season, Arroyo went 14-12 with a 3.79 ERA — similar to his 2012 campaign, which resulted in a 12-10 win-loss record and 3.74 ERA.
Arroyo was once in All-Star, in 2006 when he tossed a league-high 240.2 innings for the Reds.
