Award in hand, Keuchel in line for contract talks
It’s hard to imagine flying higher than Dallas Keuchel will be this offseason, and he already took a trip in the cockpit of a stunt jet this fall.
Not only has the 27-year-old Astros ace won the American League Cy Young, he’s about to receive his first sevenfigure salary because he’s arbitration eligible for the first time in his career with three years of big league service time.
“Absolutely,” Keuchel said when asked if he’s thought of the life-changing money that awaits. “Going from minor league salary to a big league minimum is a huge jump, and (it also is) when you increase your salary (from) big league minimum and arbitration and past that.
“Steps and chapters in your life and the course of your career in baseball. I think it’s going to help me appreciate the game a little bit more. Because in this game, you’ve put in your time to get where you want to go. You get rewarded, little baby steps. I think it’s going to make me appreciate what I’ve done and what I want to do.”
Keuchel said he’s trying to stay even keeled. No matter what, his salary will be healthy this season — likely at least $6 million — and it’s possible it could be a lot more if he and the Astros work out a longterm deal.
Both sides expect discussions.
“When we’re talking about players entering arbitration, it’s natural that process will lead to some discussion of either doing a multiyear (deal) to buy out the arbitration or potential free-agent years,” general manager Jeff Luhnow said. “It becomes more challenging with a high-profile Cy Young award-winning type of player. But it doesn’t mean there won’t be discussions, but there may not be a deal. But certainly from our standpoint, we believe it’s worth having a discussion about it.”
Teams want long-term deals because they not only lock in prices, but because they often keep a player around beyond when he would normally hit free agency. If Keuchel isn’t locked up on a longterm deal, he’s in line to be a free agent after the 2018 season.
But delaying his free agency may be particularly unappealing for him because of his age. He’d already be in his 30s, later than is ideal for getting top dollar. So if a long-term deal was worked out, perhaps it’d be one that just stabilizes Keuchel’s salary for three years but doesn’t give the team any extra years of control.
As long as the team was OK with that.
“There’s a lot of variables,” Luhnow said. “If you have a player like him who is peaking, who is obviously having tremendous success right now and is three years away from free agency, when they come out, they’re going to be well positioned to get a very large deal if they continue to have success. Those are obviously considerations that he’s going to have to think through.”