Dallas Keuchel may not be what he once was but should still be a valuable pick up for nearly every rotation across the league.

Given that fact, the likely hood of him signing in Pittsburgh is slim but he is one of the better options after Madison with Odorizzi now off the table and also having an estimated contract of an average of 13M/year. That would fit pretty nicely in the event the Pirates make a push in 2020.

Dallas, not thrilled with last years free agent market or the owners predictable turn on free agents he decided to sit out and wait for a better deal that never came. After his quality offer penalty expired Atlanta picked him up on what amounted to slightly over half a season.

Taking into account sitting out half of last season, over the past season and a half Dallas has averaged nearly six innings over 53 starts with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Not overly impressive but at the very least give a good amount of innings of not bad play. He is also a lefty which is nice as the only other starting lefty option is Brault. His ability and being a lefty makes him a good fit for the rotation. I don’t know much about his personality beyond him sitting out last season but I doubt it will be an issue on the field.

MLB:TR predicts a three year $39m contract which seems pretty reasonable for all sides. However to get someone like him, the team would likely need to over pay a bit. This would make his signing even more less likely from the Pirates side, but still… not totally out of the realm of possibility.

I could go as high as three year $39m with two team options at $15m and $16m with a buy out of $2.5M each year guaranteeing him at least $44m over three years, a $14.6m average. Over five years $14m slightly less average but pretty fair paydays for a pitcher in his mid 30s.

Not overly expensive, but maybe a bit out of the Pirates reach. But if they’re going to fill the cracks in on the roster and attempt to make a run he is a good fit at a fair price.