Proven Veteran Starters

Every winter, major league teams spend a lot of money on free agent pitchers. It doesn’t even matter if those pitchers are good or not – because they’ve survived at least six years in the majors to achieve free agency, they receive the proven veteran label, and teams fight for the right to lean on that kind of experience. One of the main reasons we’re told that veteran starters are so important is because young pitching is too inconsistent and unpredictable, and having proven veterans on your staff prevents the kind of disaster performances that scared minor league kids can give.

Now, with that in mind, here’s a list of the worst pitchers in baseball this season, sorted by WPA.

Miguel Batista, -2.86 WPA
Brett Myers, -2.62 WPA
Ian Snell, -2.54 WPA
Barry Zito, -2.20 WPA
Andrew Miller, -2.04 WPA

Zito, of course, signed the largest contract in history for a free agent pitcher. Batista signed a 3 year, $24 million deal before the 2007 season. Myers signed a 3 year, $25 million contract that bought out his final arbitration years and his first year of free agency. Snell signed a 3 year, $9 million deal to buy out his first few arbitration years and gave Pittsburgh team options that could eliminate his initial free agent season.

Andrew Miller is the only unproven youngster of the bunch.

Last winter was a perfect example of this phenomenon. Carlos Silva, Kenny Rogers, and Livan Hernandez were paid a combined $25 million for the 2008 season (and Silva was given a lot more beyond that). Those three are being outpitched by every inexperienced minor leaguer their team has brought up this season.

Need more evidence? The Twins traded away Johan Santana and let Silva leave via free agency, replacing them with unproven youngsters Nick Blackburn and Glen Perkins. The Twins team ERA has gone down after losing their two veteran horses, and they’re contending on the strength of a pitching staff of inexperienced youngsters. The Mets and Mariners, the two recipients of these proven veterans, have had disappointing first halves.

The idea that championship clubs are built on the backs of proven veteran starters is a massive myth, perpetuated by out of touch old men and the equally outdated writers to talk to them. “Proven veteran” has become a synonym for “old and crappy”, and as better front offices take hold in MLB, we’ll see teams that cling to these cliches continue to finish in last place, shocked that the experience they built their team around failed to bring them success.