Earlier this year there were rumors suggesting Johnny Cueto was seeking a $200 million contract. When he was traded to the Kansas City Royals in July, he had the perfect opportunity to prove he's worth that amount of money. But his performance during the second half of the season has changed all of that.
Cueto has been one of the best starters in the MLB since 2011. He further displayed that in his first 19 starts with the Cincinnati Reds this year and went 7-6 with a 2.62 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 120 strikeouts in 130 2/3 innings. That helped the Reds obtain three top prospects for his services just before the trade deadline.
However, in 10 starts with the Royals, the right-hander is 2-6 with a 5.12 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 45 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings.
We wrote last week that the 29-year-old may be forced to sign a smaller contract in the offseason due to his performance, but it appears as if his health could become (or already is) a huge red flag for MLB clubs interested in him.
"Cueto has baseball people wondering again about the health of his elbow, among other issues," writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
Those "other issues" are his mechanics, confidence, ability to pitch under pressure and ability to pitch in the American League. Teams are likely concerned about these issues as well, but they can at least be mended in a timely fashion - unlike his health.
"A July 26th trade from the Reds to the Royals seemed beneficial to Cueto, who became ineligible for a qualifying offer. Cueto began his Royals stint with a 1.80 ERA over 30 innings, but since then, the wheels have come off," writes Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com, who moved Cueto down to No. 8 on his 2016 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings last week. "His ERA has risen a full run in that time, from 2.46 to 3.47. Perhaps something is wrong physically; you may recall Cueto went 13 days between starts this summer due to a sore elbow."
It certainly encouraging that Cueto had his best outing in weeks this past Saturday against the Detroit Tigers. He surrendered two earned runs on eight hits and one walk over seven innings of work, and although he didn't get the win, he appeared to have more control and better movement on his pitches.
However, Cueto will have to begin from scratch once again. Prior to the trade deadline when he missed a few starts due to elbow soreness, he had to prove he was healthy so the Reds could trade him. He did just that and went 3-1 with a 1.59 ERA in five starts.
More validating must come on his end between now and the offseason. Cueto will have to finish the regular season strong and grab a couple of wins in the postseason to silence the doubters this time around, which will be a much more difficult task.