Garrett Richards to San Diego: 2 years, $15 million

The San Diego Padres and free agent pitcher Garrett Richards have reportedly agreed to a two year, $15 million deal. Richards had Tommy John surgery in July, 2018, and likely won’t be available until September, 2019, at the earliest.

Its a significant investment for a pitcher who is not likely to give you much, if anything, until 2020, but there were apparently numerous teams interested. Richards has great stuff, but he’s had issues staying healthy, only making 30 starts once in his career, in 2015. He made six starts in both 2016 and 2017, and then 16 starts last year.

We had discussed Richards as someone the Rangers might be interested, but at $15 million — with incentives that could up it to $18 million, apparently — the team can probably find better ways to spend that money.