The price of pitching continues to rise

NASHVILLE - Baseball's Winter Meetings return to Nashville, the place where Kevin Brown made contract history in December 1998, signing a seven-year, $105 million contract to pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The news of Brown's contract, which beat the previous record of the Mets' seven-year deal worth $91 million for Mike Piazza a few months earlier, stunned the meetings and the general thought was that the industry was going broke. Brown also got 12 airline trips a year for his family to fly from Macon, Ga., to L.A.

Back then, nobody knew where the money madness was going to end.

Apparently, it hasn't.

These days, top-notch pitchers are going for twice what Brown made with the Dodgers. David Price got $217 million from Boston and Zack Greinke got $206.5 million from the Diamondbacks, who say they aren't done signing pitchers. Former National Jordan Zimmermann got $110 million from Detroit, but had he not signed so quickly, he might have gotten more money.

And what happens if a pitcher is coming off the worst year of his career, a la Jeff Samardzija?

Well, the Giants gave Samardzija, 30, a right-hander, a $90 million contract to pitch in the rotation behind Madison Bumgarner.

Samardzija won 11 games for the White Sox in 2015 with a 4.96 ERA. The Giants like that he's pitched at least 200 innings in each of the last three seasons and say his rough numbers are a result of instability, given he's pitched for the Cubs, Athletics and White Sox since the beginning of 2014.

And the Giants say a few mechanical adjustments will fix Samardzija.

The spiraling cost of pitching is good news for free agent starters Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake and Wei-Yin Chen, and the cost of pitching is going to be a major theme when the Winter Meetings get going Monday.

Cueto, 30, who has already turned down $120 million from Arizona, has a 3.30 career ERA and had a so-so finish after a trade to Kansas City.

Leake, 28, who started with the Reds in 2010, has a career 3.88 ERA and had a 4.07 ERA in nine starts for the Giants down the stretch in 2015.

The Yankees and Dodgers are apparently in the market for Chen.

The most interesting free agent might be Ben Zobrist, who does everything well. He plays all positions, except pitcher and catcher. He hit .284 with a .367 on-base percentage and seven home runs.

The Nationals reportedly are bidding for his services with three other teams, the Giants, Braves and Mets. And while the Nationals could use Zobrist, he's 34 and it will be interesting to see if he gets the four years and gigantic raise that he wants.

Zobrist made $7 million last season and reportedly wants to be in the $30-$40 million range. That's a lot for a utility player in his mid-30s.

The best guess is that the Nationals will balk at a four-year contract for Zobrist.

Around the American League East, the question swirling around the Orioles is whether they will keep Chris Davis and add a starter. Toronto and New York each need pitching.

Tampa Bay has already acquired shortstop Brad Miller, first baseman Logan Morrison and relief pitcher Danny Farquhar. The Rays say they will listen to trades, but would be comfortable starting spring training with their current roster.

The Red Sox, too, are going to be quiet unless they can trade Hanley Ramirez and Pedro Sandoval.

In the National League East, the Nationals are linked to Reds closer Aroldis Chapman. And whether or not they add pitching depth is a source of conversation. Will Tanner Roark and Joe Ross be enough at the back of the rotation?

The Mets are looking for bats and could trade pitcher Steven Matz. The Phillies are trying to rebuild their nucleus and the Marlins likely won't do much, given they made big splashes a year ago. The Marlins need health.

The Braves have been wheeling and dealing for months, and the talk is that they'd trade pitcher Shelby Miller for the right package of players.

The "right package of players," however, is open to debate - just like every other topic at the Winter Meetings.