Throughout parts of Nestor Cortes’ career with the New York Yankees, prior to trading him to the Milwaukee Brewers in a deal for Devin Williams, he was one of the better left-handed starters in Major League Baseball.
Unfortunately for Cortes, things haven't exactly been great for him over the past few seasons, dealing with injuries and simply not throwing the baseball at the level he was expected to.
Some believe that the pitch clock messed up Cortes a ton, which might be tough to ignore considering he's struggled ever since.
Can Padres afford Nestor Cortes?
Now with the San Diego Padres, and injured once again, his free agency outlook is tough to get a feel for. Some believe that the Padres won't bring him back because of Mason Miller, including Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com.
With the addition of Miller at the trade deadline, that already has an impact on Cortes, without even factoring in this new injury.
“The flamethrowing right-hander has given San Diego’s bullpen another electric arm, though it remains to be seen how long he’ll actually stay there. No, Miller isn’t going anywhere -- he’s controllable through 2029 -- but there have been rumblings that the Padres could consider transitioning him back to the rotation in the future.
“With Dylan Cease, Michael King and the newly acquired Nestor Cortes all nearing free agency, how the Friars decide to proceed with Miller could have a major impact on their approach to the starting pitching market this offseason,” he wrote.
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With injuries and other things in play, it'll be interesting to see the type of contract he gets. When examining what it could be, Spotrac had a massive number, predicting him to sign a $40.5 million deal over three seasons.
As many Yankee fans saw, and while it's tough to ignore what Cortes could be if he throws the baseball how he did in the past, he simply isn't the arm he once was.
It'd be very tough to justify giving him that much money in free agency, unless a team is truly desperate and believes the health problems are behind them.