AP: Cubs ace Arrieta comments on Strasburg contract

CHICAGO – Cubs ace Jake Arrieta saw the numbers for Stephen Strasburg’s new contract with Washington. He wasn’t surprised at all.

Arrieta is one of several players potentially affected by Strasburg’s $175 million, seven-year deal with the Nationals, preventing the right-hander from testing free agency after this season. Arrieta avoided arbitration with a $10.7 million, one-year deal with Chicago in February and isn’t eligible for free agency until 2018, but he is taking stock of the landscape around the game.

“I feel like every year it goes up slightly,” Arrieta said before Wednesday’s doubleheader against San Diego. “This year’s free-agent class for pitchers is pretty thin and even thinner now that Strasburg signed early.

“That’s why starting pitching is so valuable. There’s not many guys that can pitch at the top of a rotation floating around the league.” …

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