Dec 10, 2014 1 min read

The Pittsburgh Pirates managed to hold on to pitcher Francisco Liriano earlier this week when they reached an agreement with the free agent for a three-year contract worth $39 million. These days, such a salary seems to hardly raise eyebrows.

Back in 1991, the Pirates offered pitcher Doug Drabek $2.4 million a year, but he wouldn’t take it. Instead, he hit a home run by winning a salary of $3,335,000 in arbitration. At the time, that was considered outrageous. But from 1987 until 1992, Drabek compiled a 92-62 record and 3.02 ERA with Pittsburgh.

Consider that the Pirates are more than doubling Liriano’s pay to $13 million a year, and this for a pitcher who had a 7-10 record last season. His career record is 76-72 with a 4.07 ERA. What, then, would the team be willing to pay a really great pitcher?