Kikuchi and Flaherty didn’t get big free-agent deals, but both returned 50 FV prospects plus extras at last year’s deadline. Same with Jason Adam, who’s a decent comp for Bednar.
Just shows how steep the deadline premium is. Teams gave up 50/45 FV packages for rentals who then signed one-year deals in free agency.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/ranking-the-prospects-traded-at-the-2024-deadline/
I’m also higher on Keller than ZiPS 2026/2027, which I don’t think are updated yet. He’s putting up 3.2, 2.2, and ~3.6 WAR from 2023–2025.
Three years, $56M for ages 30–32 is a solid deal but I suppose it's not great given where prices have been.
And perhaps Kikuchi and Flaherty were perceived to be #2/3-like starters in the playoffs whereas Keller is more #3/4? But still, I think his contract carries a little bit of value to make it close.
So you guys are probably right in that Keller would not be worth Nimmala on his own, but toss in 1.5 years of Bednar and I’m definitely in.