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The Rangers are paying Lewis like hes a #5 SP. At $2.5 mil a year they are paying him like hes not even worth 1 W per year. If hes even league-average, its a bargain.
The thing is, theres an excellent chance Lewis puts up a 3+ WAR season next year. The only real question mark is whether he can adjust to the 5-man rotation (stay healthy, fresh, and rack up innings) and if he can continue to pitch the way he did in the NPB despite the pressure (if he can mentally handle the bigs). If he can pitch close to 200 innings, he'll be worth even more.
The bottom line is you don't put up 9.5 K/9, 9K/BB, 1.5 GB/FB, 0.6 HR/9 in the Coors of NPB unless you can pitch a little. Its a ridiculous bargain for the most underrated SP FA this offseason.
Really the contract is just preposterous.... I wish it were only one year with incentives like Bedard, but Texas is giving him slave money for the next 3.