Harrison, who had a poor August with a 6.61 ERA after a magnificent 2.55 ERA In July, maybe let that get to him a bit. He was great in April & May when things were quiet as the team adjusted to the injury loss of Rich Jacobs. Then in June, the team aggressively shopped him. In August, after Jorge Hernandez signed his extension and the club made its intentions clear again, Harrison had a tough month.
Despite all that, his ERA sits at 4.29 over 174 innings this season. He has 9.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 ratios. His numbers are very similar to his 2046 campaign, when he finished with 3.1 WAR. In the 2046 postseason, he worked exclusively out of the bullpen, tossing 15 innings to a 2.87 ERA while picking up 5 wins.
Now, looking at Omaha’s payroll for beyond this season, and his rumored demand, my gut tells me that the club may look to simply resign him. Harrison is rumored to be looking for $40,000,000 or so over 4 years, so an average of $10,000,000 a season. That’s right in line with what a “good deal” could look like if you figure $3,000,000 per WAR, and he averages 3 WAR a season. Of course, he might not average 3 WAR.
The front office would have to get creative to make it work as far as how much is paid in 2048 compared to other years. The club also needs to be careful as next season will be the final season under contract for Andre Ly, Orlando Ordonez, Wilson Estrada, and Donald Miller. Currently, there is $37,000,000 in projected cap space in 2049 to spread to those guys, which any Harrison extension would cut right into that.
If Harrison isn’t resigned and is signed as a free agent next season before the start of spring training, Omaha would now likely be in line to be eligible for a compensation pick in next year’s amateur draft.
“I would just say that you should never say never.” Said Omaha GM Justin Niles. “I think we have a pretty good history of being loyal to our players and doing whatever we can to help them remain with our franchise after they have played with us for a few years, and this is Lance’s 3rd season with us.”