Veteran Right-Hander Apparently Plans to Keep Pitching in 2024

Multi-time All-Star and World Series champion Johnny Cueto reportedly plans to keep pitching in 2024.

According to reports, multi-time All-Star and World Series champion Johnny Cueto plans to keep pitching in 2024.

Per Jon Morosi of MLB Network:

Free agent Johnny Cueto is interested in pitching for @EOBASEBALLCLUB

during next month’s @LIDOMRD round robin playoff. Cueto, who turns 38 in February, intends to pitch a 17th @MLB season in 2024. He has a 4.04 ERA over 325-1/3 IP in the last 3 years.

@MLBNetwork

Free agent Johnny Cueto is interested in pitching for @EOBASEBALLCLUB during next month’s @LIDOMRD round robin playoff.

Cueto, who turns 38 in February, intends to pitch a 17th @MLB season in 2024. He has a 4.04 ERA over 325-1/3 IP in the last 3 years. @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 21, 2023

The soon-to-be 38-year-old Cueto battled injuries and ineffectiveness for the Miami Marlins in 2023, going 1-4 with a 6.02 ERA in 13 games. He pitched just 52.1 innings and struck out only 39.

But to Morosi's point, Cueto was a valuable pitcher as recently as 2022, when he made 24 starts for the Chicago White Sox and pitched to a 3.35 ERA.

He's pitched 16 years in the big leagues with the Reds, Royals, Giants, White Sox and Marlins. He was named an All-Star in both 2014 and 2016 and led the league in innings pitched in 2014 (243.2). He helped the Royals win the World Series in 2015 after a midseason trade.

Lifetime, Cueto is 144-111 with a 3.50 ERA. It's difficult to envision what kind of opportunity he'll get after his difficult season a year ago. A rebuilding team may look to bring Cueto in as a guy who can eat innings, and a competitive team may be interested in giving him a minor league deal with a chance to compete for a Major League job.

At that point, it comes down to what Cueto would value at this point in his career.

Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media

Continue to follow our Fastball on FanNation coverage on social media by LIKING us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.