In just about every World I've played in a guy like Cortez would be considered slightly above replacement level. In other words, probably a back-end starter/emergency starter on a good pitching staff. Don't get too hung up on his good control rating. I would focus on his expected productivity. In most worlds it's not too hard to find a pitcher who can produce .264 OAV, 1.30 WHIP, and 175 IP. If I were in your situation and I didn't have a guy in AAA of similar value that I could promote, I would probably wait until the very end of free agency and resign Cortez or another pitcher of similar value. I would generally not spend more than $1.5 million on him (that might vary slightly depending on world and free agent class). If you are paying $4.4 million the odds are you over-paying and possibly over-paying by quite a lot. Of course, as everyone else has said, it depends on your world.