It’s one of those signings where he gets a little more than he’s worth now with the hope that he’ll live up to or outperform the contract.
It’s probably better to operate that way in free agency then to overpay for an average starter but there is risk he can’t handle it.
Basically Beane’s hoping he can be a consistently average player like a Risner at a cheaper price. They could’ve just signed Risner and know what they’re getting.