If Keuchel waits until mid season to sign Houston would lose the draft pick compensation. That’s $10M+ worth of value, so there’s incentive for Houston to get him to sign sooner (assuming they are intent on letting him go to another team). Either way I don’t think Keuchel will go into the season unsigned; too much was learned from when Kendrys Morales and Stephen Drew did that.
Wouldn't matter too much if he came to the AL but it would hurt his legacy for sure. His OPS away from Colorado over the past 4 years is like .830 v. 1.030 in Colorado. Nice deal for him.
I dig all the extensions going on. I hope Astros can work one or two deals out with JV, Cole, Springer, Pressly, McHugh
No. Stassi is out of options and would certainly be claimed by another team if dfa’ed. They’re not going to sell low on him to give an unproven low ceiling player a backup spot.
No kidding. I see someone signed an extension every day except for astros players. I guess winning a WS come with a heavy price tag. But then the only 2 players I want to see Astros sign to an extension this off-season is JV and GC. Hope we can get 1 done before the end of ST.
Some in the know might be able to speak better on this but the only one of those 5 that has commented about looking at an extension is JV. My guess is the years are the issue because he wants to play till he is 45. The Astros seem firmly planted on the idea of NO LONG TERM contracts especially on pitchers. They would probably do a 3 year for JV who just turned 36 IF the price was right. Pressly turned down extension talk last season after the Astros acquired him, the though is he is going to try and go close for somebody. If he repeats his usually success someone will give him big money. I think Springer himself will wait he has already bet on himself once before. But Springer is not you typical guy, so maybe if the Astros make what he sees as a fair deal he'd sign. I'd guess Cole after a near Cy Young season will wait it out so he can get an offer from a west coast team with another dominating season here. McHugh is a tough one since he is returning to the rotation after the lights out relief work he put out. I think his asking price would be hard to determine as a 32 year old. He is making just under 6 million this season. The young arms are coming. Next years pitching staff could look entirely different than 2018.
I think the Astros MO is below-market rates or market rates on a short term deal. Tuve was a notable exception and even his total deal is below what a perennial all-star and MVP winner could command. Cole is in line for a monster contract that the Astros probably don't want to pay. He put a better season than Patrick Corbin's free agency season and Corbin got 6/$140m. Presley could probably command elite setup man money with another strong season and there's no way the Astros were offering that.
I could understand if the Astros were still a revenue sharing team and would get their pick after the 1st round that it could have 10 million or more in value. However, the Astros will only receive a Competitive Balance Round B pick which is after the 2nd round. Is that still worth 10 million plus?
They dfa'ed him before and no team claimed him. I agree they can't do that now because they don't have a third catcher ready in the system, unless they think Jamie Ritchie can be that guy. I've never been that high on Stassi. I think Stubbs has a much higher ceiling. Perhaps when Chirinos' one year deal is up next year, Stubbs and Stassi will be a decent platoon with Stubbs getting the majority of the AB's vs right handed pitching. I'm interested to watch how this unfolds. At some point this year, Chirinos or Stassi will get banged up and Stubbs will get a shot, I'm sure. I like his athleticism and his defense, as well as his bat.
Another year that other than the top free agents they mostly got well below what they were thinking could certainly drive some players to consider extensions in my opinion. If i'm Cole i'm probably betting on myself and not even considering it. IF he puts together another monster season he would likely be the top pitcher on the market. At age 29 he would likely be able to get a really large contract JV situation is different because of his age. I get a strong vibe from him that he would rather stay here than move again, but obviously you are going to have to pay him to make that happen. I think there is a good chance he is extended before the end of the year Hard to believe Springer is already about to be 30. This is a huge year for him cause another year like last year (which was good but not great) and he isn't going to be getting a huge contract. A return to 2017 numbers (which were farther above his career norm than last year was below it) would put him in a very interesting situation contract wise. The fact it would be happening the winter before the CBA runs out only adds to the unknown. I wonder if 5 years 100 million, starting now, would get him to sign? He is at 12 million this year and controlled next year, an AAV of 20 million which included those two years would be pretty strong in my opinion. If he goes to free agency he does so at age 31 likely in a year with a potential work stoppage looming. His chances of getting a long term contract with a larger AAV at that point and in that situation isn't good. Pressly and McHugh and guys like that don't have a good chance to get a big deal in the current atmosphere. I know Keuchel isn't real popular on here, but he is struggling to get the deal he wants and he certainly has more value than McHugh who will be heading to free agency at 32. I see no reason to try and lock up a guy like McHugh at this point, see how the year plays out and go from there. I'd be putting huge efforts into getting JV and Springer to sign and at that point, without a doubt you have a championship caliber core locked up keeping your championship window open that much longer
Also means that Arenado gets to stay in Coors Field, where he's a monster. Not so much elsewhere. He is a wizard at 3rd regardless of where he plays, though.
Dont forget that Bregman's agent brother is the one whos running all of bregmans social media accounts and he does this for various other celebrity's. Bregman is going to get paid big and i dont see him taking anything less then arenados in a few years if he keeps up what hes doing at the plate. His youtube account is literally blowing up and hes talked about how hes going to do interviews after games with some players. Mark my words that Bregman is going to be THE MOST marketable player in baseball in a few years.
I think Springer would be crazy if he turn down 5 years 100M for this astros this off-season. But I honestly doubt Luhnow/Astros will offer that. I think Astros will ride it out with Springer for next 2 years and let him leave in free agency.
Ball moves differently home and away for Rockies hitters such that they are at a huge disadvantage on the road. Players leaving the Rockies typically play significantly better at the plate than their road splits. In other words, he would likely be a monster everywhere if he consistently played away from Coors.
I don’t disagree that Luhnow wouldn’t offer that now, but I certainly don’t think they will just ride it out and let him walk. They will make a strong effort to keep him, Bregman and Correa if he proves to stay healthy
With Hinch saying that Josh James strained quad is going to take him out of rotation consideration and that Peacock is currently pegged as fifth starter, I sure hope a Keuchel return happens. Feel way better with Peacock’s bullpen roles than starter. Is Yordan Alvarez ready?
The prospect guys seemed kinda down on Alvarez and my (extremely) brief looks at him during ST weren't particularly impressive.
The Fangraphs prospect guys are basically saying he can't field. For a guy they think is a DH, they must love his bat.
He can hit, he can just flat out hit the ball. He can hit with power to the opposite field, he can hit the inside pitch or something fading away. He is still a little raw but he has a high ability and aptitude for using the bat. I did not think that his glove was that bad from what I saw, he seemed fine as a corner outfielder (at least for now). His weight has fluctuated some over the last couple of years and I know that is a concern for many scouts.
