Everyone is a Dodger or Yankee or Red Sox when they are a year away from free agency We won't keep both JV and Cole, and my guess is they would rather keep JV because it won't require as long of a deal...but if they don't think they can sign JV, i'd put us ahead of the Dodgers as far as signing Cole....even more if the Dodgers sign Harper
As a full season full time starter with the Stros he's had exactly one season with an ERA+ over 100, and that was in 2014, then he was average to below in '15-16. He's thrown ~135 innings the past 2 seasons (one he was hurt, the other he was in the bullpen). I'm an optimist and all, but I just don't know what he's going to do over the course of the season.
I agree, but now McHugh, Peacock and Sipp all removed from last years pen. A lot of unproven arms are gonna need to come through this year
Josh James was gonna be on a bit of an innings limit this season anyway, there's no way he was gonna make 32 starts. You obviously never want an injury to be the reason that happens, but I still expect him to be in the rotation by mid season. I always wanted Peacock to be in the rotation anyhow, no reason he shouldn't be solid. He's never been a shutdown relief pitcher anyhow. We have more than enough capable relief arms to take his spot.
He has options left. While it obviously wouldn’t be ideal, he can be sent down to AAA to get himself fixed if needed. As long as Osuna, Pressly, Harris, and Rondon are right, the pen will be fine even if the other 3-4 guys are AAAA guys or rookies.
On Devo, I expect he'll be one of the best relievers in baseball in the first half of the season. I expect Astros will be extra careful with him as his mechanics have gotten out of whack (release point drops, fastball loses its "rise") the past two years. Kaplan has a good article about him a week or two ago.
