First member of the 2017 team is gone. Astros placed Juan Centeno on outright waivers. 40 man roster sits at 39
They’re trying to keep him in the org if he clears waivers. They’re banking on other teams 40-man rosters being full or spots reserved for the upcoming rule 5 draft. He can choose to elect free agency if he clears though.
Yeah--pretty straightforward really. Exactly the kind of the guy you need to run through waivers and pull off the 40. Older AAAA guys. Are we at 39 including the 60-day DLers? I know it includes Rodgers. Can't remember who the other DLer was. Next--would love to remove Sipp. If he gets claimed via waivers or in the Rule 5, that's great..take his salary. If not, we can add him back if/when it makes sense. And would love to decline to offer arbitration to Fiers, clearing another spot. That would drop us to 37.
I got mixed feelings on Fiers. As long as he’s not perpetually in dumpster Fiers mode he’s a solid 6-8th starter. In the hangover of a long World Series season and given that Verlander is the only guy I trust for 200 IP, I want to keep a few extra guys who can throw 100-150 IP. Keep in mind he led the team in innings pitched this year (sans Verlander). I see Keuchel, LMJ and Salty all getting one month trips to the DL again, just to keep them fresh. We don’t need anyone Chris Sale-ing it.
39 includes the 60 day DL and suspended players. Sipp would not be claimed off waivers or in the Rule 5. Houston can/will probably trade him, but they’ll have to eat at least $2-3M of his contract.
Unless they trade one of the 6 guys in front of him it really doesn’t make much sense to keep him especially for >$5M. Martes, Paulino, Rodgers, and Armenteros all will be available as the 7th-10th SP, and unlike Fiers they can all be optioned to the minors and be paid league minimum. That said, I think it’d be stupid to non-tender him because there’s got to be a pitching starved team out there that’s willing to offer a lotto prospect for him.
agreed. Which is why he can be outrighted to the minors and pulled off the 40-man in order to protect someone else
I wonder what other teams would trade for Fiers. He has some value, even if he isn't good enough to roster one of our essential slots, right? I could see a team taking a flier on him. Maybe resign and deal him?
I disagree. Maybe it's spliting hairs but I'd feel super uncomfortable if any of those four guys got extended looks in the rotation. Fiers I'm at-least confident he can chew up innings and spare the bullpen. If those four are taking their lumps, there's gonna be games where they're pulled in 3rd or 4th innings. Fiers has the track record saying he can go 5-6 IP pretty handily. And really whats $5m for one season. It'd be a pure luxury but I feel like he'd keep us in more games than that bunch. And every game counts if you wanna get that #1 seed and repeat as the WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!.
Why would you feel uncomfortable with the 3 Latin players? We can't just refuse to give prospects a chance to prove themselves.
If the Astros share your outlook, then they need to deal Martes etc. There is no point in keeping them if the Astros trust Fiers more. We know what we get with Fiers and it isn’t good. I would rather chance the upside of the others. What is $5,000,000? A really good middle reliever in free agency? Possibly the difference between getting Jonathan Lucroix and not? It matters.
Astros got Verlander, Keuchel, and McHugh as inning eaters. If Martes can only go 4, Peacock or another starter stuck in pen is just going to have suck it up and come in after him and give another 4. If Astros want to win, getting another actual reliever makes more sense than keeping two starters in pen. Odds are very good that Astros will have a starter in the pen most games to eat innings as a very good long man. Hinch is going to tripping over starters this year instead of trying to see if Diaz can give him 3. Edit: I do expect a lot of DL time...just not as much as last year and I expect Astros are going to want to give Martes some starts at some point just to see if he can throw strikes at MLB level.
Nook is taking about the catcher that is rumored to get interested in coming to Houston or Texas, Lucroy.
Agree with this. Now that they have traded for Verlander, it makes sense to trade Fiers for a lottery ticket and use that $5M elsewhere. With the shape of the division (they won the division by 20+games last season) they can afford to let Paulino, Armenteros, Rodgers, and Martes cut their teeth when injuries inevitably happen. If several REALLY bad injuries happen then you can make a midseason trade if those guys aren't cutting it.
Verlander picking up a new $450k car this offseason: http://brobible.com/sports/article/justin-verlander-2017-450k-ford-gt/ (be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom)
ESPN is touting Chipper and Thome as 1st ballot HOFers. Great players for sure, but how they (and Frank Thomas) secure 1st ballot elections while Craig waits 3 years and Bagwell 7, just doesn't make sense to me. I really don't understand the voting process. JJo's article on why he didn't vote for Chipper was interesting. http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_dc7d1422-176a-5b4f-b837-600878a334ee.html
