Either this is a) bull crap; b) Astros still have a good chunk of room in budget (or can create enough space easily) and they can fix his pitch tipping easily; or c) No one is offering him much.
The Astros know they are gonna have a starting pitching hole after this season. I imagine this is more about us kicking the tires on a very talented pitcher whose value may be low due to 2 bad starts. 2 bad starts caused by correctable issues.
Also, talking with Arrieta and Darvish gives them a much better idea of how much Keuchel will cost them (and they might have an idea of Keuchel’s asking price to compare against). Darvish’s value should be a little lower than Keuchel’s, but not by much. If Keuchel is asking for $180M/6yr and Darvish is asking for $160M/7yr, Id rather have Darvish. I don’t think Houston necessarily has a huge pitching hole coming up; if Martes and Whitley are as good as their prospect status indicates, they’ll be a fine long term ToR along with McCullers. But it sure would be sweet to have Verlander, Darvish, Keuchel, McCullers, and Morton as their rotation for 2018 combined with that lineup. Drool.
I think Houston has some question marks imo for 2018. Can their starting pitching stay healthy? Keuchel, McCullers, McHugh, and Morton were all on the DL 2017. Verlander has thrown like a million innings. I highly doubt Keuchel will re-sign here after 2018. If they can land Darvish at a reasonable rate, then they buy themselves some time during the 2018 off season without having to feel pressured to sign a SP. With that said, I'm not saying they need to sign Darvish. I think his issues can be fixed and be a strong number two or three starter in a strong AL.
That would be weird and glorious. It would be very nice to be the team capable of flexing some financial muscle.
Astros interested in Darvish? That's like pulling into the BMW dealer and slamming into a brand new 5 Series and then buying that same vehicle for a large discount.
I think the Astros truly believe they can turn Darvish back around. I have a hard time seeing the money work, but I don't think this meeting is just for show.
Michael Conner said on 790 that Luhnow is a big fan of Darvish. I'm not sure how much inside information he has but just heard him last night.
As with all GM's, you have to always kick the tires and see what they want, etc... Take away the WS, he had a good season.
With a coaching staff that just got a huge return from inconsistent Morton, and left for dead Peacock... I think they’d be able to salvage something from a guy like Darvish.
Yeah........ consistent 96 mph fastball with good secondary stuff. He has the raw stuff to be a #1 starter.