Gotta think Luhnow's got a few big moves left to make. With Crane giving him the green light to increase the payroll, the moves of McCann, Reddick, Morton really only get Astros back to the payroll before with Feldman, Gomez, Rasmus. A big spend could still be coming. A big bat at 1B had eluded Luhnow. If he can somehow get EE and a top of rotation pitcher via trade (winter meetings?)...man, look out.
Regardless of what other moves they do, I expect them to leave a little extra space (and prospects) for possible deadline moves that may have certain players made available that aren't available now.
Well, there are those (like yourself) that have their doubts about ever spending significant money. As of now, they really haven't. And they may not spend much more this off-season. And they won't spend at the deadline unless they're in the hunt (and likewise, they won't max out their spending capacity now, which would leave them with little flexibility later).
Although I'd like to see the Astros improve the bullpen now I suspect them to do so before the deadline which might be the best time to do it.
There are a lot of questions as to how Devo will fare as a SP over a full season given that he relies mostly on 2 pitches. You sure it makes sense to dedicate so much to a RP when we already have a stud like Devo there? Vs. trying to use that money on a mid-season trade SP (if they can't find a trade partner now) ?
Agreed. There's been lots of reports saying that his stuff has played up in short stints but as a starter expected to go 6-7 IP he'd be sitting 90-91 mph on the fastball rather than the 92-94 mph as a reliever. It'd be tough for him to go through a lineup a third time consistently with avg starters velocity and only 2 dependable pitches. I don't see a much higher upside than what we got out of Devo last year. He fulfilled a huge role in the middle innings.
The velocity difference is the major concern. In the bullpen, he shows a plus fastball, that becomes average in the rotation. That drop off also decreases the value of his stellar changeup. As I've said, Devenski throws a breaking ball, so he has 3 pitches. Another concern in both the rotation or bullpen is that he gave up very few HRs, despite being a flyball pitcher.
Technically, you are wrong. He started 5 games last year. A FUTURE starter? Who knows. Sometimes young pitchers develop more pitches in order to be more effective.
Start #1 5.0 innings, 2 runs Start #2 6.0 innings, 1 run Start #3 6.2 innings, 2 runs Start #4 Bombed by Boston in 2 innings Start #5 5.0 innings, 0 runs
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...hot-stove-houston-astros-ken-rosenthal-111916 The Astros' evolving plan The Astros’ trade for McCann and agreement with free-agent outfielder Josh Reddick has not precluded them from continuing their pursuit of Beltran, according to major-league sources. The most likely current scenario is that Reddick will play right field, with George Springer moving to center and Nori Aoki and Jake Marisnick platooning in left. Beltran certainly could take some of the Aoki/Marisnick at-bats, and the Astros would not use one of their catchers, McCann or Evan Gattis, as a DH every night. A full season of Yuli Gurriel at first and Alex Bregman at third should make the team’s lineup rather potent even without Beltran. But the team would benefit from Beltran’s leadership and presence, just it will benefit from McCann’s. The other question with the Astros is whether they, too, will pursue a top starting pitcher in trade. The team has parted with a considerable amount of young pitching in recent years; Jarred Cosart went to the Marlins; Josh Hader and Adrian Houser to the Brewers in the Carlos Gomez/Mike Fiers trade; Vince Velasquez, Mark Appel and others to the Phillies in the Ken Giles deal. The Astros still believe they have enough of a prospect inventory to include pitching in a deal for a Sale or an Archer. If they’re not comfortable with the asking prices, they can always start the season with Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers at the top of their rotation, and hope that oft-injured free-agent acquisition Charlie Morton gives them 30 starts instead of 10.
Nice rehash article but not much news. I don't think its actually a question of whether they're pursuing a top starting pitcher. The question is do they have the stones/skills to pull it off. The Astros are far from deficient in RH starting pitching prospects. Sure they're all at different levels (Paulino ML/AAA, Martes AAA, Whitley low A, Perez Hi-A) but thats a group of high-end pitching talent to rival any farm system in the league. They can definitely afford part with more. And lol about Charlie Morton. Even if he makes 30 starts he's not moving the needle. The guy has never had 2.0 WAR season in his career. He's just another 5th/6th starter option.
I've waivered on this some, but I think I'm leaning toward signing one of Beltran or Valbuena and then sitting tight. We are "win now", but it's not "now or never". I'd rather see what we have with Martes, Musgrove, etc. We can always make a deal at the deadline.
If Andrew freakin Miller has issues with starting games... pretty sure Devo (who has the same issues) will have lesser results in that role. I also found it refreshing that the Indians basically used Miller in a Devo-like long-setup role, which may catch on as an integral part to successful bullpens (as opposed to having a 7th inning guy and an 8th inning guy).
Miller had control issues and was purely a FB/Slider guy. He added a changeup, but it wasn't good enough and he abandoned it. I think there are concerns, but I bet Devenski would end up being a league average starter.
