<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sources: Free-agent outfielder Colby Rasmus will accept qualifying offer and return to the Astros for one year, $15.8 million. Story coming.</p>— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/664944192939024384">November 12, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Great news! Yes it's expensive but I feel he's the right guy for right now even if not a long-term option. Disagree all you want but we'll revisit this next October (November, hopefully!) and see who's wrong. Delighted!
it's a 1 year deal. That needs to be evaluated differently than $16M x 5 or even 3 years for other FAs. Not to say it's not a lot of money or that this year is irrelevant, but maintaining future flexibility is something else the Astros are getting in return, in addition to his OPS and defense
I think this speaks volumes as to how much Rasmus wants to be in Houston. Passing up long term offers, for more overall money, to stay here. Pretty neat. Would have liked the pick, but happy to see him back.
Yes! More Colby Jacks! Considering it's a one year deal, it's not that much imo. Glad to have him back!
Doubled his $alary. Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rasmus can't be traded until June 15 next season, not that he would.</p>— Brian McTaggart ⚾️ (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/status/664949820138876928">November 12, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
i'm ok with this. Its only a one-year deal. Another way to look at it is he is getting $12 M over 2 years... (last year $8M + $16M/2) which is probably his market value over a multi-year deal. I like him in LF, he's a plus defender for a left-fielder and certainly has the power numbers. Would be great if he could raise his average and OPS but we'll see. My ONLY concern is that Crane will use this as an excuse not to go after a top of the order pitcher or 1B...hopefully this doesn't financially hamstrung them into doing other moves.
One other consideration...depending on how Rasmus and Marisnick do, this commitment could also prompt Luhnow to trade Gomes (or Tucker) at the deadline for possibly pitching help..he's on an expiring and with Boras as his agent, will likely be seeing a big pay day. It certainly gives the Astros some flexibility with Springer-Rasmus-Marisnick-Tucker-Gomes outfield
They have a top of the order pitcher; in fact, based on - granted a smaller sample size, they have TWO top of the order pitchers. If they have to throw away $16MM for freaking Colby Rasmus, I hope to dear lord they don't waste money on a starting pitcher of any significance. I would wager the collective reaction on Texas Avenue this afternoon was, "Seriously? ****..."
who do you consider to be the second top of the order pitcher? McCullers? I like McHugh but he's not a shut-down ace. Kazmir? Doubtful he's coming back. Only Keuchel is. If the Astros were to get a Greinke, for example, I think they'd be unstoppable. the 2005 Astros demonstrated that even with a crappy offense (which the 2015 Astros aren't), pitching wins championships (or gets you pretty darn close)
Do you remember the 2005 White Sox pitchers? The 2005 team was stopped by a team without dominant pitching. The Dodgers lose every year despite an awesome rotation. The Mets and their amazing rotation were beaten by a team of good-but-not-great starting pitchers. San Fran won last year with one absurd pitcher and a bunch of junk. The 1990's Braves and all their Cy-Young winners routinely lost in the playoffs. There's no such thing as unstoppable in baseball.
Luhnow knew it was a risk. But it's a one year deal and Rasmus might just be hitting his stride. Respect to Colby Rasmus for genuinely enjoying being a part of this team so much....
I'm not sure about this - I think they had to have known it was a possibility. Rasmus is the rare guy where a QO makes actual sense. He said before the season that he only wanted to play a few more years. It's doubtful he'd get $16MM this year from anywhere else (single or multiyear deal), so this maximizes his income this year and leaves him the option to retire next year. Or if he wants to continue playing, even if he sucks this year, it shouldn't be hard to get a $4MM deal, giving him $20MM/2 years, which is probably what a free agent deal today would look like for him. It seems like a pretty logical decision on his part - there doesn't seem like a lot of downside.
