Do you remember the 2005 Astros offense? Jason freaking Lane, Brad Ausmus and Adam Everett were in the starting lineup to really knock out the White Sox pitchers. Obviously there is no such thing as unstoppable, its figure of speech. The point i'm making is that a strong rotation trumps a strong offense every time and gives you the best opportunity to advance into the playoffs. The dodger teams still made it to the NLDS and NLCS..thats all you can ask. At some point luck and hot streaks also take over the game. If you had to take either Greinke or Chris Davis, who would you choose? I pick the pitcher every day of the year.
I for one am excited to see an outfield of Rasmus, Gomez, Springer for a whole year. Throw in Marisnick and Tucker and you are set.
Sure, if he's a multi-year guy. But for one year, he fills a need that we'd probably have to overpay for regardless, and now we can address other things instead. It's good for the team in both the short-term and the long-term, and Rasmus has a chance at locking up a nice long contract for himself if he has a good year.
I doubt it. Luhnow and Rasmus go way back. He was the scouting director that originally signed him as an 18 year old kid.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Team/player can negotiate a new deal/extension whenever <a href="https://t.co/BN2mfXM8O4">https://t.co/BN2mfXM8O4</a></p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/664959141107077120">November 13, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Wonder if he wants to re-negotiate with a 1-year deal here as his backup?
Baseball is a sport where no 1 year deal is a bad deal, i don't see the issue. Also the team has to give the QO for the pick compensation, I think it's fine
To me, this signals even more of a possibility to go after an elite SP. Can focus your monetary resources there and then go after a closer on the trade market.
I thought the Mets had a chance to beat the Royals with the rotation that they had in DeGrom, Harvey, Syndergaard, and Matz. Nope, Royals won with a suffocating bullpen, timely hitting, and a solid starting pitching rotation. The 2011 Phillies looked like they were gonna run away with the World Series with Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels, and Lee in their rotation. I think McHugh and McCullers are solid enough, but one more pitcher wouldn't be bad. He doesn't have to be an ace, though.
I think they (almost blindly) coveted the draft pick. I really do*. For a team that, on paper, needs to address LF, 3B, 1B, some elements of the bullpen and possibly DH, not to mention starting pitching - I just can't believe giving Colby Rasmus $16MM was part of any realistic plan of theirs. He's now their highest-paid player by a sizable margin but he's what? Their 4th best everyday player? Look, in a vacuum, he's a nice player. But given how this team is structured, they needed the flexibility to reconstruct their everyday line-up. And I wonder if this changes their plans, re arbitration and Carter/Valbuena? * And frankly, I'm GLAD they covet picks; it's a remarkably simple but smart approach. Especially if the plan is/was to pursue bigger free agent fish.
$16M for a 2.6 WAR is about right. I have read that it is logical to expect 7M per win so 2.6 is roughly 18M. A one year deal is probably worth the risk for Houston because if he craters they aren't tied into a long term contract. If they went after the other OF FA's they'd be looking at multiple year deals for probably much more money. By accepting the QO does that proclude the 2 sides from continuing negotiations for say a 2 year deal at a lower annual figure? Just curious knowing he only wants to play a couple more years and he seems to fit well in the clubhouse. Could be beneficial for both sides to work out a 2 year deal where the team saves some money and he gets a contract to retire on. edit: See the answer to my question was posted while I was typing. So the above wouldn't really surprise me.
I don't think this hurts their flexibility too much, as it is only a one year deal (and they may be negotiating a longer-term deal that could change things as well). Also the Astros are in the bottom 5 in payroll so even with this bump, they still *should* have significant budget to help improve the team. I'm hoping Crane realizes that there is a window of opportunity here that has to be seized upon if he hopes to be the first owner in 50 freaking years to bring a World Series Championship to Houston. It wouldn't even be that far fetched to go "all in" and get a SP, infielder, and power arm reliever and still be in the bottom half budget wise compared to other teams...I think (hope) that they'll view this $16 M as a one year anomaly and proceed forward without it preventing them from accomplishing what they set out to do in the off-season (wishful thinking, yes, but come on..Astros have a chance to be great again!)
Well I hope they land another bat. Offense needs a major boost. Overpaid for Rasmus big time. Hot during the postseason but he was bad offensively in the regular season. Low average, strikes out a ton and poor obp.
No, can negotiate a long term deal at any time now. I'd like to see a 3 year, $40MM type extension to lower the Year 1 salary.
You might be surprised. Along with this postseason's run of 1.700+ OPS, Rasmus went 1.323 with STL ('09). He might have the "clutch gene". Stat-wise, Gomez stays on-par with his regular season. Not great, but good to have players who don't "headcase" under the bright lights. Stros lineup will improve next season, so sky's the limit for Rasmus and everyone else too.
