love it! I think. Don't love losing Nottingham, but that's way better than a lot of other potential losses Downside is that we didn't clear room on the 40 man. But hey, plenty of time to worry about that issue later
How I feel...... Jake had a very projectable body and was just now reaching his talent level. He has hit everywhere he has been and I suspect he will shoot up prospect lists.... they really better resign Kazmir. In the interim I wonder if they go with a 6 man staff, to limit McCullers innings.
Would have preferred a different postion like OF than a catcher like Nottingham but it's worth it if Kazmir stays.
I like it if he decides to stay here next season. Helps assuming they are shutting down McCullers if we make the playoffs.
No, I know he's been pitching better but he's comfortably the 4th best pitcher in this rotation no? Too early for McCullers?
Some of his stats from the last 2 seasons: <PRE> Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA GS CG IP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 2014 30 OAK AL 15 9 .625 3.55 32 2 190.1 1.161 8.1 0.8 2.4 7.8 2015 31 OAK AL 5 5 .500 2.38 18 0 109.2 1.085 6.9 0.6 2.9 8.3 </PRE> He was scheduled to start today so it's possible we'll get to see him within the next few days. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jeff Luhnow landing Scott Kazmir: "We have in my opinion 1 of the deepest rotations in the American League, should make us a viable force."</p>— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/624269389890723844">July 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Scott Kazmir will meet the team in Kansas City tomorrow.</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/624270528765919232">July 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Not disagreeing that Nottingham is a stud (I think he is), but he hit .247 and .230 the last two seasons. Again, I like Nottingham, but passing on Kazmir to keep a A-ball catcher who has never hit above .250 before this season would have been nuts.
Had to be done, and Nottingham is hitting well but lets face it that is not a huge give up for Kazmir and you have to give up someone. He is also probably the furthest away of any real prospect.
era whip Keuchel 2.12 .97 Kazmir 2.38 1.09 McCulers 2.52 1.10 McHugh 4.25 1.28 Velasquez 4.03 1.29 Would like someone else in the pen, a dominant middle reliever.
I'd guess Feldman takes Deduno's spot as the long reliever. No way they shut down McCullers - he's been our 2nd best pitcher this year and Luhnow mentioned in his weekly radio interview that they would try to save some innings off him in order to possibly pitch in October. As Velasquez continues to get better, he'll be a great 5th starter for us this year.
Somebody is always going to find issue that the Astros "gave up too much" in any of these deals... because of how much attention has been paid to some of the minor league guys in recent years. Hell, people complained when they gave up Buck for Beltran. People also previously complained when they gave up Garcia for Randy. The fact that they didn't part with anything close to a "top" prospect for them is a very good thing... along with the fact that they could still acquire another "rental" or position player if they feel they need to, as they still have the farm flexibility to do so. And as far as rentals go, Kazmir is ideal... high chance they could resign him at an affordable deal, but also they see first hand how much he really has left.
