If the Astros are spending $25-$30MM/yr on a player, I'd rather them get a heart of the order bat than a SP, both because they are unlikely to decline as much and because it's a more pressing need. They have a lot of depth in the starting pitching and more young players coming up there. Not sure what top-tier bats are available, but if they can find one, that's where to spend the real money.
I wouldn't invest $200,000,000 in a starter either..... but where do you draw the line? Would you give Johnny Cueto 5/120 over Kazmir at 3/45? Would you deal a few prospects for LeCroy and pay him $5,000,000 over what Castro would make?
I think this is the likely scenario. I wouldn't be shocked if we wait to see if someone like Cueto or Upton gets less than expected, and then we make a move.
Word is the Astros were prepared to guarantee the 4th year if Hamels agreed to waive the no trade clause. In the end, a 4-5 year deal for $24-28 million dollars is pretty much all in the relative same ballpark of saying that the Astros are still likely ready to make a major commitment to go after a starting pitcher, as they do view it as a priority (which was your original question..."I wonder if the Astros view starting pitching as a priority?") I agree that I don't see the Astros offering out many 7 year pitching deals.... but a 4-5 year deal could definitely happen.
I meant they were most likely willing to pay Kazmir in addition to Hamels. So, that would have been $100MM+ that they would have been willing to allocate towards upgraded starting pitching over the next 3 years.
The Astros would have been committing to a 3/$70.5MM deal with Hamels. Even if "word" was 1,000% accurate, it's still only 4/$90.5MM. Yeah, 4/$96MM is in the ballpark. 4/$112 is in... the parking lot of said ballpark, I guess; maybe on the exit ramp to the ballpark...... But I don't consider 5/$120MM or 5/$128MM anywhere close. Nor do I think a free agent that could command $24+MM/year would settle for a 4 or even 5-year deal. I think *that's* what made Hamels, even with a guaranteed fourth year, viable. $22.6MM a year at only 4 years is far less onerous than $30MM a year for 7.
Oh, yeah. I gotcha. I viewed Kazmir as a 100% rental; that they never had any intention of resigning him. He'd either pitch up to expectations (yea!) and price himself out of town, or he'd pitch below expectations and not be a viable option moving forward.
If we are going to be legit contenders. We better incorporate talent similar to the Royals. Need power arms in the bullpen. Hitters with a smart baseball IQ. Who are tough to strike out, battle, put the ball in play, run well, play solid D, etc Their lineup ate opposing bullpens throughout the postseason. While having one that was as close to lights out as you can get. I'm not saying completely rehaul the team. Certainly Correa, Altuve & Springer all defend, run, tough to get out when they are right or healthy. Castro behind the plate is what makes him good. Gonzalez, Marisnick & Tucker could be quality players in any series. Gattis had a real slow start but he looked better down the stretch. Just has to cut back on the strikeouts. When he hits the ball, it's always hard.
Yeah; I don't want them to spend $25-30MM/year for ANYone... but if they HAD to, I'd prefer it be on a bat. McCullers is the wildcard; he's young and we shouldn't assume anything about 2015 as legitimate until we have a much larger sample size. But I just don't think starting pitching rates as their biggest need moving forward.
Chris Davis anyone? He'll be a massive upgrade at either corner infield or DH. Would be a good fit with his dingers. Probably DH though with his bad defense.
Agreed. If the speculation holds true that Rasmus (too expensive) and Carter (too sucky) won't be on the roster next year, Luhnow needs to replace 20% of the team's home runs that were hit last year. But I also don't think Luhnow will shell out that much money for a hitter. I could see him doing it for a pitcher on a short term contract (which is why I think he was interested in trading for Hamels).
I wonder if, this offseason, its more likely that we just: 1) extend our current core, 2) trade for any significant upgrades, and 3) generally stay away from the FA list as far as 'impact' players are concerned.
may have been true, though i think if he pitched well there would have been a better-than-average chance of a reasonable hometown discount (the 3/45 range).
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...-world-series-parade-speech-we-beat-em-110315 Gomes, toting an American flag, stalked the stage and praised his teammates. Then he did a little trash talking that got the crowd fired up. "Guess what? Cy Young winner — not on our team. Beat him," Gomes said, likely referring to Houston's Dallas Keuchel. "Rookie of the Year — not on our team. We beat him," Gomes said, likely referring to Houston's Carlos Correa.
There are multiple ways to win, and there's no need for the Astros to try to be a lesser version of the Royals. They can go their own route and build their own type of lineup. It's not like the Royals were unbeatable - the Astros were one pitcher away from beating them this year and led in every game.
There's also the fact that they could pull of a trade similar to the Hamels/Cueto/Kazmir deals either via the winter meetings or again at the trade deadline... in fact, they're far more likely to be successful at that, vs. just simply signing a free agent, given the prospects they have to offer (compared to other teams), and not having to have a free agent agree to pick them over anybody else.
