What is the actual rule on the tax situation in baseball? The Dodgers and Yankees have both stated they don’t want to cross the 197 million apron and I’ve read it affects how much it would cost them to sign free agents next year if they cross it this year. Anyone know how it works? Cause I know that would be a consideration for either going after Harper
I think Bryce Harper is going to have a huge second half. At the end of the day he is still a rental, like Machado is. Still if the Astros could get him for a few guys in the back end of our top 10, I would probably do it. He certainly could fill our left field need and stretch the line up. More importantly, if Harper decided to get disrespectful I have no doubt that Verlander would beat his ass.
I probably wouldn’t bother with that if I were Washington since they seem to be interested in re-upping with him. If they are out on negotiating then sure, that beats the comp pick.
Yeah I say Jones or Curtis Granderson. Jays were able to get Teoscar Hernandez for Liarano. Maybe they think they can get lucky and get another young guy from the Astros that seems like a future everyday MLB player.
I'm not sure there's a player in MLB that could walk into the Stros clubhouse and pull rank on MVPs, Cy Youngs, WS MVPs, CFMs, ROYs, WS trophies, Hinches and Bregmans. If all that fails they could just turn Gattis loose on 'em. Harper hitting cleanup between Springer-Bregman-Altuve and Correa-Yuli-Reddick/Gattis is a pretty sweet thought.
Could definitely see LAD getting Harper while sending them Puig and/or Forsythe plus prospects. In fact if he is traded I would be really surprised if he went anywhere else. Although I suppose if the Nats have any notion of competing after trading him, they’d favor AL teams.
1st year tax is 20%, 2nd is 30%, & 3rd is 50%. Makes it very important to not go into the tax 3 straight years. On top of that, there is a 12.5% surtax exceeding $20M over and 42.5% exceeding $40M over.
If that is their thinking then they won’t move him. They might get different guys from us or someone else, but they won’t get more overall value than that. That is probably more than what Baltimore got for Machado. They will also save a good chunk of money moving him But if you think they are getting top 50 type prospects it just don’t work that way for rentals
Ah, makes sense now why they don’t want to go over so bad this year. Go over now then signing Machado or Harper costs you an extra 10%
I just get a sense that they might be feeling like the current group, while very talented, just isn’t going to ever get it done Just watch them play...the Astros seem to always be having fun, to a little lesser extent so do teams like the Yankees and Red Sox. Watching the Nats it seems like Scherzer and Soto are the only ones really into it. I get a gut feeling they will move all the expiring contracts, get what prospects they can, and spend that money differently next year. They have enough young talent already that it could be a deal where they are better next year without Harper and some of the other older guys
If I was them I think I’d do that, but that’s a really risky and ballsy move for a team that’s been on such a good run (minus this year) over the last 5 years in the regular season. Is just be really surprised to see it go down like that. They seem too risk averse, and ownership is very close to Scott Boras
Just throwing out a conversation I had with my buddy at work. Would you trade One of Tucker or Whitley plus Alvarez, Perez and Fisher for deGrom? With Morton and Keuchel hitting free agency after the season, you'd have Verlander, Cole, deGrom, Peacock and McHugh in the rotation. Honestly, I don't know if I'd say yes, only because deGrom's health issues concern me.
I think Harper could really add a lot to this team but I don't know if Luhnow will spend the assets to get him though. I like what I've read so far from our Astros beat writers. I do not know how in tuned they really are but it seems Luhnow is set on making a few deals. Left field is a must IMO and I don't think this is a knock on Tucker. I think he will still be a legit player but I think it's a lot of pressure to put on him at the moment. Ideally, I hope Luhnow finds a player who can beat up on Cleveland's pitching. It seems likely we will end up playing them.
No And if we wouldn’t include 1 guy of that caliber for Sale, we certainly ain’t giving 2+ for degrom
One of the national MLB writers stated the Astros will still make a push for a bat and possibly another bullpen pitcher. I wished I had caught the tweet in time to post here.
