Cubs did the same thing before they brought up Kris Bryant, but the Astros are the ones cheating the system.
Nook I believe is the one that said they met. I haven't talked to anyone from the Astros lately. My family has a relationship with the Crane family and communicate with them often, but I was just speculating on the Darvish comp. Agents always ask for more and Darvish and Wheeler's last 2 seasons before free agency are a decent comparison. Plus, the hype around Wheeler having "Cole like stuff" could get him in that ballpark. Darvish 2016 (shortened season because of injury) 3.41 ERA, 1.116 WHIP Wheeler 2018 3.31 ERA, 1.124 WHIP Darvish 2017 10-12, 3.86 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 209Ks, 186 IP Wheeler 2019 11-8, 3.96 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 195Ks, 195 IP Wheeler is 29 and Darvish was 30 at free agency..
What's Darvish making a year on avg? 25 million? I believe the Stros will go 4 or 5 years at about 25 mil per year. Say four years 100 million seems about right. Of course they could get outbid.
Do not want Pedro Strop. Guy is not good and takes literally minutes to throw the ball. I know Strom Is the horse Whisperer with pitchers, but unless he's practically given away, zero interest here but it ain't my team.
Chronicle article quotes Luhnow as wanting to acquire 2 SP. I think he’s tired of prospects not fitting the timeline and weary of relying on blockbuster deadline deals to save the season. My guess is they make a run at Wheeler and if he’s too expensive they shift to the trade market (Gray, Boyd, etc.) to get their #3. Then they’ll look at 3rd and 4th tier guys who present value (Pomeranz, Lyles, etc.) for the last spot. I’d also imagine that 2nd guy might be a minor league deal or a guy who fits in the pen if he doesn’t make the rotation. I’m fine with a spring competition between Urquidy, Whitley, Abreu, James, Peacock, and a free agent like Lyles or trade acquisition like Lugo for that 5th rotation spot and the first few bullpen spots. I’m really hoping they make a splash at catcher (either sign 2 starter worthy guys who can platoon - a righty like Chirinos or D’Arnaud and a lefty like Castro or Avila - or get a really good starter like Grandal or Contreras). What a fantastic lineup they’ll have if their catcher is a good hitter.
This may just be sematics, but I think the driving force on trying to get 2 more starters is more based on current roster (Have JV and Greine for 2 more years) and shifting away from trying to be sustainable long term to maximizing chances over next two years. With a different roster, I expect Astros would be more willing to wait on prospects/waiting until deadline. Also, I think overall, Astros don't have enough pitching. I like Greinke, but JV and Cole offered two guys that would likely be able to carry a significant playoff load that JV with Greinke instead can't match. Even with JV, Cole, and Greinke, Astros pushed their quality pitchers hard in the playoffs.
Darvish got 6 years 126 million. So that is an AAV of 21 million. I expect Wheeler to be in that AAV range and maybe up to 23 million.
All I can think of when I think about paying Wheeler 20 million is Charlie Morton at 15 million per year....looks like a bargain now.
For one year, sure. Odds of him pitching this well, and staying this healthy, back-to-back years is still low... hence why the Astros were willing to offer a one year deal.
They didn't give him a qualifying offer like they did for Keuchel though. Seems like they should have at least did that.
Astros knew DK wasn’t gonna accept the QO so why not get a compensated pick for losing him. CFM probably would have accepted the QO. I don’t think astros FO want to pay CFM 18M with his shoulder injury at the time. If you remember, he barely pitches in the playoff cuz of his shoulder. With that money, JL went out and got Uncle Brantley instead. I think most fans are happy with that signing.
The White Sox did the same thing with Eloy Jimenez, as did the Blue Jays with Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and the Braves with Ronald Acuna, Jr.
All these articles hating on the Astros... Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on course to be MLB’s most outrageous service time manipulation case yet What Kris Bryant’s service-time grievance means for the Cubs, the union and Major League Baseball The Blue Jays are the world champions (of service time manipulation)! Spring training update: Clayton Kershaw’s status, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s service time manipulation and more analysis Eloy Jimenez will start 2019 season in minors, MLB pitcher rips White Sox for service time manipulation Vlad Guerrero Jr.'s Injury Doesn't Save MLB from More Call-Up Manipulation Drama Ronald Acuna, Willie Calhoun, and Service-Time Manipulations The Braves will play the service-time game with Ronald Acuna ... Who Benefits From Keeping Ronald Acuna Down? MLB's Terrible Service Time Rule Screwed Ronald Acuña and We're All Paying for it MLB and Cubs Hoping to Resolve Ridiculous Kris Bryant Service-Time Manipulation Issue Frankly, this last article may be the result of Taubman fallout, but overall the national media has bashed the Bryant's Service Time Manipulation a lot more than Springer's. Other teams, it gets talked about when it happens. The Astros are not being singled out for service time manipulation more than other teams. Other teams get bashed for DV issues as much as Astros did until Taubman. Other teams don't call the media liars and then have to retract their statements. On the sign stealing....yep, the Astros have been the focus of this for a few years now. This isn't completely media driven. Teams are freaking scared that Astros are stealing signs. They limited mound visits to counter how often teams were changing signs against the Astros.
I think 4 yrs 100 million will get a deal done, unless sombody is willing to risk crazy $$$$ on a guy with Wheeler's injury history.
Update on the whole Reid Ryan saga. Jared Crane's role is being exaggerated. He's keeping his full time day job.
Lets not forget that JV looked exhausted and had nothing left in the tank towards the end of the postseason. He had ONE swinging strike on his off speed pitches for game 6. We simply cant expect him to go 210IP+ and expect him to be our #1 in the postseason. He's simply too old. We need another TOR or else I feel like we never see the world series again. Im afraid the Yanks have a huge off season and spend a **** ton of money. I think they position themselves well for Correa after getting rid of Didi and i think they spend huge at getting an Ace this off season.
