How can anyone fault Yordan for doing this?? He's had surgery on BOTH of his knees. This provides him security. They bought out his 3 arbitration yrs for 41 mil and the 3 FA yrs for 26 mil. Sounds like a good deal for both sides.
I agree I think he has taken a step forward as a hitter which could result in some monstrous numbers when his luck events out or they go back to the old ball. I thought of him as a top 10 hitter in baseball but I think now he might be more like top 5 if this sticks.
I know people did doubt his power, but I personally never thought it was warranted because he was so young and had gone through a lot. He was out of shape in Cuba, then he missed an entire year of baseball at 18 years old and at 19, the Astros put him in A ball and he hit right away. He was pulling off the ball some and he actually looked exhausted by his 3 at bat in some games.
Pitchers seem to be approached for deals to avoid arbitration, but multi years extensions appear to be offered in the year before FA.
I know a lot of people are saying this deal is really tilted towards the Astros - and I think it likely will be - but I would have likely taken it if I were Yordan. He is 6'5" and 240 lbs.... he has already had surgery and numerous issues physically. He got enough money to literally do just about anything he and his children will want to do in their lifetime, even if his wife divorces him some day.... he likely will get to go back to the well again at 31 years old too. Now he can focus on baseball and his family....
Well said. The improvement on defense is noticeable. He's clearly improved his throwing and tracking out there. To go from cringeworthy liability to "eh, he's fine" on defense is actually really meaningful.
Happy to see this. I know there has been talk about the state of the Astros after the Bregman/Altuve contracts are up and all their young players are towards the end of their arb years or hitting free agency in a few years, but really happy to see one of those question marks covered for an extra three years at a seemingly good price is promising.
Yankees have been run differently in recent years after Steinbrenner's death. They haven't been exceeding the luxury tax the way the Dodgers do. Yankees fans have been crying about their "cheapness."
Yeah that Gerrit Cole deal was bargain basement... Yankees fans are idiots, give me a break with this nonsense.
This is a good point, the deal is a lot more “fair” if there are health concerns that aren’t public knowledge.
Exactly this. I remember when he first started, he seemed to run well on the bases, but didn't seem to run as well in the outfield. He seemed very awkward in LF. Now he seems to be making some decent plays and is not a liability out there, so I think this contract even brings more value to the Astros if can continue getting better in LF.
Fair, but I just dgaf if he plays defense. I'd kinda rather he not most of the time. Put him at DH and let him go out there and drop a .950+ OPS every year and I'm good.
I don't think a lot of people really understand how rough hitting is on your lower body (esp knees) when you do it as much as these guys do.
