If Astros miss out on JV, what's the chance of pivoting to try and sign DeGrom to an affordable 2 or 3 year deal where the 2nd ir 3rd year is vested? Or maybe similar terms to what we had with Verlander last year...just more money. I would think a team like the Astros who has a 6 men rotation would benefit DeGrom and even if he misses time it wouldn't be as bad considering what they have. Just a thought. Just not sure what degrom is demanding...contract wise.
if we can’t afford JV then we in all likelihood can’t afford degrom. And FWIW there are rumors that he’s looking for 4/5 years.
He got busy handing out soft drinks in the drive thru window at Raising Cane's. they were short staffed and the manager asked him to work a double.
I can understand why Click is miffed that he only received a one year contract offer. What I don't really think I can defend is Click then going to the GM meetings and bashing the Astros to the other GM's and baseball people. That is something that an MLB GM really should not do and that is really unheard of in the industry.
If I were a betting man, I would say the odds of Verlander remaining an Astro are probably 1:3 at this point.... but I will say, the baseball media REALLY cannot wait to get Verlander out of Houston so they can bash the Astros and write about their demise. I noticed that outside of Jayson Stark and a few others, a lot of the baseball media said almost nothing about the Astros winning the World Series. I even texted Keith Law asking why he did not mention the Astros when talking about the best player development organizations and why he repeatedly mentions the Dodgers and Rays as the best organizations but hasn't so much as mentioned the Astros.
I think any trade involving 1 ( much less 2) of the projected SPs needs to wait until JV signs ( here or somewhere else) If JV does not return then there is no excess SP. As for JVs comments, it's just noise. JV is a member of the union. He has an obligation to make knowledgeable choices for himself and all MLB players. He is right that the market will dictate how this plays out but that does not mean he has to ( or will) take the highest offer or base his choice on money alone. At the same time he needs to make sure Crane believes he is willing to go somewhere else even if he isn't or doesn't want to. It's all just the game right now. I still expect JV to return on a 3yr deal or 2yr + option similar to the previous one ( but in the $40M AAV range) He just had an amazing season at 39 years old and people are talking about his age as a reason to not sign him. He wants to pitch into his mid 40s. Imagine if he only signs for 2 years what all the talk will be if he is trying to get a FA contract for his age 42 season? He could win 2 more CY Youngs and still people would be saying not to sign him. Is it any wonder he wants more years now and to not deal with that? I bet the Astros could offer him 3 yrs $110 w/ 4th yr player option of $20 and $10M buyout. He is guaranteed $40M AAV for 3 seasons but does not need to be a FA at age 43 if age catches up and he is less effective. Astros CBT amount is $32.5M. If he is not good and takes the option just to get to 300 wins then its only 1 season and the coverage and extra revenue from the " push for 300" will offset the expense somewhat. And as of now the 2024 FA class could reduce the payroll for that season.
Click should have cut ties with the Astros. Crane should have cut ties with Click or at least not have him representing the team without a contract.
Probably true. It's time to move on... this GM no GM thing is really a non-story because the media hates its own reflection and they have to write about something negative or they'll wilt and die. They feed off of it. Crane will pick a GM on January 2 and the Assistant GMs + Crane will handle all the remaining Free Agency activity in the meantime. I guarantee Click and his team (prior to him leaving) already did their homework on who to target and possible trade scenarios that are ready to be executed and thus it isn't like they are just randomly dialing phone numbers to see who is available. This is a highly overrated much ado about nothing story. Move on baseball world. Move on. Love it or hate it the Astros will be fire.
Crane is smart enough to at least get some input from the top remaining analytics guys (Firkus and Cook) when making the decisions. The Astros have a GM. It’s Jim Crane. He’s not necessarily qualified for the job, but they also have 3 qualified AGMs. So long as Crane doesn’t go crazy and ignore those AGMs and start only listening to Baggy and Mr October, they’ll be just fine until Crane finds the right guy early next year.
Agreed, why is anybody gonna throw money at a oft-injured pitcher? That's baffling to me. And he's already showing some decline, it's not like he's 28, he's gonna be 35 next June. And his injury chances are just gonna increase.
What did his return text say? MLB for the last 3 years has had us ranked at the vet bottom in terms of minor league systems. So obviously if that's the case, we must be doing an astronomical job of player development. One certainly can't have it both ways
exactly. Crane always made the financial decisions and he also had veto rights on player decisions. I think he will do fine as long as he listens to his advisors. He's also kept in the place the scouting and development structure so we will be fine. The worse thing Crane could possibly do is overspend on someone, and we know he isn't going to do that if he didn't do it with Verlander and Correa. The more I think about it, the more I think spending 40 million on 2 great bats would be better than spending it on Verlander. Our 6 man rotation should still be as good as it gets in the MLB, especially if Brown develops better command which he should. Valdez Javier McCullers Brown Garcia Urquidy
"The Astros have the greatest percentage of homegrown players on any champion this century, according to Baseball America. The only other champions for which homegrown players made up even half the World Series roster: the 2002 Angels, the 2020 Dodgers, and the 2014 San Francisco Giants"
The $140M Verlander wants could probably buy Abreu, Haniger, Narvaez, and a Cristian Javier extension that buys out 2 free agent years. That’s a lot of value.
