https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/post-tommy-john-players-that-could-impact-2023.html Mentions Whitley. As disappointing as the last 5 years have been, this will be the first season since 2017 that he is fully healthy and without (known) off field issues. While not something that should be considered likely, it has gone pretty much without saying that Whitley still has the potential to make good on the enormous ceiling he was labeled with 5+ years ago, and adding a true ace to the existing pitching at the major league level would be a HUGE boon for the Astros as they try to extend their competitive window.
I'd be happy if he could be a decent long reliever that can eat up some innings and give our other pitchers rest.
Maybe Whitley can find his groove in the bullpen. His stuff could still become effective at striking out MLB hitters.
Umm, you think he's going to buy out 3 prime FA years for below market value to buy out his Arb years at market value? WTF?
1. Stay healthy 2. Do well in the minors 3. Pitch well enough to get promoted and continues to stay healthy… and then still does well against better competition. 84. Could be a future true ace. Bryan Abreu struggled quite a bit at the MLB level before he finally put it together… but it took some time. Whitley needs to actually get serious about his work ethic (and stay healthy)… but we don’t even know his deficiencies at this level yet to suggest he can stick, let alone dominate.
Why do you do this when you are literally terrible at it? You aren’t within 100M of a deal he would take and then make up absurd scenarios that never exist in the real world just to make it even more inconceivable.
I think before I gave up on Whitley I’d do something unconventional and promote him just to see if maybe he’s wired wrong and just isn’t going to produce until he gets where he thinks he belongs. Maybe he’s that arrogant and you could use it. Also- more likely- he gets his **** pushed in and maybe that humbles him. That might be my move of last resort in July if the Astros are up 12 games and he’s still struggling.
Still hoping Houston signs a lefty reliever and gets at least one extension done to finish out the offseason. Other than that, the 2 realistic moves I wish they’d made are signing a backup catcher (Omar Narvaez for $8M/1yr or Mike Zunino for $6M/1yr are the 2 deals I have liked most) and signing an upside pitcher (Andrew Heaney for $25M/2yrs, Sean Manaea for $25M/2yrs, Kyle Gibson, or Corey Kluber each could look like steals after this season). Houston looks to have left some significant money on the table so far.
Yeah if there isn’t one extension but really two this off-season has been super underwhelming. We plugged the biggest and most obvious hole on the roster, we ran it back with an old and injured guy with almost no upside in Lf, punted at catcher and watched the cy young winner leave without bringing on any new pitchers. I still think we are the favorite to win the WS but if we end up with another payroll well under the tax I’m going to stop believing Crane about how he’s ready to spend spend spend and his GM’s holding him back.
I think this is his last option year, so there's extra pressure on him and the Astros to show something at the MLB level. I was a little surprised to see that he's 25 now. I know a lot of people that matured considerably in the 22-25 year old period of their lives, hopefully Forrest is one of them. For the Astros, I think Jairo Solis could be another name to watch recovering from TJ. I think he's at the stage that they ought to see if he can stay healthy and effective in a reliever role, but he could be a high leverage guy.
I think it is unlikely that he gets 7.5 in arbitration this year. His actual value works out to about 5.5, much closer to the Astros 5 m offer.
I agree with everything except the lefty reliever. It doesn't matter as long as we have righties who get lefties out better than a lefty. It's not the hand they throw with, it's how effective they are verses lefties and we have that covered.
We are talking about the 35th best WAR, not the top 5. And this is speculation which only covers the next 5 years which should not be compared to a 10+ year deal in total value. A sixth year does not kick in unless he wants it or he get's paid what Judge just did as the highest paid position player in baseball by AAV. Somehow there is no room for a player to make what he's worth. He's either a BUM or has to be paid like the GOAT. He is neither.
