Really would have been sweet if Raley and Narvaez would have been included. That would have set Houston's roster thru 2024 with them having a SP surplus as insurance or trade ammo.
I believe the whole rotation — plus Luis Garcia and McCullers are locked in through 2025. Then pen likely loses Neris this year, but the rest of the key pieces have multiple years left. The big question will be Bregman and Altuve post 2024. There’s still some hope that Stanek / Maton / Montero can right the ship as the 5th guy — I feel better having 3 guys for one spot than hoping 2 of them work out. Would you swap Urquidy and Javier since Javier’s got the pen experience? If Brantley ever does come back and Yainer can play enough catcher, that lineup is fierce.
That will leave the Astros with a lot of flexibility. I know people are upset about losing 5-6 years of Gilbert and Clifford. However, the Astros are getting about 2.5 years of Verlander at the financial cost of a #4 starter. The Astros will have financial flexibility the next couple seasons and held onto Hunter Brown. Next year the Astros will very likely have some starters to trade when Garcia and McCullers are back - and Arrighetti and Gordon are knocking on the door. It is possible that after the 2025 season the Astros are ready to rebuild - but we will worry about it at that point, and even if that happens, it will have been just short of a 10 year run of dominance.
I said before the trade deadline.... Crane would look like a genius if he was able to get Verlander back for a few prospects and a huge savings. Instead of paying Verlander $120mil+ for 3 years (or even $86mil for 2 years), he pays only $39 mil for 2.5 years.
perfectly said. also, between now and 2026: tons more prospects will emerge in the system. tons more players will be drafted. tons more international signees will be added. re-signing tucker is still an option they have, however small it seems right now. and gilbert and/or clifford may not even pan out. worrying about them in 2026 and beyond at this point is just silly.
I don't know about a bat, but I can say that they were still looking for a reliever 20-30 minutes ago.
