I was thinking more for the offseason for Rule 5 purposes. Free agents like Graveman don't eat up spots.
Much of the pre-deadline discussion surrounded the Astros’ apparent willingness to remain under the $210 million competitive balance tax. Tuesday’s deal lowered their luxury tax payroll by nearly $800,000. Including veteran sidearmer Joe Smith and his $4 million salary in the deal allowed Houston to create some room. RosterResource now projects the Astros with a $208,092,962 CBT payroll. It was $208,834,943 prior to the trade. If the Astros cross the $210 million threshold, they will pay a 30 percent tax on all overages. Draft pick compensation in 2022 for any declined qualifying offers is affected, too. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...man-flexible-more-moves-deadline-16346119.php
They didn't trade Pena or Pedro Leon, come off it. Abraham Toro has a chance to develop and play every day. I'm happy for him. All he was going to do here long-term is rot on the bench. We have depth in the minors to replace him.
Certainly agree with this, but unfortunately there's some who think Graveman's success this year is all due to "luck".
Toro "good"? Since he's been here he's hitting .196 (275 AB). Could he potentially turn into a "good" player in time with more consistent playing time? I guess we'll see.
Always seemed like Verlander just cashing checks while he recovers and moved on or retired was a foregone conclusion but he sometimes makes me feel like he wants to get the band together again for one last show --- no way he can come back for the playoffs right?
Toro has some pop and could become a good RBI guy down the line, but I don’t think he was an essential piece and this team NEEDS better relief pitching right now. We might regret it years from now, but for the moment it’s a great move.
Those WAR to dollar figures are always stupid as s**t to me. Nobody is paying 30 million for a 3 WAR player, under any circumstance. That "average cost of WAR on the market "nonsense is inflated by huge and terrible contracts, not the cost of functional infielders. Is Toro capable of becoming a solid everyday player that we regret losing, sure, he has all the tools to be one. But you can say that for almost any trade. Will the Astros be able to replace what he will likely bring to us for a lot less than 30 million dollars, yes. Thats of course assuming he ever puts it together.
He certainly has had some good luck, his era of under 1.00 is likely not going to continue.... however, lucky or not he still has a very heavy sinker than runs away from hitters at 99 mph and a slider that he can get to the plate at over 90 mph. His sinker results in a lot of ground balls and with its velocity and weight, it is very hard to drive out of the ballpark. His sinker is so good that players are sitting on it and it doesn't matter because they cannot do anything with it. That type of "stuff" is what the Astros need at the end of their bullpen.
Absolutely he's had some "luck" but to say his success this season is because he's the "luckiest pitcher in baseball this season" is crazy and discounts what you're highlighting (that he has "stuff" that's hard to hit and this pen is upgraded with him in it).
Yeah, he has just been very good.... and it isn't a shocked based on his stuff and the comments of hitters. He is a very good, near great relief pitcher right now. Maybe he will lose command or get injured, that holds true for any pitcher.... but he isn't getting guys out with smoke and mirrors.
Thoughts on if there will be other trades coming? I know there was some talk that Crane gave Click the go ahead to go over the luxury tax if the right deal came along. Do you think Crane was truly serious about this?
Yes, I know for a fact that Crane has given the front office the ability to go over the luxury tax and to go over by a fairly sizeable amount. The Astros are not going over the tax unless it is really worth it. The Astros front office has been extremely active trying to make a number of deals to add all over the diamond. They have looked at possible bats, at starting pitching and the pen..... if there is a large move to be made that is reasonable, the Astros will pull the trigger.
Teams can't get out of terrible contracts. The Astros still have to pay Verlander and Baez, and luckily the Mariners are paying Smith. Proven players on free agent deals bust almost as much Top 100 prospects, though a lot of this is caused by relievers. Teams really aren't that good at figuring out which relievers will be good season to season which causes relievers to be in demand every trade deadline. Edit: I think the $/WAR number is closer to 7M/WAR right now for the league. Click has done a lot better than the league.
