A little weird how the Astros SP have been very effective but yet their fWAR numbers are pretty mediocre. Verlander is only on pace for 3.9 fwar despite being utterly dominant (although his k rate is down from his career mark). Others projected total 2022 fwar: Javier 1.9 over 150 ip Odorizzi 1.1 over 107 ip (k rate way down from career mark) Garcia 2.6 over 161 ip Valdez 2.7 over 178 ip (k rate also slightly down from career mark) Urquidy 1.8 over 139 ip (k rate also slightly down) I wonder if these pitchers are pitching to more contact because of the new ball and crackdown on sign stealing (maybe they think they are more likely to get easy outs rather than going for k's). Anyway, just weird that the Astros have 4 SP with an ERA under 3.5 and none project for >4 war (and only Verlander is even in the current top 75 in MLB pitching war.
This just popped up. Looks like he's making some progress... https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/astros-jake-meyers-resumes-hitting/
WAR is always a relative stat, right? So if offense is down across the MLB wouldn't a dominant pitcher have less wins above replacement?
The Astros need to call up Matijevic let him get some regular platoon work at first because Yuli continues to look really bad right now, there are just no positive signs whatsoever. Not really confident Matijevic is the answer, but I think we need to try something. If they aren't ready to dump Goodrum, then send down Siri. Goodrum and Diaz can be the backup outfield for a little while.
I think Yuli has earned some leash. I would give him another 6-8 weeks to see if he shows signs of coming back. But I agree that his performance is pretty troubling. In 93 pa he hasn’t barreled a single ball. Career high k rate. Zero homers. I also agree that sending down Siri and making Goodrum the backup OF is a solid way to account for shifting Yuli into a platoon or bench role. Still hoping Yuli is either fighting a nagging injury or just in an odd slump. But anytime a 38 year old shows sustained decline it’s usually curtains. I will say one thing I think we can be confident of is that once Click determines Yuli is no longer the best performer available at 1B they will make a move. Cutting Baez loose and eating all that money at least proved that.
My guess is because Fangraphs war is based on FIP and the pitchers (other than JV) all are below league average
The same WAR is earned every year. The Astros starters are striking out less batters than normal. On the plus side, FanGraphs WAR is FIP-based, and it is clear Astros have guys with either extreme flyball tendencies or groundball tendencies which leads to some bias against Astros SPs.
What I have heard is that they have the money and willingness to use assets to make a big deal at the deadline if they want to.
Wilson Contreras and Jose Iglesias or Kiki Hernandez would be a nice start TBD at 1B, CF, and pitcher if McCullers doesn't make it back....
One thing I just remembered is that Odorizzi’s deal has big bonus amounts for innings pitched this year. He gets $500k for reaching 100 ip, then another $1M for each additional 10 ip thru 150, then $1.25M for 160 ip. So Houston could probably save $6M by shifting Odo to the bullpen once the need for a 6 man rotation goes away. Another thing about his contract is the large buyout of his 2023 player option. The difference between his buyout and his salary is only like $3.25M, so unless he suffers a season ending injury, he is extremely likely to take the buyout and move on. That will free up some money next season as well.
Talking the owner into, yes. Getting other teams willing to dump salary, no. Edit: Though I do mean prorated to whatever portion of contract is left.
Yeah, but they could trade for a few of the highest paid players in the league and their prorated 2022 salaries wouldn't reach $35 million.
It’s a longshot, but the scenario where the Nats shop Soto with intention to shed the money owed to Corbin and/or Strasburg would fit this mold. ETA: I realize now y’all are talking about adding $35M for just this season and yes that’d be extremely difficult even in the scenario I described.
Made the edit as I was talking prorated. Even then, Dodgers were in the $20-25M range last year before taxes.
Cj Chron and Josh bell lead the league in OPS at 1B. They play for Colorado and Washington respectively. Both are on reasonable contracts (chron- 2/15 for 22/23) Bell 1/10 in arbitration- looks like 1 more year of arbitration left?
If you are looking for salary relief to give the other team in those deals Blackmon and Corbin are both really shitty and make lots of money.
