Well that and he had a bad attitude when he would pitch bad and get pulled early. Probably because he was desperately trying to reach those incentives in his contract.
I agree moving him before the escalators kicked in was a good move. He just wasn't the horror many describe him as when he pitched. Will Smith was a way to reduce the cost of moving on from Odorizzi with a flyer on fixing him. He came close, but no cigar with this bull pen.
Maybe, but Rhys Hoskins is a free agent after the 2023 season... and he is definitely out of favor with the Philadelphia fanbase. Urquidy gives them exactly what they need with a solid #3 starter with playoff success. And Yainer can replace Hoskins at first. There is some logic to it.
What do y'all make of the 1-year deal with Dusty? Do you think there's just a general agreement between Crane and Dusty that they will just take it year by year, the man is 73 years old after all.
Unusual. For both the Dusty and Click situations. Even if Crane doesn't feel 100% on board with either, its atypical to not give them security then just fire them later. Rolling lame duck status is not good.
Keep the 6 man rotation with Brown starting in the minors. That plan kept everyone fresh for the playoffs
or like every competitor who is not injured (and even some who are), he wanted to work his way out of the jam.
I do think JV resigns and I do agree one of those two need to be traded once that happens. The issue is that it's just awkward. This team can't trade an established pitcher for prospects. The only real needs are at 1B/DH, C, and RP ( I think the Astros are happy with CF situation for 2023 and beyond). 95% of the guys who could be available at those positions are worth significantly less than Garcia or Urquidy. It makes a deal tough.
He paid market price on those reliever and Odo contracts but that's really the only area where he brought in external players at market rate. Each of Neris/Baez/Odo contracts were roughly $20m or less. He really hasn't added much long-term salary. It's a total small market thing, get elite production (Neris) at a market rate.... only its the cheapest possible thing in the store overall.
The Rays beg to the differ. They trade established players for prospects/unknowns all the time. Click came from the Rays.
We were remarkably lucky with injuries to the pitchers last season. One reason Brown was not called up earlier was McCullers was there by the time there was an injury to Verlander. Even Javier was relegated to the bull pen just because he could, not because he was an inferior Starter. The depth of starters after 4 was never seen before. The depth of high leverage relievers was also unheard of. Those with a reputation were rarely more than 4 deep.
The Rays do it because they must keep salary costs down. Prospects are much less likely to make it so teams should always trade for MLB players instead of prospects if they are trying to contend now and can afford them. Houston does not need to take those risks that TB does and therefore shouldn't.
