Never claimed to be a good typist. M is immediately below K on my phone "keyboard" and my finger easily covers 3-4 of these damn letters at a time.
Amed Rosario was DFA’d by LA the other day and hit .305 with a .750 OPS in 200+ PA last year. Has played some outfield in the past and can play 3B. I wish we would consider trying to pick him up given this Bregman news and the fact our OF is such trash right now.
Yep. And it probably is a net 10M cost on salary of pitchers coming in beers going out. Dfa Urquidy and that’s 5M off the books. That’s pretty damn close to neutral payroll wise.
I don’t think JV is laughing at 3/45 at 42 years old coming off a year where he threw less than 100 innings. You tell him sign this contract and stay really healthy with this team and you will win 300 and compete for WS titles in an atmosphere you are comfortable in. If he can truly do better than that cool- good for him. Kikuchi has a long track record of being pretty spare. He’s currently working off a contract less than that which you’d be offering and getting 3 years at 34. Offer 3/48 then. Again, if he can do better cool. Whatever. if the Astros fallback is: Framber brown blanco arrighetti and garcia that’s a winning rotation and the guys in AAA that snake mentioned are pretty good fall back plans.
The SP market will be deep in free agency this offseason. Burnes, Eovaldi, Buehler, Flaherty, Fried, and Snell all represent potential ToR options. Verlander and Kikuchi will be in a deep 2nd tier with guys like Scherzer, Means, Paxton, Morton, Montas, Severino, Manaea, and Bieber. Looking at that makes me like even more @Wulaw Horn ’s idea of signing multiple free agents that would free Houston up to trade pitching for prospects and hitters. Sign JV, CFM, and Kikuchi while trading Framber for an elite young hitter and a package built around Arrighetti for another elite young hitter. Rotation would be Verlander, Brown, Morton, Kikuchi, Blanco, and Garcia, with McCullers in the pen if healthy and France, Blubaugh, Gusto, Gordon, and Ullola in AAA.
I looked this up. Recovery from shoulder capsule tear repair surgery normally ranges from 4 to 6 months with 9 months being the longest reasonable timeline if there are complications. France had surgery July 1st. He should essentially have a normal spring ramp up.
That's a good point. I think he would take a 3 yr deal with any guarantee that's not insulting. But I do think the $15M AAV will make him think hard. 1) I don't see Crane doing 3 yrs when he has limited it to 2 before when he was younger and less of a health/age risk. 2) I see another team offering $45 or very close to $45 over 2 seasons. I'm sure JV still wants 300 wins and his time and the likelihood is getting away from him. If he finishes strong he will get 7 starts. Let's say he wins 4, leaving him 36 short of 300. He needs 3 years to get there. That is an incentive for him to take a 3 yr deal, over a shorter one, but he probably thinks he can find a team to give him 1 yr $10M+ if he's within 12 or so after 2 more. His run for 300 would pay for that in ticket sales and merchandising. Crane/Brown should offer him a 2 yr deal between $34M and $40M w/ a vesting option that requires a physical to trigger (like Pressly's) Just like 2023, the 3rd year is what will determine where he goes. I have a feeling he is going to end up in Detroit for the run to 300, but maybe not in 2025.
Only if we can get all-star caliber JV for 3 months of the year + playoffs. Shut him down the rest of the time. I'd do that for all 3 years
$30M/2yrs with add’l bonuses for 100, 120, and 140 ip plus bonuses for all star, CY, and post season mvp awards to get the total to something like $42M/2yr, plus a vesting $18M 3rd year player option based on 110 ip in 2026 and a year end physical.
That seems pretty perfect for both parties I would think (if he wants to be in Houston). He went to NY and decided he’d rather be in Houston, so… unless that changes I’d think a deal like that could get done. Is it smart or dumb for the Astros? Who knows. We have plenty of younger pitchers with fine injury histories that have been broken in the last 2 years, so…. I would sort of be surprised if JV doesn’t have 5 WAR left in the tank between here and retirement, which is the break even on that contract.
From a business standpoint, He probably only needs 4 WAR for that contract to break even because the run for 300 will drive additional revenue. But getting ONLY 4 WAR over 3 seasons from one if your 6 starting pitchers would hurt on the field.
Not sure on the legality of this but could you do a rolling contract like- indefinite 15M a year for however long he hits 120 innings a year that goes for 6 years or something if he kept hitting his innings? Or can you only vest like 1 time in a contract?
