It's not surprising if the market for Framber ends up being much weaker than his results suggest it should be. Between the ears he is extremely high maintenance, and giant contracts are risky enough as is.
Sequencing will be part of it but they are going to work on his fastball release from what I heard earlier. Right now his fastball is being exploited, they want to add some deception and motion - coupled with sequencing.
It doesn’t necessarily mean he stays, but it’s certainly a little more risky to move him now. If they were going to move him and rely on youth in CF, the more options you had the better chance that one of them hits Jake isn’t gonna be the main piece in a deal for a #2 type starter, but that’s the only type of trade I’d give him up in
Potential #2’s available: Free agents: Framber, Ranger, Gallen, Verlander, Eflin Trade: Ragans, Peralta, Gore, Pivetta, Rasmussen, Bubic, Keller, Smith, Ryan, Lopez, Ober
Who do you think is attainable from those pitchers with what we have. I think I saw we have 24 million available I would hate to use that JV and Caratini. If JV is considered on that list, should Giolito be as well?
Giolito (and a few others) have the ceiling to be ToR pitchers but they don’t project to be in the top 60 pitchers this season and haven’t been in the top 60 pitchers last year or across the last 3 years. Verlander was very good in 2023 and was pretty good last year. I think the Astros can afford to sign Verlander or Eflin. I think they technically can afford to trade for most of those trade options, it’s just a matter of if they think it’s worth it. I don’t think a rotation of Brown, Verlander, Javier, Burrows, Arrighetti, and Weiss would be what most of us were hoping for, but I think it would be good enough for Houston to still be in the playoff/division mix at least until the deadline.
That's almost our worst scenario in my opinion I'd hate to see us as a fringe contender at the deadline and trade away even more prospect capital, that's a direct path to a long period of mediocrity We really need to add a legit #2 SP somehow, i'd go as far as to say Dana's job likely hinges on it. Even if we are looking like we are out of it at the deadline I don't see Crane giving the OK for another tear down, and a second year out of the playoffs in a row likely puts Dana out of work (for the Astros) I also think if you look at the Burrows trade (which I like) it shows that the rest of the baseball world isn't as high on the Astros prospects as some of us are. I know prices seem high in trades this year and I know Burrows has some upside left, but it's not like he is a young prospect who finally made it. Dude is 26 and has already had TJ. Again I like the trade, but if he is what we get for two of our top 4 prospects (depending on your list) it's pretty obvious Dana is gonna have a hard time trading for a legit #2 without dealing someone from the MLB roster that we wouldn't want to lose
Given what the current FA market looks like, a bona fide league average SP2 is going to take quite a trade package. The actual trade package will vary greatly depending on the years of control and salary. For a SP2 with two years of control and a non-FA salary, I suspect that a Astros trade package would have to include: a middling MLB starting pitcher like Arrighetti two starting pitching prospects, the other team's choice, like: Ullola and Pecko a lottery ticket from the DSL or complexes, like Kevin Alvarez This is going to be The Ask.
I think you are correct that this might be "good enough" until the trade deadline. BUT The Astros are still looking for their SP2.
Relax guys, we got Baby JV and Cole 2.0 atop our rotation. I fully expect to trade for a Greinke equivalent at the deadline, but this time, we, to borrow a line from '22, finish the job!
Looking at the 40 Man roster, I see the following starting pitchers: Starting Pitchers (6) Spencer Arrighetti Hunter Brown Mike Burrows Cristian Javier Nate Pearson Ryan Weiss Opener Lance McCullers Jr. Spot Starters/Long Relief/AAA Jason Alexander AJ Blubaugh J.P. France Colton Gordon AAA Jayden Murray Miguel Ullola Injured Ronel Blanco Brandon Walter Hayden Wesneski Relief Pitchers (7) Spoiler Bryan Abreu Enyel De Los Santos Josh Hader Bryan King Roddery Muñoz (Rule 5) Steven Okert Kaleb Ort Injured Bennett Sousa The Astros starting pitching a bit of a crowded field. They have 6 MLB starting pitchers, ready to go, albeit no SP2. Calling LMJ an opener is a punt on my part. I honestly would not be surprised if he is DFA this spring (or is a studly SP3 for 2026 ftm). The likely odds are that he will struggle and have trouble going deep into games. I called him an Tampa Bay opener, hoping he could make it through the start of the other team's starting 9 once. This is certainly delivering less value than his contract ... but ... having an opener in the playoffs can be useful. The Astros also have 2 inexperience MLB pitchers, Nate Pearson and Ryan Weiss, who could be helped by having an opener. But LMJ makes the 7th starter. I will note here that Arrighetti ended the season hurt, so there is a non-zero chance that he needs TJ surgery and will miss 2026 (or most of it). If Arrighetti needs TJ, he won't be able to pass a physical and be part of a SP2 trade. The Astros may be able to hide LMJ on the roster, when other starters go on and off the IL. The Astros will have reasonable pitching depth in AAA that can spot start: Jason Alexander, AJ Blubaugh, Colton Gordon, J.P. France and Jayden Murray ... with a possible second half of season callup for top prospect Miguel Ullola.
This may be just me, but I don't want Framber back no matter the contract. The kind of pitcher who intentionally crosses up his catcher so he can hit him is a guy I want gone unless they are a Cy Young caliber pitcher....and I'd still want them gone the second that stopped being the case. Add to that, I expect him to be something like a #2 or #3 quality pitcher next season that believes himself to be an ace and that just makes it worse.
Do you consider Senga to be a SP2? He's available and wouldn't cost that much to get. Heck, Stearns might even trade Walker for Senga. It looks like they're going to bring back JV.
If that's what it's going to take I would wait until the 1st wave of FA pitching signs and then sign a guy like JV/Giolito etc... or trade for an injury prone SP2 like Senga who shouldn't cost as much as what you've listed.
Going into 2017, Houston’s rotation consisted of: Keuchel: legit ToR SP McCullers: only threw 81 ip in 2016 Fiers: 1.5 fwar in 2016 Peacock: 0.0 fwar in 2016 Morton: 3rd tier free agent coming off a season where he pitched 17 total innings No one knew Morton would be so good. The group they already have projects to be better than that group did when 2017 started.
Outside of injuries, yes I do If Stearns would trade him 1 for 1 for Walker i'd do it in a heartbeat....but it would scare the crap out of me that Stearns was willing to do so
