His peripheral stats suggest he had a lot of bad luck that season and should have had an ERA under 4.
Pitchers are still judged in part on W-L record. Why would Kaz accept $6m less to pitch for a team where he will certainly lose (a lot) more games? The joy of pitching for the worst team in the league and not sniffing a pennant chase? The Astros are getting zero hometown discounts in their current state. They're going to pay a premium to sign talent - if money is equal, players would rather win. Especially guys in their prime or past-their-prime like Kaz.
This is our first major signing under Luhnow (financially speaking). I'm curious to see if there is something that doesn't appear in that appalling stat line.
I don't hate the move. Nice to have a vet, and nice to have someone with more predictable performance in the rotation after last year where literally everyone was a big question mark While I believe it's likely for one of the kids to come close to his performance, likely isn't the same thing. It would be adding some time with Harrell, some time with another Bedard, some time with Keuchel, etc and riding the hot hand until they went cold. Instead, this removes that unknown from a team with a million other problems to solve, and likely improves from the unknown Whether that positive aspect is worth 10 M is the question. I'd say no...but given that the team is SO low on payroll and has trouble attracting fa's right now, I can understand why it makes sense. Would I have done it? Without knowing internal pressures to spend, etc, probably not
And yet, indisputably past his prime. Kaz is a shell of the pitcher who led the AL in strikeouts in 2007. He dropped out of the majors and has remade himself into a #3 or #4 type starter. He very well could be playing on his last big ML contract, considering he was out of the league recently. No way he takes less money anywhere.
I agree with the comparison. The Astros got a decent deal with Feldman in comparison to other deals with starting pitchers this offseason. If he can be at worst a #3 starter in our rotation I'll be content. We need veteran players capable of actually leading a team.
I like the deal. Valued at a good price for what he brings to the table. Durable, #3 starter in the future. Gives some guys in the farm system some time to grow as he produces. Luhnow is smart. The team you see right now is a 70 win team. #progression is key.
Umm no. Pitchers take the money 100% of the time. Nothing is guaranteed in pitching and injuries happen later in career. Financial stability matters more than winning a ring.
money is whatever, but we need bullpen help, not a 3rd guy in the rotation which is what this guy will be. I dont qutie get it...I like that the owner is spending, but I dont quite get the CF trade or a starting pitcher signing like this, would rather have spent it other ways....
You need consistency in the rotation and Feldman offers it. We traded for a RF that has a top 40 WAR in the outfield each of the past 3 years which is a tremendous improvement over what we had previously. I get what you're saying, but these are good moves in my opinion. That being said, you're right: we need relief pitching. I wouldn't be surprised to see that be the next thing we spend money on soon. Luhnow said that we could expect a couple of deals in the next couple weeks with today being no exception.
Baseball players don't take home team discounts for teams they've never played for. Especially pitchers.
Hiroki Kuroda - $16 mil(1 year) Ricky Nolasco - $12.25 mil(4 years) Tim Hudson - $11.5 mil(2 years) Scott Kazmir - $11 mil(2 years) Scott Feldman - $10 mil(3 years) Dan Haren - $10 mil(1 year) Jason Vargas - $8 mil(4 years) Phil Hughes - $8 mil(3 years) Josh Johnson - $8 mil(1 year) Ryan Vogelsong - $5 mil(1 year) Joe Nathan - $10 mil(2 years) Brian Wilson - $10 mil(1 year) Joe Smith - $5 mil(3 years) Edward Mujica - $4.75 mil(2 years) Javier Lopez - $4 mil(3 years) LaTroy Hawkins - $2.5 mil(1 year)
So? That is pretty irrelevant to his actual value that season. It merely projects what he might do in the future. To me that is a flaw in Fangraph's version of WAR. FIP stats are great, but aren't really good for calculating WAR, IMO. He's had 5 full season as primarily a starter. His ERAs: 5.29 4.08 5.48 5.09 3.86 (spent the first half of the year in the NL) He's never been a big time workhorse/innings eater either.
These signings all seemed like good moves for the respective teams. Mujica and Vogelsong should consider finding new agents.
if Mujica hadn't faltered at the end of the season, he'd have a huge pay day. He can only blame himself...so close in a contract year after 4 great years of building up to it (but yes, I think his agent should have gotten more for him. Maybe he accepted less to go to a good team?)
