Somebody fire Brad Mills. I know we want additional rotation spots for the kids, but that can wait until the deadline. Nothing like paying your closer $13M for a terrible team. This is not good for his trade value.
Trade deadline this season there will be (or at least would have been). I'd rather have Lyon trying to build his value by closing games.
Actually, I like for them to spend money on the pen. One of the most important thing for developing young starters is making sure that they can trust their bullpen. Last year had to hurt Norris' and Lyles' confidence.
I respectfully disagree with you juicy. If anything, if he goes out there and succeeds in the bullpen, I think that would raise his trade value. At the end of the day, he had little to no trade value as a number 4 or number 5 starting pitcher. Teams probably viewed him nothing more than an overpaid innings eater. This at least gives us a chance to improve his trade value. Teams have been known to overpay for closers. A team with a chance at the playoffs at the deadline would probably overpay more for a good bullpen arm as opposed to an average 4th or 5th pitcher, because even if they were to make the playoffs, Myers probably wouldn't be starting a playoff game anyway. This is very much a moneyball move; create a closer with perceived value and then flip him. This was Luhnow's idea too, add this to the growing list of moves that I've liked. I am very much surprised about it, but it does make a lot of sense. Let's hope this works out for the Stros.
It's an interesting gamble. Myers has had three seasons (2005, 2006, 2010) in which he was a very valuable starter, averaging around 215 IP and with ERAs of 3.72, 3.91 and 3.14. His ability to productively go deep into games was a real asset, and he's only 31. That said, in every other year of his career, Myers has been what PippenAintEZ said - a 4 or 5 starter. That includes last year. If that's the real Brett Myers, and you can transform him into a successful closer, he would have more trade value as the latter. Problem is, at his contract, he isn't a trade option as a closer for most teams... though I guess the Astros could throw in a lot of cash, like the Oswalt deal. If I were GM, I would've liked to see one more season of evidence that Myers can't recapture his 2010 form before pulling the plug. But perhaps Luhnow sees something that we don't, and it is easier to make a switch like this in spring training. One thing worth noting: Myers will be a different pitcher as a closer, and I'm guessing he'll be able to bump his velocity up a bit. In his one season as a closer (2007), he struck out 83 in 68 innings... a night and day difference from his typical year as a starter, when he posts more innings than Ks.
Weird move. I guess they figured it was more important to open up the spot in the rotation than to see if there was a potential closer in the youth movement. Brandon Lyon must be pissed. I'm guessing... Wandy Bud Happ Lyles Livan/Duke/someone else
Brett Myers is a proven pitcher. Since this is the final year of his deal, being overpaid is irrelevant. Teams will trade for a proven starter. He isn't an ace, but that is why he hasn't been traded already. You're right that he can go out and still have value if he actually dominates. Look at the garbage NY received for KRod last year. Personally, I'd rather have Myers out there trying to rekindle 2010 and Lyon as well. I'd love to move both of them.
Eh, Myers will be a very different pitcher (style-wise) as a closer. When he last relieved in 2007, he posted the highest fastball velocity (92.1) of his career, and gave up just four home runs (.318 SLG) in 201 at-bats. For comparison's sake, extrapolate that out to a full season's worth as a starter, and he'd give up 16 or 17 homers... nearly cutting last year's total in half. http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/5017/year/2007/brett-myers The odds are that Brett will have at least some success as a closer/reliever. What it comes down to is whether it'll be enough to offset his value as an innings-eating starter.
He was also striking out nearly a batter an inning as a starter back then. [rquoter]Myers' velocity isn't what it used to be when he broke into the Majors in 2002 -- or even five years ago -- but he believes he'll be able to bring enough heat and energy in the ninth inning to handle the assignment. "Just a lot of thought processes were going through my mind to see if I could have my fastball back and stuff like that," he said. "It's good to kind of start over right now, because I've never had the opportunity coming right out of Spring Training saying I'm going to be a reliever or a closer. I've always been a starter. This is going to be letting it go every time I get out there. I think my body should be able to bounce back good enough to complete."[/rquoter] http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/...28&content_id=26890094&vkey=news_hou&c_id=hou
I was pretty shocked by the notion when I first heard it this morning, but I'm starting to come around to it. Myers is an average starter whose best asset in that role is his ability to chew up innings. I figured this team could use that in an already weak rotation. However, given that BL is basically trash and we don't have a young closer ready to go, I guess I don't have a problem with Myers taking that role. If he can perform well and yield some prospects in a deadline deal, then I'll be really happy.
One thing about his contract, at July 31, he will have about $4-5M remaining on this year, and a $3M buyout for a 2013 option. I'm assuming the Astros will pay the buyout for any team looking to trade for him. Edit: His contract has a vesting option (which after the move will be based on the number of games finished).
That is the rotation I expect. I think they made the move to open a spot in the rotation more than anything else.
Yeah, it depends whether 2011 was an outlier or the beginning of a downward trend. His average velocity (90.0) and K rate (163 in 190 innings) in 2008 - the year after - weren't much different than his average velocity (89.3) and K rate (180 in 223 innings) in 2010. But things went sharply down in 2011. I know he had a nagging hamstring issue for a lot of last year, so perhaps that was the reason?
