That's not at all what the Dodgers are doing. They have been into the luxury tax for several seasons so they get a big benefit from resetting it one year. They are also setting up the room to sign Ohtani to a half-billion dollar contract next offseason. What you are proposing is much closer to what the Rockets did under Tillman in the Harden years, where they kept promising they'd be happy to go into the tax "for the right deal" but then that right deal somehow never happened. The Stros haven't been in the tax since 2020. There's nothing to "reset".
They are delaying the start since it's close. If they had signed JV and were already into the luxury tax, it would be different. The difference with LAD is they are already several years into the tax and not approaching it. So yes it is different, but both have the same goal of avoiding the higher rates for repeat offenders. But I don't understand why you wouldn't wait for the right deal. You want to go over for the wrong deal just to make a point?
There are lots of right deals if one is okay paying the tax (especially if one is operating like LAD).
Watching his highlights and mechanics makes him being waived even more perplexing. He's has a pretty extreme outside/inside ball path with is pretty hard to read from a left hander. The eye test seems to match the numbers.
He looks like a worthwhile project. But since this is a standard waiver claim (not Rule 5), he won't have to stay on the Active roster to keep him if I'm interpreting things right.
You're the one that seemed to support LAD initially. Why would you want the Astros to operate like LAD? On me, I'd be very happy if Crane decided to spend like the Dodgers with the guidance of the Astros front office. It is pretty obvious that the Astros and Dodgers have been the two best run organizations that spend money. I'd have the Braves as a close third (their extension game has been the best, but have the Astros and Dodgers as better in most other areas).
If "operating like the Dodgers" means spending money on good players, why wouldn't we want to do that? Paying our own young superstar players? Sign me up. I'd consider that more "operating like the Braves". I don't understand the fascination with saving the owner as much money as possible. It's not your money. Savings don't go back to the fans.
Any off the field issues or reports on Gage? It does seem weird for them to waive him when he had options.
I'm not sure if the Jays thought this but people thought he might have had an offer over seas and that's why he was let go. But with Houston picking him up, doesn't look like that's the case.
The Jays signed Chad Green, they preferred Mayza as a loogy, and the Jays like a lot of their hitters with options more than using a 40-man spot on a backup loogy.
He was designated for assignment by the Jays to make room on their 40 man roster for Chad Green. Using an option does not remove him from the 40 man roster. As a result, he must remain on the Astros' 40 man (or be DFA'd again), but does not require to remain on the 26 man active roster like a Rule 5 pick would This looks like a good pick-up since he had a really good 2022, so the Astros get to see if he has figured something out. But his stats prior to 2022 are nothing to write home about
https://www.boston.com/sports/bosto...x-cora-astros-cheating-scandal-book-comments/ "There’s gonna be stories, maybe Netflix in a few years like Meghan [Markle] and [Prince] Harry." I hate Cora.
Careful. This is verging on bad fan territory if you say you want the guys to actually get paid as opposed to "next man up- **** anyone who wants their market value we are smarter than that."
He's getting up there in age and he hasn't been any good up to this point. I don't see the surprise in this move at all.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/02/astros-framber-valdez-have-yet-to-discuss-extension.html There’s been much chatter around the Astros and extensions recently, with Cristian Javier already locked up and the club also interested in deals for players like Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve. However, one player who doesn’t seem to be on the verge of signing a lengthy new pact is left-hander Framber Valdez, as his agent Ulises Cabrera tells Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle that no extension talks have taken place thus far. “That is 1,000 percent categorically false,” Cabrera said in response to a report that Valdez could sign before Opening Day and was looking for over $150MM. “I haven’t even had a conversation with (general manager Dana Brown) with respect to Framber Valdez. There are no negotiations. Whatever conversations that do exist will not be handled in the press.” That’s not to suggest that an extension is off the table, of course. “He likes Houston,” Cabrera says of Valdez. “Whatever conversation (happens) beyond that is something we’ll address if necessary. Until then, there’s no use in speculating.” Part of the reason that extensions have been in the spotlight in Houston is the hiring of Brown a few weeks ago. He came over from an Atlanta organization that has been the most aggressive in the league when it comes to locking up core players to lengthy extensions. Brown has been quite open about his desire to bring a similar strategy to Houston and the club has already crossed one player off the list. Last week, Javier and the club agreed to a five-year, $64MM guarantee that secured his salary for his three remaining arbitration years as well as buying out two free agent seasons. The situations with Valdez and Javier have some parallels but also some notable differences. Both players have between three and four years of service time right now, meaning Valdez is currently slated to reach free agency after 2025, just as Javier was before agreeing to his new deal. Valdez’s track record of success is a bit lengthier, but he’s also significantly older since he had a sort of late bloomer trajectory. He was up-and-down over his first couple of seasons and didn’t truly establish himself until the 2020 season, when he was 26. Javier, on the other hand, also cemented himself in that 2020 campaign when he was 23. Looking at the results, Valdez and Javier have been similarly effective, though they’ve accomplished that in different ways. Valdez has a 3.38 ERA with a 3.66 FIP while his teammate has a 3.05 ERA but a 3.90 FIP. Javier’s 30.9% strikeout rate is much better than the 22.9% rate of Valdez, but the reverse is true in terms of getting ground balls, with Valdez at 66.2% thus far in his career and Javier at only at 27.1%. Valdez has also built this résumé over a large sample size, with his 514 1/3 innings almost twice as large as the 304 1/3 of Javier, and his 8.5 fWAR tally is also heftier than the 4.5 of Javier. Given the larger sample of quality work, Valdez could perhaps make an argument that he is deserving of an even larger contract than what Javier just secured. He also qualified for arbitration a year ago as a Super Two player, which allowed him to earn $3MM last year and $6.8MM this year. Javier, on the other hand, had requested at $3.5MM for this year while the Astros filed at $3MM, before the extension was agreed upon. With Valdez getting himself to a higher price point, that would give him extra leverage in trying to top Javier in extensions talks. But it’s possible that the age situation causes the calculus to change. In the case of Javier, the Astros are paying him for five seasons in which he will be aged 26 in the first and 30 in the last. For Valdez, the Astros can already control him via arbitration through his age-31 season and any extension would involve locking him in for his age-32 campaign or beyond. It’s possible that the club would have a bit less motivation to keep Valdez around longer since they already control the bulk of what are likely to be his prime years. Then there’s also the player perspective to consider. Though Javier gave up two free agent years when he put pen to paper, he’s still slated to become a free agent prior to his age-31 campaign and could be in position to find another lengthy deal. If Valdez were to strike a similar deal that also gave the club two extra years of control, he wouldn’t hit the open market until the offseason where he turns 34, which would likely limit him to short-term deals even if he’s still having good results on the field at that point. It’s possible that Valdez would prefer to stay on his current trajectory so that he can hold onto his best chance of a mega deal. It’s also possible that the Astros could simply put forth an offer that’s too good for him to pass up, but based on the comments from his agent, that doesn’t seem to be something that’s imminent. For now, he’ll be going into 2023 arguably as the frontman of the Houston rotation, with Justin Verlander now pitching for the Mets. He’ll be looking to build off an excellent season where he made 31 starts with a 2.82 ERA, and then took the ball another four times in the postseason with a 1.44 ERA, helping the club to its second World Series title.
