Six Houston Astros Declared Free Agents — Michael Brantley, Jason Castro, Aledmys Díaz, Yuli Gurriel, Rafael Montero and Christian Vázquez — were declared free agents. https://www.si.com/mlb/astros/news/six-houston-astros-declared-free-agents-mlb-offseason Who comes back?
Four questions facing Astros after Houston captures second World Series title in franchise history 1. Will the brain trust return? 2. What about Verlander? 3. Is it time for more extensions? 4. Can they repeat? https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...cond-world-series-title-in-franchise-history/
Bring back Gurriel and Brantley. I like Vazquez but we need to let Lee play and grow. I'd also take Mancini if we can get him at a decent deal and platoon him and Yuli at first. Love Verlander but it is time to sink that money into hitting. Valdez McCullers Javier Urquidy Brown Is still really good. Montero will get more $$ than I want to pay.
Please not Diaz. Castro is unlikely. Brantley, Gurriel, and Montero I'd try to keep. Vazquez is an option but I don't know if catcher is a priority for the Astros since they love Maldonado.
Crane is going to pony up for Verlander. He was talking about signing him last night. Crane has an ego, he expects to win. He will want to go back to back. I would keep my eye on some older players who can still hit much like Jose Abreu. Guys who will produce and accept shorter deals so that the Astros can resign their homegrown talent. I assume Brantley and Verlander will be the guys retained ultimately from the group mentioned.
I wonder how far Crane is willing to go to keep JV. There is speculation he could be offered a longer 3-4 year deal in upwards of 40 million a year. As much as I love JV, I’m not sure Crane is going to be willing to take on that type of deal (nor should he given the risk) unless there are some team options thrown in. I assume it all depends on what sort of offers JV gets and what his goals are. If he wants to get paid, then I could see him taking that sort of deal (ie. 3 yrs $120+) with the Yankees. If he really wants a good chance at another title, then maybe we can keep him for a little cheaper and/or shorter term deal, but that is going to require he leaves some money on the table.
I think JV really cares about his legacy more than money at this point. I think there is a good chance he resigns with the Astros on a player option based deal. The Astros present the best opportunity for him to reach the 300 win milestone. The same core locked up for the forseeable future.
Mentioned in another thread a while back but will say it here also. I would love to see them try to trade for Max Kepler. Coming off a rough year. signed through 2023 with team option for 2024. Would bet in a bounce back and stick him in left field. Doubt it would cost too much.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/11/the-2022-23-offseason-begins.html key dates: 11/7-11/10: GM meetings. A little strange Crane let Clicks status go unaddressed this long, it is quite possible we will see something done next week. Either way, trade and free agent discussions will begin tomorrow. 11/15: 40 man rosters deadline for Rule 5 protection. I expect Corey Julks, Jayden Murray, and JP France to be added to Houston’s roster. I consider it possible that if Verlander is going to resign with Houston, it might be done by this date. 11/18: non-tender deadline. Not a factor for a Houston as all their arb players will very likely be tendered. Dubon would be the only potential non-tender. 11/20: QO deadline. Houston has no QO candidates since they already offered Verlander last year. 12/7: Rule 5 draft. I don’t expect Houston to lose anyone this year but if they do it’ll be a AA pitcher. 1/15: New international signing period opens. Several good prospects will be added to Houston’s system. I expect 5-6 meaningful moves including free agent signings, trades, and extensions. There will be several other lesser moves I’m sure like waiver claims of fringe 40 man players and signing of players to minor league deals 2/24: Spring Training begins 3/30 opening day
They need to settle on who their GM is or have an alternative plan in place. Too many decisions are needed in rapid fire to leave the responsibility, if not the position, in limbo.
I think Crane loves the attention Kate brings to the yard. Ok maybe that's just me projecting my own feelings towards the queen. But is Verlander the second player (Altuve) Crane wants to call 8 hours after the world series ends? And I'm just reading Crane and Dusty "nuked" a Willson Contreras deal that Click made? Your manager can't nuke a GM's deal not a real GM. That's wild.
As much as I thought Contreras was a good fit for the roster, Urquidy for Contreras would have been a bad deal for Houston. You don’t trade 3.5 seasons of a quality SP for 0.5 seasons of a good hitting average defensive C.
A trade that seems to make sense to me would be Urquidy and a prospect to Toronto for Danny Jansen and Teoscar Hernandez. Pair that with signing Verlander and Jose Abreu and you’ve got yourself a very stacked roster.
While I don't disagree, this is exactly the type of bold move people are criticizing him for not making. It just feels like Click is in a no win scenario with Crane, even though his pragmatic roster choices have helped win a title and set us up to contend for a few more.
Lead pipe cinch: Yuli Gurriel If Maldy chooses retirement: Christian Vázquez If the price is right: Michael Brantley & Rafael Montero No chance: Jason Castro & Aledmys Díaz