Astros 2017-18 Offseason

The Astros have had a somewhat busy offseason so far.

For one thing, they lost some catcher depth when Juan Centeno was outrighted to AAA just before Thanksgiving and he was claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers. Centeno played some meaningful games during the past season and might have been in consideration for a promotion to backup catcher but the Rangers will now benefit from his services.

Mike Fiers was the only free agent not offered a tender offer by last Friday’s deadline. Fiers led the Astros in innings pitched in 2017 and he and Brad Peacock carried the team in June when 4 starters were on the DL. He struggled the rest of the year and, in particular, he allowed a bucket-load of home runs in every month not named June.

The Astros have committed to Cionel Perez the Cuban pitcher by adding him to the 40-man roster so he will be protected in the Rule 5 draft. Keeping Perez helps ease any heartache the Astros may have had not tendering an offer to Mike Fiers.

Questions about the additions of at least one more super-star to the Astros roster have been going on since the final out of the World Series. Well, maybe not that quick but, the talk has been out there. First the talk was about Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins. Stanton is not a free agent, in fact, he’s signed through the 2028 season which means the only way to get Stanton is via a trade. I’m sure the Marlins want a gold mine for Stanton plus Stanton has a no-trade clause in his contract and for any deal to go through he would have to sign off on it. The Astros took years building their franchise to the point where they won a World Series and I’m sure they are not going to trade away anyone in the core group of players or sell out their farm system to pay a player like Stanton’s salary when they have a group of guys who will be wanting a deal of their own soon. Players who mean a whole lot more than a free agent from Miami.

The other guy in the conversation has been Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani. This guy is a double threat guy because not only can he be a top of the rotation type of starting pitcher with a high 90’s fastball but he also can hit. In 65 games in the Japanese Pro Baseball League Ohtani hit .332 with 8 HR’s. At 23 years of age the guy who recorded the fastest pitch ever in Japan a just over 102 mph has eliminated Houston as a potential landing spot. Houston shouldn’t feel bad because before the Astros struck out so did the Yankees and the Red Sox. It’s being reported that Ohtani wants to go to a West Coast team because it is physically closer to Japan.

Life just got harder for the 2018 Houston Astros. Earlier in the week the Angels of Los Angeles signed the most prized free agent of this offseason by inking Japanese star Shohei Ohtani. The Angels will use him as both a starting pitcher and as a DH. Ohtani is definitely a dual threat player who can pitch into the 100 mph range and he hit over .330 in the Japanese Nippon League over the past two seasons. That makes winning the division that much harder because now the Angels have two superstars in Ohtani and, of course, Mike Trout.

Speaking of bookend superstars, the Yankees have agreed, in part, to terms for a trade that will send IF Starlin Castro and several minor league prospects to Miami in exchange for NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton. Holy crap! You mean to tell me the Yanks have Aaron Judge AND Stanton now?! I guess the Red Sox are duly pissed at the Yankees good fortune. BTW, were you aware that NY has a new General Manager? Yep, the Yankees got a new manager in former player Aaron Boone and their new GM is also a former player. Maybe you've heard of him, Derek Jeter. You might poo-poo the move claiming it's just a PR move and Jeter will be just a figurehead and you could be right but I doubt it. He's also seen a lot of talent up close and personal as a player and I think Jeter is a great choice even though he has no previous experience.

Both Ohtani and Stanton were associated with the Astros, mostly by the local media, but you wonder how serious the rumors were. Ohtani made it clear he wanted to play on the West Coast after turning down both the Yankees and Red Sox so Houston was never really in the running. Stanton's humongous salary ($265 MM over the next 10 years) was probably too rich for Jim Crane's blood. The Yankees on the other hand have more money than Hershey has chocolate and it was nothing to absorb Stanton's boatload of cash. I think that is how New York started getting called "damn Yankees".

Astros players are busy this offseason making PR appearances all except Dallas Keuchel who is walking around in a supportive boot after spraining his ankle at, of all things, the victory parade after their World Series win. After a couple of TV spots you are not seeing much of Justin Verlander but it's not hard to figure out he is on an extended romantic honeymoon with his new wife Kate Upton and honestly, can you blame him?

It's weird but I thought the afterglow of winning the World Series would have cooled off by now but it really hasn't. Not that I'm complaining.

Who is in the camp that feels that the biggest weakness on the Astros is the bullpen? Lots of folks would say they are given the struggle by the bullpen the final 5 weeks of the season. It seems that Houston management felt the same way and they haven't exactly been sitting on their hands lately.

The Astros signed reliever Joe Smith, he of the career ERA just under 3. He's been in the bigs since 2007 and this past season he spent with the Blue Jays and Cleveland during their playoff run.

https://www.mlb.com/astros/video/astros-introduce-joe-smith/c-1870034783

The Astros also signed former Cubs closer Hector Rondon to a two year deal. Rondon had a down year in 2017 but if he bounces back like he should he will be a great addition to the bullpen.

https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/astros-sign-hector-rondon-to-2-year-deal/c-263614846

It doesn't stop there, Houston also attained Anthony Gose in the Rule 5 draft. Gose had been with the Astros as an outfielder who had a very strong arm. This past season the Rangers turned Gose into a pitcher who throws in the upper nineties. What's even better is he's left handed and Houston is lefty poor. Gose' addition is the 40th man on the 40-man roster. He will have to be on the active roster all season or he will go back to the Rangers. In the article below they discuss Gose and at the end some other additions and losses in the major and minor league Rule 5 drafts.

https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/astros-pick-anthony-gose-in-rule-5-draft/c-263537546

The Astros front office is still making deals this offseason. Even at Christmas time Jeff Luhnow and his staff are busy as Santa's elves. Unlike the deals that has upgraded their bullpen the latest move has cost them a top prospect with little to show for it. The Astros made a deal with Atlanta sending OF prospect Preston Tucker to the Braves but they are only getting the infamous player to be named later or cash considerations. Tucker has spent time on the Astros big league roster but he had his struggles with big league pitching. He has been very good at AAA Fresno and he was likely going to Spring Training to try to earn a spot on the 25 man roster. In fairness, Houston has a well stocked farm system including Tucker's little brother Kyle who is really a better prospect than Preston is. You would have thought Luhnow would have pressed for more than they got for Tucker. All you can say is good luck and God speed.

The article linked below is from Bleacher Report and it talks about two prospects that could, and probably should, be on the Astros radar. It seems that the Miami Marlins are on yet another roster purge that essentially began with the trade of Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees. This isn't the first time Miami has had a fire sale but, if i'm not mistaken, it is the first one that isn't coming off a World Series victory. The fans of the Marlins have to be scratching their heads over this latest purge because it seemed like Miami was a player or two away from another postseason run. The BR article below goes into detail about the players currently still under contract with the Marlins and how it could be possible to get one or both of them. Just so you know, the article says Houston should pursue OF Christian Yellich and C JT Realmuto.

https://climbingtalshill.com/2017/12/20/how-the-astros-can-catch-two-big-fish/

BR is also reporting that Houston is slated to meet with former Rangers and Dodgers star Yu Darvish. The Dodgers acquired Darvish at the trade deadline and he helped the Dodgers reach the World Series. He struggled in his two starts against Houston as the Astros went on to beat them 4-3 in the World Series. Darvish has already met with the Cubs and that meeting is said to have gone well. The Cubs already have a big free agent to sign in starting pitcher Jake Arieta. As you get into the meat of the article it appears everyone is pursuing Darvish and it was basically a waste of time read. I'll let you judge because the article is linked below. What have you got to do anyway? It's only Christmas time?

https://www.fanragsports.com/heyman-astros-meeting-with-yu-darvish-tuesday/

It is being reported that Houston is still interested in signing Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer.

The 'hot stove' has cooled off quite a bit but the Astros still need a player or two to improve their roster going into the 2018 campaign. As the saying goes if you don't get better you get worse. Houston has made a couple of moves to shore up the bullpen and it will be interesting to see who gets the old heave-ho this spring. One thing about the bullpen additions, none of them are lefties and Houston desperately needs a quality left hander in the bullpen. Tony Sipp is not the answer and I don't believe Francisco Liriano is either. Neither player is currently signed. Reymin Guduan has potential but he was pretty bad in AAA and the big club and there doesn't seem to be a left handed prospect to hand your hat on. For all the good the Astros front office has done to build this team the only lefty worth a damn on the roster in Dallas Keuchel. The article linked below is from Bleacher Report that talks about a potential free agent, Tony Watson, that could fill the bill for Houston quite nicely.

https://calltothepen.com/2017/12/30/astros-tony-watson-main-priority/

As the Astros Caravan travels around the state basking in the glow of the first World Series title, the Astros front office continues to ignore the cold by heating up their pursuit of talent upgrading an already potent team. The latest move came yesterday when it was announced that Houston had completed a deal to obtain yet another starting caliber pitcher. In a deal struck with the Pittsburgh Pirates Houston obtained RHP Garrit Cole. Cole was the Pirates #1 pick in the 2011 draft and he's a hard throwing pitcher with a fastball that averages in the mid to upper 90's and has been clocked as high as 102 mph. Cole's career has been uneven even when he has been healthy. Adding yet another #1 pick to the Astros roster is not a bad thing and it has been shown that Astros Pitching Coach Brent Strom has been very good for this pitching staff. Dallas Keuchel has remarked how important Strom has been in his development and every member of the Astros staff credits Strom with helping them get better. Brad Peacock had a career year as a reliever and a starter. World Series Game 7 hero Charlie Morton had a huge resurgence after missing all of 2016 with a torn quad. Even Justin Verlander credited Strom for tweaking his off speed pitch to make it effective and that's just working with him over the final month of the season.

The Astros didn't have to give up the kitchen sink to get Cole but there are a couple bathroom sinks missing. The Astros had to let Joe Musgrove and Michael Feliz go, both important to the Astros down the stretch, and IF prospect Collin Moran and OF prospect Jason Martin. Losing Musgrove may have been the most hurtful loss in the deal. He struggled as a starter but he embraced his role coming out of the bullpen and he did a very nice job for the Astros. Below is a link to the article about the deal from Astros.com.

https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/astros-land-gerrit-cole-in-trade-with-pirates/c-264677578

The Astros rotation now features Dallas Keuchel, Justin Verlander, Lance McCullers and Charlie Morton as Gerrit Cole joins a very formidable group. There is depth in that rotation as Collin McHugh and Brad Peacock would certainly be ready to step up if needed. Last season at one time in June Houston was missing four of their 5 starters with Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers, McHugh and Morton all missing time due to injuries. Having McHugh and Peacock in the bullpen and ready and able to step up should give AJ Hinch a warm and fuzzy feeling heading into opening day 2018.

Jeff Luhnow has done a nice job of adding quality pieces to the bullpen and starting rotation. The only thing he hasn't done is find a quality lefty for the bullpen. Right now the options are Tony Sipp (booooo), Francisco Liriano (not bad down the stretch) and Reymin Guduan (has potential but actually sucked for the Astros), and prospects Anthony Gose and Cionel Perez. Nobody who really gets you fired up.

The questions remaining are, will Houston go after a catcher or a left fielder or are the Astros happy with Brian McCann and Evan Gattis behind the plate and Marwin Gonzalez going from utility man to starting outfielder. Can you think of a stronger lineup top to bottom than Houston's? I can't. Marwin has emerged as a quality every day player who can hit and pairing him with Josh Reddick and George Springer with Jake Marisnick backing them up looks pretty strong from my seat. Up the middle you have Altuve and Correa who are money and you have Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman at the corners. Both players had their first full season in the bigs in 2017 and both have proven themselves when it counts. Bregman is young and the sky is the limit as his work ethic and love of baseball will set him up to be a great player. He's already pretty darn good. Even though Gurriel is 33 he could conceivably play at a high level for at least another 3-5 years. The Astros are poised to make one of those epic runs some teams make through history. Teams who are right in the conversation for contention for a World Series title. It's been a long time coming but Houston will remain more than relevant until it comes time to pay these young players. Altuve and Correa are going to command outrageous salaries and so will Bregman, in my opinion. Somebody is going to sell the farm to pay George Springer too. Houston hasn't, in the past, been a team who shells out a lot of cash for players but, then again, they haven't had the players they have now. Let's enjoy the ride folks, we've waited far too long in line for a ride like this. Go Astros!

BTW, did you know players report to spring training in less than a month! Hell yeah!!!

The pitchers and catchers reported for spring training Tuesday so the 2018 season is officially under way!

After their first workout on Wednesday Justin Verlander, among his comments, said, “The American League goes through us (meaning the Astros)”. You love to hear confidence like that from a veteran player. Especially a star like Verlander.

The rest of the team should report today with the first full workout on Saturday. The first spring training game is February 22. Let the games begain! Oh wait, wrong event! PLAY BALL!

The Astros began spring training games on Friday with a 3-2 win over the Nationals. Astros prospect Rogelio Armenteros started for the Astros and he tossed 2 scoreless innings with 3 K's and a walk. Known for being a strikeout pitcher he fanned the first two batters he faced. Armenteros is Houston's #12 prospect and it looked good in his spring debut. Max Stassi and JD Davis accounted for all 3 Houston runs. Stassi hit a 2 run homer while Davis crushed a solo shot. A nice start to the spring.

Yesterday Collin McHugh made his first start of the spring and it was a good one! He allowed a hit and a walk to go along with 5 K's for his 2 innings of scoreless work. That set the tone for a 6-1 Astros win over the Braves. The Astros opened the scoring on a groundout with the bases loaded by Brian McCann in the 1st. Yuli Gurriel added a homer in the 4th and the rest of the scoring came in the last 3 innings by guys we will never hear of during the regular season. Great start to the grapefruit league.

AJ Hinch and Collin McHugh were both pleased with McHugh's first outing of the season. After missing all of spring training except for one start and 3-1/2 months of the season due to a pinched nerve in his throwing elbow yesterday's work was a very pleasant surprise. The Astros will have new comer Gerrit Cole making his first start today as Houston has its first spring road trip as they travel to Jupiter Florida to face the St Louis Cardinals.

More on the Houston pitching rotation this spring as the article linked below talks about when the big guns for Houston will be making their first starts of the spring. The article begins as a comment on McHugh's first outing and continues with when we will see the names we are familiar with.

https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/astros-collin-mchugh-strikes-out-five-in-debut/c-267114736

This spring is going well isn't it. The Astros are winning most of the time and I know it doesn't mean squat that they are winning but it's nice all the same. They didn't win on Wednesday losing to the Twins 4-2 but the bounced back and beat Boston 10-5 running their spring record to 6-2. Isn't life nicer when the good guys win?

Some tidbits to devour as we begin March

* Opening day is exactly one month away

* Yuli Gurriel, who was going to be suspended the first 5 games of the season for the insensitive gesture aimed at P Yu Darvish in the World Series, will miss 5-6 weeks due to an injury to his hand that required surgery to repair. The injury was thought to be a wrist thing but after returning to Houston for further investigation it was found Gurriel has a broken bone next to his hamate bone in his hand. The bone had already been broken but symptoms didn't show up until this past week. The surgery removed the hook bone that goes into the hamate bone. It is not necessarily a bone you need and the surgery should take care of the problem permanently. C Max Stassi underwent the same procedure two years ago. As for Gurriel's suspension, that will begin when he is off the DL and put on the active roster. The first base position is up for grabs now between JD Davis, Tyler White and AJ Reed at least until Gurriel comes back.

* The Astros starting rotation prospects have all been acquitting themselves nicely so far this spring. Collin McHugh 2 scoreless, Gerrit Cole the same, same for Justin Verlander. Brad Peacock struggled a bit in his two innings but he didn't give up a run. Lance McCullers closed out February with an easy 2 scoreless and Charlie Morton went 2 scoreless in his first outing yesterday although he did give up 2 hits as well. Gerrit Cole will make his second start of the spring today and will likely go 3 innings this time around. The only starter who hasn't pitched in a game yet is Dallas Keuchel. He is on a special pitching regimen and he won't make his spring debut until March 5th (Monday). The starters so far haven't given up a run this spring and that is very encouraging.

* Of the prospects that are vying for a roster spot this spring you might not have put prospect Kyle Tucker among the candidates to start the season on the big club roster. He's one of the top prospects in the Astros organization but he is thought to be a year or so away from his MLB debut. This spring Tucker is making people rethink their assessment. So far he's belted 3 homers in 8 games. Tucker (Astros' No. 2) belted a two-run homer in Houston's 10-5 win over the Red Sox, continuing his hot start. The homer was his third of Spring Training, and overall he's batting .385 (5-for-13). The 21-year-old outfielder slashed .274/.346/.528 with 25 home runs and 21 steals between Class A Advanced Buies Creek and Double-A Corpus Christi last season.

I don’t have much to say so far about the Astros progress in spring training so far. They are still winning more than losing and the projected starting pitchers are still perfect as far as innings pitched over runs allowed. Dallas Keuchel has struggled but he’s on a special pitching regimen as is reliever Hector Rondon. I think Houston is right on track even expecting Yuli Gurriel back in mid April. Don’t look for demons that aren’t even there.

Houston reduced their roster by 9 players this week. Nobody you would have heard of unless you count Adam Gose whom Houston acquired in the Rule 5 draft last December. He wasn’t working out so the Astros put him on waivers. If he clears waivers the Rangers could get him back at about half the cost Houston paid for him.

Houston is at Atlanta’s spring home today and in the 8th the score is tied at 4.

The Astros spring is rolling along and last Saturday Dallas Keuchel got with the program, so to speak, pitching 3.2 innings of one-hit ball with no runs allowed with 5 K’s. It was Keuchel’s 2nd start of the spring and he looked in midseason form. He gave up his only hit with two out in the 4th inning at which time AJ Hinch pulled him out of the game. Lance McCullers followed up yesterday with a 5-2 win over the Mets at Port St Lucie, Fla. McCullers went 3.2 innings allowing 1 run on 4 hits with a walk and 5 K’s. The one run came on a HR by Yoenis Cespedes in the bottom of the 1st inning. Linked below is an article from Astros.com about the success of the Astros starting pitching this spring.

https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/dallas-keuchel-sharp-in-second-spring-start/c-268375282

Want to hear a scary thing? The Astros bullpen revolves around Tony Sipp. YIKES!!! Those are not my words, they come from Astros.com. In the article they detail how Sipp is the best option at a left-handed reliever on the Astros roster. DOUBLE YIKES!!!

https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-counting-on-tony-sipp-in-their-bullpen/c-268312466

This was as of last Friday. Yesterday the Houston Chronicle mentioned that Sipp is the only lefty reliever in Astros camp after they optioned Reymin Guduan and Brian Boshers to the minors. TRIPLE YIKES!!!

The Astros have the day off today and for good reason. They will be making a trip to Washington DC to meet with President Donald Trump who will recognize the Astros for their first ever World Series title won last season.

https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/astros-set-to-visit-white-house-on-monday/c-268439196

Finally, Astros first base coach Rich Dauer, who nearly died just hours after the Astros Houston World Series celebration parade last November, was back on the field yesterday for the first time since doctors gave him a 3% chance of survival from his surgery to repair an acute subdural hematoma. Dauer’s wife says that he is a walking miracle and Dauer himself says he is grateful to be back. He also said he is looking forward to taking the trip with the team to the White House today. He joked that he would take the opportunity to apply for a vacant cabinet position!

The Astros will be back in action tomorrow in Port St Lucie as Gerrit Cole will make his fourth start of the spring against the Mets. So far this spring the Astros are 12-5 which is not only best in the AL but all of baseball. Behind the Astros in the AL are the 11-5 Yankees and the 10-7 Indians while on the NL side the Cubs have the NL’s best record at 11-4.

The 2018 MLB Season is just a week away and the rosters across baseball are being whittled down to the final 25. The latest moves were make yesterday when Astros #2 prospect Kyle Tucker was assigned to minor league camp along with IF Jack Mayfield, OF John Kemmer and C Franklin Stubbs. P Francis Martes was optioned to minor league camp as well. The roster now stands at 33 so 8 more moves are going to have to be made to get to the final 25 man roster.

The fact that Tony Sipp is pitching his way right off the Astros roster this spring should come as no surprise given how bad he has been the past two seasons but what is surprising is Houston could very well go into the season with an all right handed bullpen. This would be highly unusual for a team to do this but if there has been on thing GM Jeff Luhnow and his staff have failed to do is secure quality left handed pitching. The only lefty on the whole staff is Dallas Keuchel. Now he is definitely a high quality lefty but for him to be the only one on the roster is mind blowing.

One guy Houston won’t have to worry about for the next 7 years is Jose Altuve. The mighty mite MVP is signed through 2019 for $6MM for 2018 and $6.5MM option in 2019 which will obviously be exercised. Over the weekend he signed a 5 year extension that will begin in 2020 for $151MM which is the richest contract ever for an Astros player. The deal will go through the 2024 season when Altuve will be 34 years old.

AJ Hinch has announced his starting rotation yesterday and it is as follows:

1. Justin Verlander

2. Dallas Keuchel

3. Lance McCullers

4. Gerrit Cole

5. Charlie Morton

The Astros, for the first time I can remember, are going to carry 3 catchers on their active roster. Brian McCann will be the starter and Evan Gattis and Max Stassi will split the days McCann has off. There are two reasons, first off Max Stassi is in one of those use him or lose him situations and he is a good defensive catcher who is improving at the plate and second, the Astros want to give Gattis more time to DH so 3 catchers it will be to begin the season.

One week from today the Astros 2018 season begins!!!!

I am guilty of not looking at a calendar. I posted yesterday that Astros opening day for the 2018 season was just one week away when in fact it is 2 weeks, now 13 days, away. Just wishful thinking I suppose on my part or that old “assume” bug bit me again. Either way I’m thinking the season can’t get here soon enough!

The Astros beat the Mets yesterday as Justin Verlander when 7 shutout innings allowing 5 hits, a walk with 3 Ks. Tony Sipp pitched a scoreless 8th but he struggled stranding runners on 2nd and 3rd. Will Harris got his first save of the spring but he struggled a bit too allowing a hit and a walk in his inning of work. Carlos Correa hit a solo homer in the 2nd inning and Alex Bergman scored the Astros other run on a single by Jose Altuve in the 3rd. The Astros are off today but they will be back Wednesday at noon when Lance McCullers goes for Houston as they take on the Washington Nationals.