The Astros have avoided arbitration with Wandy Rodriguez, agreeing to a three-year, $34MM contract with the left-hander, the team announced. Rodriguez has passed his physical, according to Astros senior director of social media Alyson Footer (on Twitter).
Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes first reported the extension and Footer tweets that the contract also includes a vesting option for 2014 that could raise the total value of the deal to $44.5MM. Rodriguez is represented by the Wasserman Group.
The average annual value of $11.33MM per season will pay Rodriguez more than the $10.25MM arbitration number he submitted last week (Houston submitted an $8MM contract offer). The deal covers not just Rodriguez's final arbitration year, but it also buys out his first two free agent years. MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith listed Rodriguez on his list of ten arbitration cases to watch and noted that the southpaw's eight-figure asking price wasn't so outlandish given his career numbers.
Rodriguez, who turned 32 last week, has a 3.36 ERA, a 2.87 K/BB ratio and an 8.4 K/9 rate in 90 starts for Houston over the last three seasons. With this extension in place, Hunter Pence is the only arbitration-eligible Astro who hasn't yet settled on a 2011 contract. MLBTR's ArbTracker offers details on all the arbitration settlements and submitted figures this offseason.
whats kind of funny is Wandy was projected to be the best available free agent starter next season(unrestricted).
Is this contract the same as Lilly’s deal? it seems like a logical comp.
It looks like either C.J Wilson, or maybe Mark Buehrle.
Edit: Sorry for my bad grammar.
It looks like either C.J Wilson or Mark Buehrle.
maybe Edwin Jackson can make a strong case, and yes, I’m being bias I don’t know about many other free-agency eligible starters next offseason.
This guy sucks they, overpayed
I’m betting he can pitch better than you.
He can probably spell better, too.
ok dude coo story bro
He also probably doesn’t live in his mom’s basement.
im from ca
so clearly you don’t live in your mom’s basement??
yea im also not getting paid 34 mil.. and hi am sparkles and im the gay rapper
You mean “This guy sucks. They overpaid.”
yep good correction smd
As a ‘Stros fan, I wish they would have traded him.
Ditto.
Just because they extended him doesn’t mean they plan on keeping him. Come the trade deadline, if they’re in the basement, they’ll listen. Stro’s fans, prepare to be Montero-fied.
No. He would’ve won more games if he had run support.
And a collective groan is heard throughout Yankeeland.
Let me get mine in: GGGRRRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAANNNNNNNN!
Hmm, wandy could have been in line for a big payday before he signed this extension. But that would mean he would have had to have been healthy and successful again in 2011. Now he won’t hit free agency til he’s around 34-35 years old, so he won’t be getting a big payday then.
But this does offer security, but I would think IF he were healthy and pitched well in 2011, that he’s definitely leaving money on the table.
note: Wandy recently dumped Praver for Adam Katz.
I guess the Astros expect to go to be a contender and make the playoffs this year. I thought they were rebuilding.
Not sure I like this deal…Wandy is a good pitcher, but not sure he’s worth that kind of money, even though i’m sure he would’ve gotten something similar on the open market. For the ‘Stros, who should be in a total rebuilding stage, i’m not sure if this is the best way to spend 11mil per year. Wandy’s game totally relies on his Curveball, and we saw early last season what happens when it’s not working…lets hope he doesn’t lose it again, at least for ‘Stros fans sake.
Time to hit the bottle.. Another possible free agent SP the Pirates are gonna miss out on signing!!!
I bet he gets traded before his new contract is up. The Astros won’t contend in the next three years, at least not for the WS. Maybe a slim chance at a playoff spot in 2013, but they would have to do a lot of things right between now and then. And as long as the world doesn’t come to an end in 2012.
That is why I thought they would have tried to get good prospects for him. They already traded Oswalt last year for prospects and Wandy isn’t even a stud you are going to build a staff around.
The Astros could still trade him.
Looks like a good move.
If he can stay healthy then this contract would be very cheap compared to what he would have received in the open market — especially since the market is very dry next year.
Plus, they can always trade him since the contract is very team friendly.
Bad move by the Wasserman Group to capitulate so early. (Unless Wandy really wanted to stay in Houston)
Normally, I’m not impressed with Ed Wade so I’m going to assume one of his associates proposed the idea…
Can I just point out how @ss backwards the Astros are?
a) They are no where near being a competetive team.
b) They have few commodities that would be appealing to a trade partner.
c) They have one of the worst farm systems in baseball and should be in rebuild mold following the trades involving Oswalt and Berkman.
d) They didn’t think Wandy was worthy of a $10.25 mil Wandy was seeking so they counterd with a offer for $8 mil. They enter into negotiations and in a situations where any other GM would use the security of a multi-year offer as LEVERAGE for a LOWER annual salary (logically somewhere between each sides arb offer/request) they some how end up agreeing to pay MORE per annual than what was being sought.
Exhibit #12534 as to why some small market teams FAIL.
From a Yanks’ fan perspective, he represented the most likely cost/return scenario of the likely SP avail by the deadline. Assuming, the Sox and Cards became sellers (big if)then Jackson and Carpenter would’ve probably cost more. SOMEONE, even if it weren’t the Yanks, would’ve given the Astros something that would theorectically make them a better team down the road. However, Wandy would have to become a MUCH better pitcher to be worthy of his new deal and that will be hard to imagine as he enters 2011 at age 32. I would be shocked if the Astros contend in the next 2-3 years and will be shocked if Wandy makes it thru all three years of his deal. The Astros have just made it that much harder for Wandy to be moved and my guess is they will either receive less in trade, will have to eat a lot of money to make a trade more appealing or BOTH. Bad…Wade…..bad, bad Wade.
I agree. Ed Wade should look the recent moves by San Diego, Toronto, Cleveland and Kansas City. These teams traded their stars for prospects to build up their farm systems because they knew they were going to contend immediately.
Considering Wandy would’ve been the best fallback option for whoever missed out on CC (assuming he opts out), it just became a little more enticing for CC to opt out.
Hahaha…yeah… CC was worried that Wandy might screw up his market value IF he opted out (which I don’t think will happen btw).
Which is why I said things like “a little more enticing” and “could’ve been the best fallback”
(and why would CC not opt out when he can easily add another $160 mm from the Yanks?)
From this very site two weeks ago:
•Chris Carpenter told MLB.com’s Matthew Leach that he’s not worried about his future with the Cardinals. The right-hander is under contract for 2011 with a $15MM club option for 2012, but an extension for Albert Pujols might push the 35-year-old Carpenter out of town if the team needs to shed payroll.
Why are ppl acting as if my comments are just from some “Yankee fan who feels self-entitled”? It’s totally possible he could be on the block this July and the Yanks and several other teams will want him.
His being on the block may very well happen in July, but that would in theory assume that the Cardinals are not competitive at that point. Hard to see them not being in the hunt unless they trade Pujols this spring.
that was the exact article that i was referring to above. Thank you for confirming my point saving me the trouble. His specific words were he isn’t worried. There have been no trade murmurs, have you heard any names going back and forth? He has a no trade clause. I already pointed out he could be on the block this off season. Did you read my other posts? It was point (A): If the cardinals fall out of contention, they could look to move carpenter.
Just because Carpenter isn’t worried about doesn’t make it a non-issue or an unlikely occurence. He has no reason TO worry because he can’t prevent the Cards from exploring the possibility. He CAN BLOCK it from happening, but if faced with the the choice of the Cards declining his option or accepting a trade where the new team agrees to pick up the 2012 $15 miloption can change that.
His “I’m not worried” statement means nothing. I’m sure Wells wasn’t worried about being traded either (for different reasons of course).
The fact that we haven’t heard any names being mentioned isn’t important because I never said he would be traded now. However, I stated reasons why he might be moved, or at least placed on the market, by July.
but if faced with the the choice of the Cards declining his option or accepting a trade where the new team agrees to pick up the 2012 $15 miloption can change that.
ok let me get this straight. Your perspective:
If cards aren’t in it, they can trade carpenter or after this season they think they can’t retain him, they cut him loose.
If the former occurs(unlikely), than whatever team would have to pick up his option. I’m not sure if that would increase or decrease his trade value, but if it were the former, than they might as well let him walk and take the 2 picks.
At this point, this is arguing semantics. Were at an impasse, just have to wait and see how the season unfolds.
Two scenarios where the Cards might trade Carpenter.
a) They sign Pujols to an extension before 2011 season but keep his 2011 salary @ $16 mil. If they fall out of contention by July 31st and decide that Carpenter is too expensive to bring back (pick up option) for 2012 but feel that can get more than 2 picks for him via trade, he can be sent elsewhere. Carpenter, if faced with a trade possibility to move to a contending team willing to guarantee his option then he might decide to accept the trade vs risking getting less money as a FA in 2012.
b) Pujols and the Cards do not work on an extension BUT the Cards want to make a last ditch attempt during the offseason and decide to cut payroll inorder to do so. WHEN they decide to trade him might be dependent on how they fare this season. If the playoff hopes look dim by mid-july and a team comes around with a great offer then they might try and move him (pending his approval). OR they could wait until the end of the season and let him walk as a FA. This becomes a riskier proposition because they would have to offer him arbitration and there stands a chance he might decide to accept knowing that getting $15 mil or more on the open market would be difficult.
The fact that they a haven’t openly shopped him doesn’t mean they won’t in the future or that teams may have inquired or shown interest in working out something already but might manifest sometime in the near future. It was reported that Reagins spoke in depth to the Jays about Wells back in December at the winter meetins but nothing was actually done until now, and it was done in complete silence.
Please don’t get upset, because I’m not saying it’s inevitable or even stands a better than 50% chance of happening, but it IS at least worthy of discussion.
oh no i’m not upset at all bro. Anyways, if they fail to sign him, chances are they offer him a back loaded contract by 1 year(low salary in 2012) until Kyle Lohse(12million) and Jake Westbrook(8million) are hopefully replaced by Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller. Carpenter i admit will be a luxury but they do have a history of keeping there star players even after there best years(edmonds, ozzie, rolen sort of, etc).
Not thrilled with this. They hamstrung the new owner with a large deal for a streaky pitcher.
If they have $11M for Wandy Rodriguez, why not just keep Oswalt??
I doubt he ends his contract in an Astros uniform.
They could also trade him for some decent prospects next offseason if they wanted to. Given how barren the SP market looks like, they could get a nice package.
I know the replys are out of position. Did you mean Carpenter or Wandy?
i’m guessing Wandy, at least logically thats who it would be since Carp has an option next season which i think will be declined(or worked into a 2-3 year extension at a lower AAV).
if Wandy would be the top free agent pitcher in 2012, God help us all.
Back to the Astros. Does Wade think they can contend this year or sometime in the near future?
Even with Wandy at $11M, the ‘stros payroll is now at around $70-75M. Last year it was $92M, prior year $108M. And, that’s with Carlos Lee at $19M/year, whose contract will come off the books in 2013. They won 76 games last year, and most of those were after they traded away the high-priced contracts of Oswalt and Berkman ($30M/year together). I predict they will be a .500 team this year with their lowest payroll in 5+ years. The farm system is being slowly built, and Wade is putting a team on the field that will at least play a spoiler role. 2013 is when many of the best propects in the system start coming up, and also when he will have the maxium financial flexibility…..and by that time, they will also have a new owner. Wade paid for Wandy as this assures the ‘stros of a rotation this year consisting of Brett Myers (32 starts last year at 6+ innings each), Wandy, JA Happ, Bud Norris (158 strikeouts in 153 innings) and a 5th starter such as Aneury Rodriguez, the rule 5 pick from Tampa Bay. They’ve also added Bill Hall and Clint Barmes to supplement Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence in playing the long ball, have two time gold glover Michael Bourn in center, and will look to Chris Johnson (.308 BA as a rookie), Brett Wallace and Jason Castro (both 2008 Round 1 draft picks) to round out the infield and catching positions. Also, if Houston being the 4th largest city in the US is a “small market” team, think again. The Astros have drawn 3M+ fans when they’ve had winning seasons, are putting together their own sports network, have a large following in the Texas-Louisiana gulf coast, and will sell for a huge price tag when all is said and done. Until the recent slide of 3 losing seasons in 4 years, the team had 14 winning seasons in the previous 15 years, with 6 playoff appearances and 1 world series appearance. They will get back to their winning ways.
It sounds like they are almost set. Wandy could win games if he gets run support. That goes for all of their pitchers. They have young talent in johnson , castro , wallace and happ. They have veteran pitcher Myers and their shortstop and second now has pop thanks to bill hall and clint barmes. They could just trade Lee to an Al team then that would be perfect.
They paid him how much? Oh my….Really?
We (the Astros) should have traded him for a mediocre prospect and another mediocre prospect like we do in every trade that Ed Wade is a part of.
No. Wandy is a decent or pretty good starting pitcher. Plus we’ll most likely get more prospects in due time.
Wandy is super-underrated and this is a fair deal.
“3.36 ERA, a 2.87 K/BB ratio and an 8.4 K/9 rate” in the past three years.
Those are borderline #1 starter numbers right there.
Also keep in mind that Wandy has always performed much better in Houston than on the road. So he’s arguably more valuable as an Astro than he would be in trade to another team.
consistency is the key. when wandy’s on, he’s going to beat you. but you have to worry which wandy is going to show up every 5 days. the contract itself is pretty good, but this is a team that is still finding its identity. not sure the astros needed this kind of contract.
that being said, if wandy, myers, and happ stay consistent and bud norris turns the corner, houston has a pretty decent rotation. it’s much easier to plug in useful parts after that.
Why do I think that Wandy will be traded to Philly at the deadline this year if the Phillies are in contention and have pitching woes? Oh yeah…Ed Wade.
If the Phillies have “pitching woes” this season, I’ll eat a hat.
As a Phillies fan, I’d prefer they try to steal Pence.
I’d give up Pence for Dom Brown!
This deal is a bit of a head scratchier .. average pitch against all teams but the Cubs sub .500 pitcher.. never has won more then 14 games in a year never will but he cashes in with 34million dollars
Ed Wade is not going to trade Wandy for mediocre prospects. Why would he do that? Trades last year: Roy Oswalt for JA Happ (who pitched better for the Astros the 2nd half than Oswalt did the 1st half), Brett Wallace (who will be their every day 1st baseman), and Jonathan Villar (shortstop who is rated one of the top 10 Astros minor league prospects). Lance Berkman for Mark Melancon (who pitched very well out of the bullpen last year) and Jimmy Paredes (2nd base prospect, also ranked in the top 10 in the system). I don’t think any of the players Wade has acquired over the past 2-3 years (with possible exception of Pedro Feliz and Kaz Matsui free agent signings) has been mediocre. His formula is to stock the ‘stros with young talent, which he is doing, and when he does keep a veteran it is someone still fairly young like Wandy or Myers. Folks forget that Wade stocked the Phillies with some great talent, and his predecessors have reaped the rewards. I think real ‘stros fans should stay the course with Wade.
I think he could use a veteran player in left field. Yes they have carlos lee but ughhh. Dunn had a better season than lee so I think they sign dunn and put him in left field. If they can.
Meant “successors” not “predecessors” of Wade have reaped the rewards in Philly.
I never understood fans caring about money when there’s no salary cap and it isn’t their money to begin with. Especially a Yankee fan, I mean, what’s the difference? I digress. The Astros may be lacking a true ace but their 1-5 could stack up nicely with the guys they have in the mix. A rotation of Myers-Wandy-Haap-Norris-and eventually Jordan Lyles can win some games in the NL. The bullpen is shaping up well with Lyons, Lopez, Melancon, Gervacio or Arias and the rule-5 pick ups. The Pads almost made the playoffs last year with only one true offensive force. If the ‘Stros can get some power out of Chris Johnson and Wallace to team with Bourn’s speed and Pence’s all around game, they could be a threat. There’s much more parity in the NL than people realize sometimes I think.
And, as much as I wish they could trade Lee , they could use Lee’s experience. Yes he has gotten older so his power and bat speed has decreased but as a hitter ages the more patient and intelligent they become. I think lee has faced pitchers that pop the middle , work the corners , ect. So they might be able to use that.