The Astros have non-tendered righty Mike Fiers, per a team announcement. The team has tendered contracts to all other eligible players, while Fiers will head to the open market.
This move was widely expected, though there seemed to be some possibility that the team would instead find another organization interested in Fiers via trade. Fiers was projected by MLBTR and Matt Swartz to earn $5.7MM in his second (and second-to-last) season of arbitration eligibility.
Fiers, 32, has had some dazzling high points — including a 2015 no-hitter — but has been increasingly prone to the long ball over the past three seasons. He surrendered 1.88 home runs per nine in 2017 while also posting a career-high 3.6 BB/9 walk rate. Perhaps it isn’t surprising, then, that he ended the year with an ugly 5.22 ERA over 153 1/3 innings.
While Fiers had a nice stretch of good outings in the middle of the year, briefly losing his rotation spot before being pushed back in due to injuries, he finished poorly and did not earn a chance to play in the Astros’ successful run through the postseason. Of course, in other ways Fiers was much the same pitcher as ever. He posted typical velocity and swinging-strike (9.1%) numbers along with a 42.9% groundball rate that sits above his personal average.
It still seems likely that there’ll be fairly robust interest in Fiers in free agency. Even if expectations aren’t all that high, he has turned in 88 starts over the past three seasons and seems a reasonable bet to help stabilize the back of a rotation.
I’m sure plenty of fans are happy, but I’m concerned about depth.
I’m curious: how many pitchers have thrown a no-hitter and also been non-tendered?
I agree. I also figured we could at least get something for him..
“We?”
: lemon grab voice: WE HATE YOU
Anyone who buys jerseys, apparel, and tickets is supporting the teams payroll. Therefore, they are part of the team and can say “we.”
Thank you, never understood why people had a problem with that. I’ve spent plenty of money on the Astros, both on apparel and game tickets. Also, I’d say our city is pretty united right now with everything that has gone on and we are one.
Surprised we didn’t get anything for him
He threw that no-hitter over 2 years ago and has shown very little to make anyone think he’s capable of that ever again. Plenty of pitchers have thrown no hitters and it’s an awesome feat for sure, but it carries very little weight.
He’s a serviceable innings eater and a decent #5 starter that will surely get picked up by someone. I’m a bit surprised that he couldn’t be packaged with one or two of the Astros blocked infield prospects for something of value.
Philip Humber pitched a perfect game in 2012 and was DFA’d after the season.
former Astro too.
Orioles should have already contacted his agent and made an offer. Fiers is right up their alley, and there is no point screwing around.
Bingo!!!
Imagine the home runs he’d give up in the division
Tigers.
So the Astros traded Josh Hader, Adrian Houser, Brett Phillips and Domingo Santana for 384.1 IP of 0.7 bWAR ball by Fiers and 126 games of 0.0 bWAR by Gomez. That trade probably took a year off the Astros window. One of the worst trades of the last 5 years for sure.
Astros made a trade that actually help them to win WS. Fiers was one of the starters that kept the team in contention when other starters hit DL.
Fiers absolutely did not help the Astros win the World Series. He didn’t even play in it. He had a 5.22 ERA, they could have gotten so much more for those 4. My point was the Astros would be even stronger had they not made that trade and signed anyone but Fiers.
Mike Fiers 100%helped this team get to the playoffs. If you actually followed this team to would know what a great job he did this summer while Khuchel was on the DL
Honestly there’s no point in arguing. It’s idiotic to go back and say that trade didn’t help them win, Justin-Turner is the new breed baseball “fan” that doesn’t know anything about the game and judges everything off the WAR stat.
He absolutely helped the team. I still don’t know why we traded for Justin Verlander when we had Fiers . LOL
Don’t be so judgemental just because you have to be a homer. Fiers was horrible last year, he had like 14/30 QS and got so destroyed in September he was wasn’t on the postseason roster. My point, which you are continually ignoring, is that the Astros could have kept all 4 and signed any one of a number of FA SP’s who would have probably been better than Fiers, who stunk really bad this year. Stop saying he was good, you can’t say a guy who threw like 10 good games out of 30 did a good job, you are just plain wrong.
Those 10 starts though where when the Astros needed it most. With Lance and Dallas on the DL he stepped up and kept the starting rotation going. 110% he helped the team when the injury bug was running rampant
It’s true he was our best starter for a portion of the year but we won the division by 21 games. You can’t claim that Fiers made more than a 5 game difference.
Yea it might not have been the best trade but so far the prospects are just that. Fiers kept us alive mid season and has contributed the whole time he was here. Not all pitchers are top of the order. I would gladly have him sign a little lower and keep him for depth.
And just what have Josh Hader, Adrian Houser, Brett Phillips and Domingo Santana cumulatively done? I’m not saying they are not worth something, but not exactly world beaters. Fiers gave us some very good innings this year when we needed it the most. I agree with the stros decision to non-tender at $5.7M, but if they could get him for about $4M they would have probably kept him. They have 7 major league options for 5 spots, plus at least 1 more minor leaguer that could fit the bill. So they didn’t need to keep a 9th option for that pricetag.
What? Santana is coming off of a 3 WAR, 125 OPS+ season, with a career 115+ mark- solid bat. Hader just made his rookie debut this season, where all he did was sport a 213 ERA+, accumulating 1.8 bWAR in just 35 IP. Phillips posted 1.4 WAR over just 98 PA in a cup of coffee. Houser doesn’t have much value. So, they’ve actually been pretty impressive, and there are a lot of years of control left for them as well.
Not to mention Phillips has one of the best outfield arms in the game. He’s so fun to watch. I wish the Phillies had him.
I could care less about the stats, or what these guys did in Milwaukee. Fiers helped the Astros win their division, and pitched well when we needed it the most. It may be that Luhnow lies awake sleeping that Santana, Hader and Phillips are with the Brewers, but as a lifetime Astros fan I doubt he does and I for one don’t have any issue with his make the deal. Was it a good deal in retrospect? Certainly Not. Doesn’t change what Fiers did for the team this year, and also does not change that it’s good that they did not tender him as they have plenty of starting options going into next year.
Philips and Hader each already have around 1 fwar apiece as rookies in limited action and in a bullpen role. Domingo put up 3.3 fwar as a 24 year old playing his first full season. That’s not even counting any impact from Houser.
They have already provided about double the value of Gomez/Fiers and still have a combined 20+ years of control to provide more value on top of that. I think it’s safe to say it was a bad trade on the Astros side.
It was a terrible trade, but this is what happens when teams “go for it.” At the time, Lunhow said he would have to make a trade to hurt the future. However, the Astros made the postseason in 2015, and that experience was vital this year.
The only reasonable reply in this thread by an Astros fan. Kudos to you.
Meh. Santana looks like a good player, not an All Star. Phillips hasnt put it together, Houser isn’t moving up. Hader might be a good #3 pitcher. But I don’t see any of them being better that what we have on our 25 man roster right now, so it’s fine.
If anything good came from it, it’s that Luhnow learned to wait…….. like he did with Verlander.
Can we please just forget that trade ever made?
Would the Astros have been better off without making the deal? Certainly
But it doesn’t take a year off of their window. That Astros team is stacked to the brim with talent on the major league roster while still possessing an outstanding system. By the looks of it, the Astros didn’t open the window, they broke the glass. This id just the beginning.
Yep.
Sounds like a guy the tigers should pick up.
I think he’s better off in Philly.
He wouldn’t be my first choice but if we could get him cheap enough I’d be down. Im kind of hoping either Steve is right on Chatwood or they grab Cobb
Honestly as long as they dont spend $100m on Darvish or Arrieta Im fine with it.
He played himself with the amount of Homers he gave up
And now the Rangers will pick him up, lol.
This is an easy one..Padres
Tigers sign Fiers and Tillman to maximize tank
I would sign Fiers over Tillman. Tillman projected at $10M.
O’s ace, sign em