December 21: The Astros have officially announced the deal. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle provides a breakdown of the incentives. Brantley will get $500K for reaching 400 and 425 plate appearances, then an extra $750K at 450, 475, 500 and 525 appearances.
December 18: The Astros have agreed to a one-year, $12MM deal with outfielder Michael Brantley, pending a physical. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported the contract value, with The New York Post’s Jon Heyman (Twitter links) adding that the deal also contains $4MM in additional incentive bonuses. FanSided’s Robert Murray (Twitter link) initially reported that the two sides were in talks about a new deal. Brantley is represented by Excel Sports Management.
Brantley is entering his age-36 season, and 2023 will be his fifth year in a Houston uniform. He previously signed a pair of two-year, $32MM pacts with the team in his two past trips to free agency, and by coincidence, it was four years ago today that Brantley first agreed to join the Astros.
In terms of pure numbers, Brantley’s tenure in Houston has been very successful, with a 128 wRC+ and a .306/.368/.464 slash line and 40 homers over 1609 plate appearances. Unfortunately for Brantley, his role in the Astros’ 2022 championship season ended on June 26, due to a shoulder injury that eventually required surgery. Brantley played in only 64 games.
This isn’t the first time Brantley has dealt with a shoulder surgery, as he previously went under the knife to fix a small labrum tear in 2015 and subsequently played in only 11 games for Cleveland in the 2016 season. Beyond the shoulder problems, Brantley has also faced ankle and back problems throughout his career, but his first three seasons with the Astros were reasonably healthy. Quad, knee, and hamstring issues sent Brantley to the injured list three times in 2020-21, but all three IL stints combined for roughly a month of missed time.
The presence of Yordan Alvarez has probably kept the Astros from using Brantley as a DH as often as they would probably like, though on paper, manager Dusty Baker can alternate the two players between left field and DH in order to hopefully keep everyone fresh. With Brantley back in the mix, Jake Meyers and Chas McCormick will now be splitting time in center field.
The Astros were known to be looking for outfield help, preferably a left-handed bat (like Brantley) to balance out a lineup of mostly right-handed hitters. Michael Conforto and the switch-hitting Jurickson Profar were other free agents reportedly on Houston’s radar, and the Astros also had some talks with the Diamondbacks about their surplus of lefty-hitting outfielders, particularly Daulton Varsho. Among players who have already signed with other teams, Andrew Benintendi and Cody Bellinger also received some consideration from the World Series champions.
Among all these options, the Astros opted for a familiar face in Brantley, counting on a comeback year. The signing suggests that Houston (who knows Brantley’s medical profile better than anyone) is feeling good about the outfielder’s chances of both recovering well from shoulder rehab, and returning to his prior form at the plate. The $4MM in performance incentives gives Brantley an additional chance to cash in should he indeed stay healthy and keep up his usual levels of productivity.
While the injuries are naturally the biggest question mark hanging over Brantley, there is also the matter of what can be expected of any hitter as he gets deeper into his 30’s. Brantley’s homer totals and slugging percentage have both dropped rather sharply over the last two seasons, though he seemed to be adjusting by having a more keen eye at the plate. Albeit in the small sample size of 277 PA, Brantley’s 11.2% walk rate in 2022 was the highest of his 14-year Major League career. Brantley has also remained one of baseball’s toughest hitters to strike out, and his 45.1% hard-hit ball total last season was also his highest since Statcast began tracking the category in 2015.
Between Brantley and Jose Abreu, the Astros have bolstered their lineup with a pair of “professional hitter” types who brings plenty of experience to the table. Between Brantley’s $12MM deal and Abreu’s three-year, $58.5MM contract, Houston’s estimated payroll now sits at approximately $194MM, with a luxury tax figure of just over $209MM. That still leaves the Astros well under the $233MM luxury tax threshold, and some of that space could be used on a catcher, since Houston has explored the market for backstops. Some less-expensive options like Tucker Barnhart remain in free agency, or the Astros could look into trades with catcher-heavy teams like the Blue Jays.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Wow!
Michael Brantley would be an excellent addition to any MLB team’s IL.
kyle tucker, offensive stud, is going to bat 6th. WOW
I actually expect Tucker to hit 5th, at least when everyone’s healthy to start the year
Altuve
Pena
Alvarez
Bregman
Tucker
Abreu
Brantley/McCormick
Meyers
Maldonado.
Brantley (age and injury risk) and McCormick are perfect platoon partners.
Brantley .810 OPS vs RHP / .732 vs LHP
McCormick. 645 OPS vs RHP / .942 vs LHP
J. Peña: .676 OPS vs RHP / .822 OPS vs LHP
There are no concerns with Brantley. Brantley passed his physical. His recovery is going extremely well.
The guy played last season with a bum shoulder and still hit .288. He has the best plate discipline on the Astros.
Brantley also has an insane work ethic. No issues with him. He will be productive in 2023.
There’s no way that Meyers will start. He might not even be on the team once spring training concludes.
How do you figure?
I have watched every Astros game for years, poor over every article, post, podcast, and interview about the Astros that I can.
Unless another CF is brought in, I can’t even see a scenario where Meyers does not make the team.
Maybe if Leon beats him out but that’s a long shot.
I think you’re right about Meyers, Astrosfn1979
Meyers wasn’t himself until the end of the year…
Meyers @AAA, September:
.345/.462/.563, 4HR, 14 RBI, 19 BB, 16 K, 87 AB
Why is the first response always WOW!?
I thought the same thing. Is it always the same commenter? I suppose it’s better than COW! Maybe not. COW would be more amusing.
seriously, why is this wow?
Had to do it! Sarcasm.Just to see if anyone was paying attention. And who gives crappy posts like this up votes? Really?
Wow!
If he could ever stay healthy he would be a star.
Not enough power for a corner OF to be a star. Good player, though.
He’s a DH at this point
Yordan Alvarez is an even worse defender.
Yordan Alvarez had 7 OF assists in 58 games; he ranked 2nd among MLB LFers.
His defense is underrated. Alvarez has a cannon for a bat and a cannon for an arm.
Dave Kingman had a very good arm. Nicholas Castellanos does too, both poor defenders.
People for some reason look at Yordon and think he’s some fat unathletic DH. He’s built like a tight end. He can run. Like you said about his arm, he can gun a runner down from the fence.
Regardless of position…you don’t need to be a power hitter when you are a perennial .300 hitter in the 2 hole with Yordan,Bregman, Tucker,& Abreu following you
You’ll need a better argument than that
Right, but his point didn’t have anything g to do with the need for the team – it was that he wasn’t a “star” even if he was always healthy and I would agree. To be a star you need to hit well and solid D and have power.
The point was about him being a star, not his surrounding cast.
That said, Brantley is without a doubt a fantastic hitter.
Right you are, look at this OBP, year in year out.
What do those players have to do with him being a star or not?
Exactly. He was a “star” too in Cleveland when he was younger, however you want to subjectively define that. Now he is in the twilight of his career, but even at his age, the man still rakes. I think he’s doing just fine without being labeled a “star.”
I see him as the #7 hitter. The ALCS and WS MVP is solidly locked in the #2 spot. Houston has a VERY deep lineup: Altuve, Pena, Alvarez (L), Bregman, Tucker (L), Abreu, Brantley (L), McCormick/Meyers, Maldonado. #2 for Dusty
I see him in the #7 slot. The ALCS and WS MVP is solidly in the #2 spot. I see this lineup: Altuve, Pena, Alvarez (L), Bregman, Tucker (L), Abreu, Brantley (L), McCormick/Meyers, Maldonado. The Astros have a VERY deep lineup to go with their top-notch rotation.
Also, the Astros won’t hit any of the lefties back to back.
Altuve is also the only guy who can fit at leadoff and he hits right.
That means the options for Alvarez-Tucker-Brantley are 2-4-6 or 3-5-7.
If Brantley is moved to #2 then Yordan and Tucker each move back a spot in the order which means less PA. Bad move there.
Dusty did hit Alvarez and Tucker back to back for a minute there
He’s one of the most overrated hitters in the league. High OPS but poor run production. Hitting 2nd in the Astros lineup but still under 100 runs and rbi’s every year is pretty underwhelming.
Yes he did but it was when Alvarez was hitting 4th (behind Bregman not before him) and Tucker was the only guy left to provide him any lineup protection. Yuli was awful.
And he did it only due to pressure from Click and the front office.
It worked well enough but the goal was to separate the lefties and eventually moved Yordan to 3rd which accomplished that by Bregman hitting between them.
Preventing lefties hitting back to back is a foundation of Dusty’s lineup philosophy.
Now that Bregman is hitting well again and they have Abreu they don’t need to.
As an Astros fan I disagree with you.
No hitter can control if a baserunner scores from his PA unless they hit a HR.
No baserunner can control if he can score on another’s PA.
Runs and RBI are flawed stats for determining value.
2022: .849 OPS = 130 OPS+ w/ RISP
2021: .763 OPS = 102 OPS+ w/ RISP
2020: 1.034 OPS = 165 OPS+ w/ RISP
2019: 1.030 OPS = 159 OPS+ w/ RISP
No way he is overrated. I would say he is underrated.
@fred…what about me?
– Tony Gwynn
fred-3 Brantley is a “star” player. He’s just a FADING star. He’s a 5 time All-Star during his younger days in Cleveland. Great overall career from the secondary piece (Matt Laporta was the key player) acquired from Milwaukee in the C.C. Sabathia trade.
Actually 3 time All Star in Cleveland and 2 time All Star in Houston.
He is a star. Five time All-Star and career earnings over $100MM.
Yeah the career earnings show that he has been appreciated.
All starting to come off the board. Bet most of remaining names sign before Xmas
Yes. It all happened faster than I expected. Sadly that’s what my wife said as well.
It was all a purple haze…
Every off season takes on its own unique rhythm. Some years, it seems that the main free agent signings are going on in January, with trades coming early, while this year the free agent signings have been quicker. I suspect January will see a lot of trade activity going on now that the main free agents are off the board. Beyond that, I can’t speak to your wife’s satisfaction!
haha good one Von.
LOL Von!
@H E Pennypacker – Are you the philanthropist and wealthy industrialist opening a factory in Peru, or the H E Pennypacker, the bicyclist?
Try the veal! These rumors that have heated up late at night eastern time have not helped me be sharpest at work in AM!
*Blue Jays
YESSSSSSSS!!!!!
I was so relieved when Benintendi went elsewhere.
Getting Abreu now uncle Mike back.
Again, Mr. Crane thank you!
What’s wrong with Benitendi?
Dont ask. He is a fan of muting (ie muting someone who is more accurate or has unraveled his weave of nonsense).
Benintendi is just a younger Brantley. The thing about Brantley is just being so damn clutch, and a really positive influence in the clubhouse. A real leader. So nothing against Benintendi, but I agree with MuteButton.
Nothings really wrong with Benintendi, but Brantley is much more established in the Astros clubhouse. He’s been a leader there and a great player
I’m glad Brantley is back as well, but if it was signing him instead of Benintendi- they’re just buying the same trouble next offseason. Beni could have given them 3-5 good years. They aren’t getting that from Brantley at this point.
I like Beni but his talent level doesn’t approach Brantley’s past.
Maybe, he’s as good as an aging injured Brantley right now.
I think they’re close but it depends on what the team needs. They’re both good hitters. Beni is a career 279 guy that plays elite defense. Brantley is a career 298 guy that can’t play much defense anymore. Not much power from either of them. Recent WAR favors Beni. Leadership favors Brantley. In the short term Brantley should be a great DH for them, so I’m certainly not upset that he’s back. Would have liked to see the team sign both of them though.
Astros lineup looks to be set now. Even without Verlander they are probably still the team to beat in the AL
JV needs a 3rd ring so Tigers fans won’t hold it against him when he goes into the hall with a Stro cap haha
Don’t hold it against Max when he goes into the hall with a Nats cap, either.
Heck I already assumed that would be a given with Mad Max. 2019 alone sealed that hats fate.
The players no longer choose what hat they wear in the HOF.
Then he should have stayed with the Stros Trum.
He’s gonna need to finish up his career in Houston to get to 300 W’s. It will be a humble 2 yr 30mil deal.
I think I meant 2/50…Cancel the humble part..
Tiger fans don’t care about his hat since he started chasing money.
Picking up Abreu early in free agency was a smart move. Verlander will be missed adding pressure on the rest of the starters and relievers. Still how deep the lineup is they are the ones to beat in the AL.
ARC 2;
Knowing the Astros, they’ll come up with another starter that contributes in 2023 – internally or externally.
His name is Hunter Brown.
Yea. No team has a better combination of starting pitching and bullpen. Their lineup is pretty solid too which is a nice bonus.
Without verlander they’re clearly not as strong, but still that nice solid depth through the rotation and BP. Lineup improves noticeably w Abreu as well.
JV’s starts will be split up between Cristian Javier and Hunter Brown. That duo had a 2.81 combined ERA in their 27 starts last season. The Astros won’t miss JV nearly as much as people think.
I agree, Alkie
Also people forget that the Astros didn’t have LMJ for most of the season and Javier transitioned from the pen to the rotation?
C. Javier post All-Star game stats:
1.79 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, .152 AVG
I just don’t think there’s a guarantee they do that well without an anchor like JV there. Although the way Houston manipulates spin rates, it prob doesn’t matter much.
“What happened out there today?”
“I don’t know, coach, I would have pitched better, but there was no anchor like JV sitting in the dugout.”
Yeah because having the stability of a sure thing ace doesn’t mean anything to a team. Let’s be real, Javier has some great upside, but he doesn’t have as much value as a staff ace as compared to a two or three. Could he step up to be one? Sure. Could he just stay at like a 2-3 level? Yep, he could easily do that too. Love the assumption that they’ll lose a guy with a sub-2 era and be completely fine and not miss a beat.
@alkie
“What happened out there today?”
“I’m not sure, coach. I think our bullpen was tired because w/o Verlander, none of our starters can’t be relied on to pitch into the sixth inning.”
@stymeedone
Yes, I’m quite sure the extra, let’s see here….0.6 innings per start that JV averaged over the rest of the starters will spell certain doom for our…let’s see here….best bullpen in baseball.
Try again.
Valdez is an ace and Javier is on his way to becoming one. McCullers isn’t exactly a slouch either. Garcia and Urquidi are both very strong back of the rotation guys and Brown has shown nothing but ace potential. Of course losing Verlander weakens them, but the Astros are still formidable. I don’t see anything to make me think they can’t win the AL again.
OrangeCrushCity;
Ace is nice, but overrated.
To begin with, Aces often pitch against one another. As such they tend to cancel one another out…maybe a few games advantage over a season. But mostly it’s that they throw around 175 innings a year while a team pitchers around 1,400.
When a team has 4-5 starters like the Astros do going out there each game, that makes it tough on opponents over the course of a series.
The playoffs are all about pitching, defense, and manufacturing runs to win the toss-up games that determine the series winner. No team is going far in the playoffs without 3 very good starters and a deep bullpen.
McCullers always gets hurt, so that will happen again I’m sure. Valdez and Javier are not verlander. Like Samuel said, losing him will hurt. They weren’t as good without him when he was hurt, so let’s see how they do now. It’s a weaker division compared to others, so they’ll still have that going for them.
“They weren’t as good without him”, well, yeah, I guess. They still made the ALCS both years he was hurt and the WS one of them. Verlander has been great. I’m certainly not dissing him or his contributions to the Astros while he played for them, but he was less of a factor in the last post season than either Valdez or Javier. I still like their chances.
So dropping over a run a game in era won’t be missed? He will be missed more then you are letting on.
Where did I say he wouldn’t be missed? I’m pretty sure I said losing him weakens them. I just feel like they still have enough SP to win.
So now there is no Ace to cancel out the other teams Ace.
Astros let the following pitchers walk in recent years;
Verlander
Cole
Keuchel
Morton
Greinke
Peacock
McHugh
Astros miss the contributions of all players listed above; however, the Astros believe in their player development system – a system that has the greatest organizational pitching depth in franchise history.
The Astros WS roster had more homegrown players than every other team in MLB baseball.
One would think that the rebuilding teams in MLB would have the most homegrown players. NOPE.
There are pitchers at the Astros AAA club that have pennant/playoff experience.
Pitching is not a problem for the Astros.
In fairness, they were below 500 in 2020, and as crazy as that season was, still made the ALCS. Just saying they won fewer games, but like you said, still did well in the playoffs. And just to clarify, I never said they’d be bad, just that they’re going to miss him as the ace and the team probably won’t be as dominant as this year.
I think that’s a perfectly reasonable take. I’ll be curious to see if the Mets can get him up to the 200+ innings horse he was pre injury. Also curious to see if the Astros continue a 6 man or if they were only doing it to accommodate Verlander. It worked out really well last year.
As a Met fan, I’d love to see it, but I have my doubts. I’m thinking they’ll try to keep his and Max’s innings relatively low so they’re fresher for the playoffs. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Mets go 6-man rotation here and there actually.
Astros are definitely deep enough to do it. I just worry that LMJ will miss time again. Do they have someone beyond him? I know Framber, Javier, Brown, Garcia, Urquidy are there. Is there anyone else I’m missing? If not, wonder if they’ll pick up a swing man type just in case – I know they always liked Lugo and his high spin rate on the curveball.
Astros should trade from their starting pitching surplus to acquire a catcher from the Blue Jays.
Astros can trade either RHP Luis Garcia or RHP
Jose Urquidy and still field a formidable rotation.
RHP Misael Tamarez, age 22, will get an opportunity to make the Astros roster next season. Even as a starter, his FB hits 100 mph late in games. He dominated AAA hitters.
Reading through old scouting reports of Javier, Abreu, Valdez, Urquidy, and Garcia and they all read in similar fashion. “Profiles as a 4th or 5th starter type with multi-inning potential as a reliever”.
Astros next generation of starting pitchers in the farm read about the same.
RHP Tamarez might be the best pitcher out of all of the Astros international signings the past 2 decades.
Verlander 28 gs. 175 innings
Odorizzi. 12 gs 60 innings
2022 (2023)
Framber Valdez 31 / 201.1
Jose Urquidy. 28 / 164.1. (+2 /+12)
Luis Garcia. 28 / 157.1. (+2 /+11)
C. Javier. 25 / 148.2. (+5 /+28)
L. McCullers. 8 / 47.2. (+17 /+100)
Hunter Brown. 2 / 12. (+14 /+84)
There all of JV and Odor’s starts and innings are covered.
Don’t break what works!
Good move, Mr consisent, the guy can flat out hit.
Good DH
Steal. That lineup is just stacked.
If Halos didn’t have Shohei I would have wanted him all day. If he has a good year it will be invaluable.
Agreed. I was lining fir him before he originally signed with Houston.
I feel like Brantley keeps hitting the jackpot with the Astros. He’s turning all these short term deals into the potential equivalent of a 5 year/$80M long term contract and he never seems like he’s worth quite that much and he can’t really stay healthy. Feels like he’s been on the Astros much longer than he has and man they keep giving him lottery ticket sized salaries for his actual value.
Haha TTO, now that you gave up his secret his charade is over come next year unless he truly performs! Maybe not though… haha
As a Braves fan, I’d take 200 quality ABs from Brantley anytime
Always a dangerous hitter.
TJ, I’m bummed that LAA didn’t grab Swanson. Since this is probably the last year Ohtani & Trout will be together, of all the teams interested in Swanson, I was rooting for LAA.
It would be too fruitful a signing for them. I had got my hopes up as well. Now I’m bitter. I’ll probably get over it once they make another signing of note.
LAA has done more than ATL so far this winter. I’m left scratching my head (no, it’s not lice, I’m just befuddled)
Now trade Stanek to the blue jays for Jansen plus prospects and the off season is complete
It was strange how little Stanek was used in the WS
You think the Jays would need to add prospects to even this out?
Okay Astros, sign Confronto, Chafin and Yuli!!!
There’s probably a dozen FA that I would’ve signed over Brantley but I’m not a fan of the Astros so I say, GREAT!
Great deal. Little risk for a great contributor.
Nice to see he is back. But for a year only. NO guarantee what he will give you after the shoulder surgery.
We do need catching now. But think they will let Diaz and Lee battle it out and who ever wins can catch Hunter Brown if he goes into rotation and Maldy catches the rest. Granted I do not see Korey or Yanier as our next star catcher. And if Maldy is in his last season with Houston where is the future for them at the position. No offense with Korey or Yanier but neither seems to be making that splash to me. Korey has been up before but Yanier got an excuse me look but hear they like him better over Korey but are either ready. It may be with what we have now that spot in line up now for offense may not be as a big spot if Brantley does come through and hits. Just with shoulder surgery how will it affect him with his swing. Meyers had a shoulder injury but has not looked great with his return. But we shall see
Yainer Diaz is a hitting machine. He hit at every level in the minors (.321 overall average in the minors including .294 at AAA) and he only had a handful of bats at the ML level last year (I think less than 10) but I still remember maybe his only ML hit which was a double off the fence – really well struck. He isn’t known for his defense and so my guess is that he goes back to AAA to sure that up. Korey Lee on the other hand is very solid defensively. His problem has been low batting average, but he had 25 HRs at AAA last year, most of which came after he was sent down (and within a couple of months in AAA). I have lots of hope for both of them to continue to improve in 2023.
Meyer looked pretty good after his return late in the season. Supposedly, whoever played best out of Meyers, McCormick and Dubon during September would start CF in the playoffs. Meyers played the best but McCormick was named starter. Odd, but happy with the results.
Both Lee and Diaz had their MLB debut in 2022. They will battle it out in Spring Training for the backup role to Maldonado. If the chosen one does well, he will be groomed by Maldy for his replacement in 2024 so Maldy can shift to a role as catching coach in the Astros organization alongside newly hired minor league hitting instructor Michael Brantley.
Love watching Brantley hit….such a pro. But he is pushing the envelope at this point when it comes to what is left and what that is worth to a team. No wheels left…below par when you play him in the outfield, more of a DH for a while now. But not enough power to really carry that slot at a premier level, and he is injured too often.
And yet, on the right team that doesn’t mind overpaying for that package to have that excellent bat available, he is still a terrific addition.
If Meyers returns to the starting CF role then Chas can platoon with LF and CF, he’s very good against LH pitchers.
McCormick and Meyers will battle it out in Spring Training for the CF starting job. If they both do well, the other will be the utility outfielder.
Both Lee and Diaz had their MLB debut in 2022. They will battle it out in Spring Training for the backup role to Maldonado. If the chosen one does well, he will be groomed by Maldy for his replacement in 2024 so Maldy can shift to a role as catching coach in the Astros organization. Alongside newly hired minor league hitting instructor Michael Brantley.
$12MM is not an overpayment if healthy.
I’m glad Brantley is back. Assuming his shoulder surgery went well ( which this signing means very likely it did) having him and Abreu in the lineup when both were not on the WS roster means a real boost. Now if they can re-sign Gurriel to a utility role and sign a lefty like Chafin to the bullpen then they will be more than set. Conforto would not be needed but would add to an already top class lineup.
Smart move. The man’s a quintessential professional hitter. Playing against them, he’s the last guy you want to see at the plate in a clutch at-bat.
He’s tortured the Yankees. I hate to sound like the typical Yankee fan but if George were around Brantley would be a Yankee and he would have made mincemeat of Yankee stadium.
Yanks, at first glance I thought it said “would have made misconduct” at Yankee Stadium haha. I like mincemeat too though haha
Mincemeat is essentially a mixture of chopped dried fruits, distilled spirits, a combination of spices, beef suet, and (traditionally) chopped meat which is usually used as a pie or pastry filling.
I actually looked this up for myself bc I’ve heard of it but never knew what it was.
Ok, so I’m boring. Give me some slack…
Apt description Fink!
I realize he’s somewhat of a?, But I would have liked to seen the Yankees get him. He’s gotta be better than Hicks right that’s a no-brainer.
As grateful as I am for deGrom, Heaney, and Odorizzi, the fact that Texas wasn’t even close to him or any of the other recent guys like Brantley, Benintendi, or Gallo is disturbing. I know trades happen, but Texas seems to be hoarding prospects. Sure Pittsburgh is outrageous for asking for a “Soto-like return,” but the Rangers just need to keep Jung, Carter/Zavala in the outfield, and at least 2 of Rocker/Lieter/Porter. All other prospects can be traded for a remotely fair value. I don’t get why they seem to put all their eggs in the free agency basket. They have salary concerns, but they could have just signed JD Martinez and dumped Perez’s salary along with a random prospect. In terms of trades, they still don’t have anyone in the outfield aside from Adolis Garcia and maybe a spot for prospects. I know they have spent a lot of money, but they got 2 shortstops (overpaid for Semien), overpaid for an average pitcher in Jon Gray, didn’t trade Pérez to overpay him via QO, and really only needed to sign deGrom, Seager, and Heaney. All the other $$ could have been spent more efficiently and across the board. Maybe Milwaukee may throw in a solid pitcher along with most of Yelich’s contract or Colorado could throw in Bryant and a reliever with some cash.
This is spot on for a number of teams. I have no idea why the Cardinals weren’t in on a Brantley, Martinez, Gallo type deal. Brantley and JD add length to lineups and depth to rosters, with little risk.
At least the Cardinals signed a very good catcher for a lower AAV than MLBTR predicted (4 years 84 million) and also got a team option for a 6th year. They also have the best first baseman in baseball (by a wide margin), and he is still pretty underrated if you ask me.
Oh I’m not saying that the Cardinals don’t have talent and they should make the playoffs. I completely understand that it is coming from a different place from where the Rangers are, but in reality with the additions to the rotation the Rangers made, both the Cardinals and the Rangers are about a distant 5th or 6th in their respective leagues on paper. Signing one of these deals puts them closer to the top with little risk. Instead the rich got richer.
Runner-up prize to not getting Joey Gallo.
I don’t consider him a runner=up prize at all. The Astros don’t need Mr. Strike-out on their team.
Texas Ranger
How about Milwaukee trades Christian Yelich to Texas and pays half ($13 million) of his $26 million per year contract for the length of the contract, in return for Luisangel Acuna, who is not one of the Rangers’ top half dozen prospects but will at least let Brewers’ fans dream about the talent of his better-known older brother?
Yelich is about as useless as Stanton at this point
Maybe worse. At least stanton still produces when he plays, that is after his timing returns, after a period of injured list in activity, lol.
This sounds decent, and I would probably take it. However, I would likely want Matt Bush back or maybe a few million more in cash ideally. Perhaps, Texas can throw in Duran/Smith/some other prospect for a starter not named Burnes or Woodruff. Anyone here mlb.com/prospects/rangers/ for Ashby/Peralta or someone like that could work, as long as Carter/Zavala/Jung, and the big 3 pitchers are not dealt. How is that addition?
Love it. I look forward to watching a lineup with both J.Abreu and Brantley next year. Wishing Uncle Mike a full recovery this offseason.
In other Houston news, Cory Youmans, the guy who caught Judge’s 62nd home run ball at Minute Maid and turned down an offer of $3 million for it, got half that much when he put it up for auction. The guy’s a VP money manager with Fisher Investments with an estimated personal net worth of $25 million, but he couldn’t afford to give Judge the ball or donate it to Cooperstown. It’s at least somewhat satisfying that his greed cost him $1.5 million.
Now I just feel like he was greedy. Would have been nice for someone with a smidge less than 25mil in the bank to catch it.
Interesting tidbit Fink. That’s why some folks are rich because sometimes a lot isn’t enough. Didn’t work out in this case, tsk, tsk…
@Curly Can you name a baseball player who has given away any milestone ball or bat to Cooperstown, charity, or to a young fan with cancer, etc? Judge certainly has the ability to buy it from that fan at the same amount. Cooperstown can buy it from him, too. Greed works both ways. I just don’t see people getting as outraged had Judge gotten the ball back and decided to keep it or sell it for money on his own.
Let’s not pretend that MLB players are so different from this guy. They literally leave a team over a few million while they have tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in career earnings. The guy who caught the ball owns the ball and doesn’t have to give it to the guy who is getting 360 million over the next 9 years. For all the people who hate owners and sympathize with players, this is literally the same thing, except Judge is the “billionaire” with endorsements and all and the fan is the millionaire.
$360 million is a lot of money, but it’s not a billion dollars. And leaving a job for another that pays more money is exactly what professionals in all professions do all the time. And teams have no loyalty to players either. If a player doesn’t have a no-trade clause, they’ll trade him to another team whenever they feel like it.
And neither situation is analogous to a guy with $25 million treating an historic souvenir like it was any other piece of salable merchandise. The ball meant nothing to him except how much coin he could turn it into, as if he needed any more money. He fits Oscar Wilde’s definition of a cynic: “A man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.”
A class move would’ve been to give it to Judge’s mother, who was in the stadium.
I agree with this, but consider how much money endorsement deals would get Judge. Also, you mention greed. I think Judge was the greedy one. Conforto did the same thing by gambling on himself, and it backfired. It worked out for Judge, but I was hoping he would be terrible and would never make another 100 million dollars. I just don’t see the sympathy for him (or his mother, for that matter) since they are rich and don’t need the ball. If they want it for symbolic reasons, they can easily buy it back for less than 3 million. If the guy is stubborn, make him an offer he can’t refuse – maybe 36 million or something. Either way, Judge is certainly not a victim of another man’s greed as you make it seem. Nobody in the world is owed anything. Bonds didn’t get his ball, Rodriguez didn’t get his (if I am not mistaken), and fans, regardless of their own worth, will not just give away the ball. It was a smart decision to take a gamble, just like how it was for Judge. The only thing is that it didn’t work out for the fan, and it worked out for Judge. We are supposed to make the best decision we can with all available information. Stocks work like this too, It’s just odd that you villainize the fan and hate him so much. So what if he has money? He probably earned it just like how Judge earned his.
You contradict yourself. In one breath you call Judge greedy, and in the next you say, “We are supposed to make the best decision we can with all available information. Stocks work like this too.” Judge and other ballplayers are paid what the market will bear. You might prefer they just work cheap and let the owners pocket all the profits, and I’m sure the owners would love that. But without the players there’s no game.
And, again, you’re comparing apples to oranges. If a regular working-class fan caught the ball, by all means, let him turn it into a cash windfall. But Mr. Youmans hardly needed cash. Then there was this couple:
‘Albert Pujols hit one of the biggest home runs of his career on Sunday afternoon. Not only did the two-run shot in the ninth inning give the St. Louis Cardinals a 3-2 lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates, but it was also career home run No. 697, which moved him past Alex Rodriguez for fourth all time in career home runs.
‘A pair of Pirates fans, Matt and Samantha Brown, were the lucky ones to recover the Pujols home run ball from their center-field seats. When they tried to give Pujols the ball, he had other plans. According to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, Samantha’s father passed away a year ago on Sunday. Upon hearing this, Pujols told them to keep the ball and, for good measure, he signed two other baseballs for them.
‘Pujols told the Browns it would mean more to them than it would to him, Jones reported.
“It’s just a baseball. They deserve to have it. It went out of the ballpark,” Pujols told MLB.com about the decision. “We play this game for the fans. So whether they want to give it back or they want to keep it, I don’t have any problem with that.”
Class all around.
And here’s one closer to home:
‘Dillon Harrell, the Houston Astros fan who recovered Yordan Álvarez’s walk-off home run to beat the Seattle Mariners in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Tuesday, said he planned to give the ball up to Álvarez if he wanted it.
‘The Astros slugger told him to keep it.
‘Harrell and Álvarez met up prior to Game 2 on Thursday morning outside the ballpark, where Álvarez signed the ball, among other gestures. He also signed Harrell’s jersey and gave him and his family tickets to that afternoon’s contest.
‘Harrell said on Wednesday that he had no intention of selling the baseball, noting that the only person he would give it up to is Álvarez.
“The only person that ball would exchange hands with would be him if he wanted it,” Harrell said. “I don’t expect anything in return. I’m just a fan of the game, and getting to witness that and putting my hands on that baseball was good enough for me. That was an experience in itself.”
DTR, maybe I’m being too hard on Mr. Youmans. Maybe he planned on giving the proceeds from the sale of the ball to his favorite charity. Could be, I guess.
I’d keep the baseball 100/100 times. Even if I hit the lottery the week before—it’s my ball.
Maybe I’ll donate the proceeds. but I’m not gifting it to the crazy rich guy that hit it. If anybody wants to do that—-totally fine. But I’m sure as hell as not or criticizing anyone who doesn’t.
See. I respect your opinion, but you are being harsher on him than I am on MLB players. That was my main point. I like that you are reevaluating your bias against Mr. Youmans. Even if he did keep it for himself, there is nothing wrong or noble about it. It is just what it is.
I agree with your take, @BStrowman. It doesn’t matter how rich you are; what you own is rightfully yours. A separate note about MLB pay: Nolan Ryan’s 1.125 million to Scherzer’s 43.3 million from 1980 to 2021 doesn’t translate to how the average person has done. Translate these wages from Ryan’s net present value of 3.5 million, and you will see. I don’t blame players for wanting the most, but I think something has to be responsible, and that has to be Boras’ corp. All I am saying is this inflation has to stop at some point. It wasn’t fair Ruth, Hornsby, Cobb, and others got way less, but this is hard to keep up. baseball-reference.com/players/r/ryanno01.shtml
If Mr. Youmans said he wanted to keep the ball for himself as a souvenir, I’d have had no problem with that. It was just when I found out how much money he already had that it rubbed me the wrong way that he’d see an historic baseball as nothing more than an opportunity to make more money he didn’t need. But, as I say, maybe he plans on giving the money to persons needier than he is. That would be a good thing.
By the way, DeGrom Texas Ranger, you said to me above:
“It’s just odd that you villainize the fan and hate him so much.”
I’d appreciate it if you’d refrain from putting words in my mouth and mischaracterizing my comments. I never said I hated the man, nor do I. Don’t accuse me of hating someone unless I tell you I hate him.
That didn’t happen at Minute Maid, nor did it happen in Houston.
You’re right. My mistake.
You might want to check your facts. Judge hit his #62 HR playing against the Rangers at Global Life Field that is in Arlington, Texas (near Dallas).
Yup. My mistake it was at Globe Life Field. As noted above, an Astros fan who caught a meaningful playoff home run ball hit by Alvarez at Minute Maid offered the ball back to Alvarez.
Check out what the owner of the auction company had to say after he sold the Judge home run ball:
“That’s the magic of sports – this ball didn’t only change Aaron’s life, it changed the life of the fan who was in the stadium that night, too,” Goldin said in a statement. “We’re so proud to have been trusted by Cory to present this piece of history for public auction.”
$1.5M changed the life of a guy who was already a multimillionaire.
BTW, Judge was given back home run balls #60 & #61, the first tying Babe Ruth and the second tying Roger Maris.
sports.yahoo.com/judge-62nd-home-run-ball-06294658…
Hahahaha Yeah Fink that’s pretty rich…No pun intended for once…Makes it sound like o’l Cory was a pauper. The auction house has been exclaiming proudly for weeks that the ball was going to “fetch” over 3mil no problemo. They were 1/2 right..
Fink, I don’t know if you remember Pujols’ 2000 RBI HR ball I think it was. Fan caught it. Didn’t let them authenticate it…Now nobody knows what happened to it.
No, I don’t remember that one, TJ, but I cited above a case in which Pujols rejected a generous offer from a couple who tried to return a significant home run ball to Albert. He told them it meant more to them and they should keep it.
Yeah that has been Alberts response on all of those occassions. Nice guy.
Most underrated players in baseball in the last 10 years. Similar to Adrian Gonzalez, Evan Longoria, Madison Bumgarner, Goldschmidt (until recently he wasn’t regarded as a top ball player). The list goes on
At one point in time I would have given Juan Pierre that title.
That dude was a hitting & running machine! Good call TJ
Curly, boy was he…His baseball reference page is incredible to browse. A lot of black ink.
No AS games…No GG’s….No batting title….Led in games played a ton…Perrenial .300 hitter. Over 600 steals…
28 Seasons of baseball between Tim Salmon and Juan Pierre and neither made it to an all star game.
Let’s not forget Michael Young, 5 years in a row of 200+ hits. As per the Greg Kihn band, “they don’t make’em like that anymore”
BB has been so diluted…
Luis Castillo was underrated.
Michael Young! That guy needs to be in the Hall now that you mention him!!! Nobody even close to Young these days. Maybe Freeman.
Bregman. Bang your can all you want.
Good points, agreed
Thanks Mr Crane
Now, try to get Chapman in a low cost, high incentives deal. That dude will be fixed by the great houston pitching department
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Thanks for the laughs…
Ah, and Dusty will put him in his place.
Why I’d like to take that toothpick and…nyuck, nyuck, nyuck
This guy has the best agent in the world.
The Reds are not playing it really smart. Let all the other teams spend money and improve their teams through free agency, while the Reds just sit by patiently and wait. They know it’s hard to improve a team that won 62 games last year.
Don’t be too hard on them Bobcastelliniscat, they’re doing their best to win 58 games this year. All is good in baseball land…
The Reds plan is to hoard ‘greenbacks’ until they are worth more, not less?
Thumbs up emoji. Great baseball guy. Always loved Brantley
The Astros have a few OFs that could stick in MLB. This signing is a stop gap.
An experienced cheater brought in to show the new guys the ropes.
You must be talking about your mommy again.
Brantley wasn’t on the 2017 team all you Yankees/Red Sox/Dodgers fans whine about.
While your cheater mommy breaks in the new guys.
Or vice versa.
Rays top priority has to be Brandon Belt now. I also suspect that Tyler Naquin’s market is going to pick up a bit as a low cost flyer option for several teams.
Seth Brown would also make for a reasonable Rays trade target
Wow I’m gonna be extremely disappointed if we go into another season with a all-right handed lineup(Biggio,KK don’t count). Granted,there still is time,but don’t wait too long or nothing. If Conforto is healthy, then that’s the move(if the Jays don’t deal a catcher)
It does seem likely that this lineup is absolutely going to wear pitching out. Bregman, Abreu and Brantley are some of the most patient hitters in baseball. Now throw Alverez, Tucker, Altuve and some Peña into the mix. Dang
The biggest impact of JV’s loss is innings pitched, JV went 7 innings every time and sometimes did all 9 by himself.
That’s a good point, AlanZ. Having a pitcher who can give you 7 every time out saves the bullpen immensely. I wish more pitchers were capable/allowed to do it these days.
Yet averaged a little over 6 innings a start? In fact only 12 of his 28 starts went 7 or more innings. He didn’t throw one complete game all season.
I always thought he would be a solid pick up for the Yanks but that DH position and LF would be problematic. Good professional bat tho. Yanks need good contact hitters
They dodged a bullet with Profar.
All this information but doesn’t give his exact stat line from last year (2022)… Ridiculous
mlb.com/player/michael-brantley-488726
Thanks
Well it doesn’t make the Astros any worse…
They reach new lows by the day. Obviously players from outside want no part of associating with that organization.
As they just signed Jose Abreu?
Oh you mean like José Abreu?
I love that they’re bringing him back!
Padres offered 17 years, 280 million.
I heard 20 years, 250M.
That’s only $12.5M per year which will only be worth about $4.25M by 2042. Old greenbacks meet the new greenbacks.
It always bothers me when fans of good teams act like they need players. It’s like, no, the A’s and Reds NEED a guy like Brantley. He’s a luxury for the Astros. Has any team ever won despite a hole at a given position? Of course. The Astros basically did it last year with Mancini/Díaz/Hensley. Glad Brantley went to Houston and didn’t sell out for LA or NY, but I just wish these smaller market teams would make more of an effort.