Astros, Eric Lauer Agree To Minor League Deal

2:22pm: Lauer will be paid at a prorated $1.5MM base salary if he’s selected to the MLB roster, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC-2. His deal also contains opt-out dates on July 1 and August 1 if he’s not on the big league roster prior to those points.

2:04pm: The Astros and Lauer are in agreement on a minor league contract, per Rome. The CAA client is headed to Triple-A Sugar Land for now, but given the state of the back of Houston’s rotation, he could emerge as an option before long if he looks sharp to begin his time in the organization.

1:40pm: The Astros are showing interest in free agent left-hander Eric Lauer, reports Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. The former Brewers and Padres southpaw opted out of a minor league contract with the Pirates last week. As Rome further points out, Houston GM Dana Brown worked in the Blue Jays’ scouting department when they drafted Lauer out of high school in 2013. Lauer wound up choosing to go to college, which paid off handsomely; the Jays tabbed him in the 17th round of the ’13 draft, but three years later the Padres selected him with the No. 25 overall pick.

The 28-year-old Lauer (29 in June) debuted with the Padres in 2018 and spent the next two seasons on San Diego’s staff before being traded to Milwaukee alongside infielder Luis Urias in exchange for righty Zach Davies and outfielder Trent Grisham.

After three rather nondescript seasons in the majors from 2018-20, Lauer added a slider to his arsenal in early 2021 and looked to be breaking out as a high-end rotation option. He posted a 3.19 ERA and fanned 24% of his opponents in 118 2/3 innings that season (including a 2.41 ERA following the addition of that new breaking pitch). He continued his success into 2022 and wound up combining for 277 1/3 innings of 3.47 ERA ball with a 23.8% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate across those two seasons.

Shoulder and elbow injuries for Lauer popped up in 2022-23, and his health looked like a particular hindrance last season. Lauer’s average fastball plummeted from 93.3 mph in 2022 to 91.2 mph last season. In 46 2/3 innings, he was rocked for a 6.56 ERA with a diminished 20.4% strikeout rate against an elevated 10.4% walk rate. The Brewers optioned the southpaw to Triple-A in an effort to get him back on track, but Lauer was roughed up for a 5.15 ERA with their Nashville affiliate as well.

Lauer opened the 2024 season with the Pirates’ Triple-A club after signing a minor league deal late in the offseason. He pitched well for the bulk of hiss time there, although his ERA spiked from 3.95 to 5.52 after his final appearance, when he was tagged for six runs in just two innings of work. The left-hander’s 29.1% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate, however, looked far more like the 2021-22 version of Lauer than the 2023 version — an encouraging sign for the Astros or any other interested parties. It’s also worth noting that Lauer has 4.111 years of MLB service, meaning if he lands in Houston and is eventually added to the roster, he’d be controllable through 2025 via arbitration.

Houston could certainly use some rotation depth, so a pursuit of Lauer makes sense. Strong starting pitching has been a hallmark of the Astros in recent years, but the Houston rotation currently ranks 21st in the majors with 239 1/3 innings pitched and 26th with a 4.96 ERA. Astros starters have similarly uninspiring marks in FIP (4.61, ranking 28th), strikeout rate (21%, ranking 21st) and walk rate (11%, the second-highest in MLB).

Those struggles come in spite of a breakout performance from right-hander Ronel Blanco, who threw first no-hitter of the 2024 season earlier this year. The Astros have Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia and Jose Urquidy on the injured list at the moment, and they’ve also seen Justin Verlander, Cristian Javier and Framber Valdez all spend time on the shelf.

Former top prospect Hunter Brown and fellow sophomore righty J.P. France have both had brutal starts to the season, and in-house reinforcements like Spencer Arrighetti and Blair Henley have both been hit hard. At the moment, the ’Stros have a full complement of Verlander, Valdez, Javier and Blanco healthy in the first four spots of the rotation. That’s a boon in and of itself, but the club still has to keep trying to get at least one of Brown, France or Arrighetti on track — or else find a more palatable option from outside the organization. If a deal comes together, Lauer could eventually factor into the group before long, considering each of Brown, France, Arrighetti and Henley has an ERA of at least 7.16 on the season.