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Astros Rumors

Astros Claim Chris Herrmann

By Jeff Todd | November 2, 2018 at 4:56pm CDT

The Astros have claimed catcher/outfielder Chris Herrmann off waivers from the Mariners, per an announcement from the Houston organization.

Herrmann, 30, is eligible for arbitration and projected by MLBTR to receive a $1.5MM salary. Whether he makes it through the non-tender deadline on the Houston roster remains to be seen, but he’ll obviously be considered as a possibility.

Soon to turn 31, Herrmann has had an interesting career to this point. Capable of lining up behind the dish, in the corner outfield, and at first base, he can be an interesting roster piece when he delivers enough offensive punch.

Herrmann was a light-hitting reserve catcher with the Twins before landing with the Diamondbacks and turning in a big (albeit brief) showing with the bat in 2016. That all disappeared in the following season. In the 2018 campaign, though, he hit well at Triple-A and then turned in a solid .237/.322/.421 output in 87 plate appearances with Seattle.

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Houston Astros Seattle Mariners Transactions Chris Herrmann

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Astros Not Expected To Issue Charlie Morton Qualifying Offer

By Jeff Todd | November 2, 2018 at 3:28pm CDT

The Astros are not planning to issue a qualifying offer to right-hander Charlie Morton, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). That’s a rather surprising turn of events for the veteran hurler, who has excelled over the past two seasons in Houston.

What’s most interesting about this news is that it would appear to suggest the Astros are ready to move on. That’s not entirely clear from this decision alone, to be sure, but it seems from an outside perspective that Morton would be a good buy at $17.9MM for a single season. Given his stated uncertainty about pitching much longer, and his interest in returning to Houston, Morton may well have been a candidate to accept a QO.

This call could, then, open the door for a few other teams to get in on Morton. He has made clear he’d like to land in the mid-Atlantic, owing to family considerations. If that preference holds, then most of the contending teams on the eastern seaboard figure to place calls. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Morton will now evidently be available without the need to surrender draft compensation.

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Houston Astros Newsstand Charlie Morton

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Astros To Decline Option On Will Harris

By Steve Adams | November 1, 2018 at 5:00pm CDT

The Astros have declined their club option on right-handed reliever Will Harris, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter). Harris’ option would’ve paid him $5.5MM had it been exercised. He won’t become a free agent, however, as he has not yet reached six year of Major League service time. As such, Harris will remain under Astros control as an arbitration-eligible player. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him at a $3.6MM salary for the coming season, so it’s not surprising to see the ’Stros decline an option that would’ve paid him a considerably larger sum.

The 34-year-old Harris still seems like a safe bet to return to the ’Stros in 2019 — albeit at a lower rate. Like Collin McHugh before him, Harris was a scrapheap pickup off the waiver wire who found great success upon landing in Houston. In four seasons with the Astros, he’s pitched to a 2.58 ERA in 237 innings and averaged 9.6 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 along the way.

His performance took a step backward in 2018, though looking past his still-solid 3.49 ERA, Harris’ 10.2 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 0.48 HR/9, 49.7 percent ground-ball rate, 13.8 percent swinging-strike rate and 34.6 percent chase rate on out-of-zone pitches were all legitimately excellent.

If and when the Astros do tender Harris a contract for the 2019 campaign, he’ll go through the arbitration process this winter and then become a free agent at the conclusion of the 2019 campaign.

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Houston Astros Transactions Will Harris

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Astros Decline Option On Brian McCann, Outright Jandel Gustave

By Steve Adams | October 31, 2018 at 6:51pm CDT

The Astros announced that they’ve declined their $15MM option on catcher Brian McCann and sent right-hander Jandel Gustave outright to Triple-A after he cleared waivers. Both players will become free agents. Their 40-man roster currently has seven open spots.

McCann, 34, gave the Astros a much-needed quality option behind the plate in 2017 following an offseason trade from the Yankees. But after hitting .241/.323/.436 with 18 home runs in his first season with Houston, his production fell off in 2018. This past season saw the seven-time All-Star and 14-year veteran bat just .212/.301/.339 with seven homers in 216 trips to the dish. McCann spent significant time on the disabled list in ’18 as well, logging more than two months on the shelf due to knee issues that required surgical repair.

Gustave, 26, missed the 2018 season recovering from Tommy John surgery performed back in late June of 2017. Certainly, the Astros were hoping that he’d be able to return to the club late in the 2018 campaign — hence rostering him all last offseason — but he’ll now hit free agency and have the ability to sign with any team of his choosing. Of course, he could very well opt to re-sign a minor league deal in Houston, which is the only organization he’s known outside of brief spells with the Royals and Padres following his selection in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft.

The hard-throwing Gustave has a 3.98 ERA in 20 1/3 big league innings and worked to a 3.79 ERA with a 55-to-23 K/BB ratio as a 23-year-old in his lone Triple-A campaign (2016).

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Houston Astros Transactions Brian McCann Jandel Gustave

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Angels Hire Doug White As Pitching Coach

By Jeff Todd and TC Zencka | October 30, 2018 at 11:13am CDT

The Angels have hired Doug White as their new pitching coach, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). He’ll replace Charles Nagy in that role, who held the position for three seasons under the previous managerial regime.

It’s not surprising to hear that new Halos skipper Brad Ausmus will be adding at least a few new staff members. He recently landed the job after Mike Scioscia left following a long run in the dugout.

White just wrapped up his first season as the Astros bullpen coach after five seasons in other jobs in the Houston organization. He also spent a handful of campaigns working through the Cardinals system as a pitching guru, in addition to prior experience. Interestingly, MLB.com’s profile of White lists him as a Zhealth specialist, which is a movement training system that aims to retrain your nervous system through specific range of motion exercises that enhance your mobility. 

For the Astros, this is the second member they’ve had filched from A.J. Hinch’s staff in as many days, following yesterday’s news that Astros’ assistant hitting coach Jeff Albert has returned to St. Louis to become the Cardinals’ hitting coach.

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Houston Astros Los Angeles Angels Transactions

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Heyman’s Latest: Hamels, Smoak, Nunez, Bregman, Padres

By Connor Byrne | October 27, 2018 at 10:24pm CDT

The Cubs seem likely to pick up left-hander Cole Hamels’ $20MM option for 2019, Jon Heyman of Fancred writes. The club could instead buy out Hamels for $6MM, a sum his previous team – the Rangers – would cover, though that would be a surprise in the wake of his second-half performance. After the Cubs acquired Hamels in late July, he pitched to a 2.36 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 over 76 1/3 innings. Thanks in part to Hamels’ excellent results over the final couple months of the season, Cubs president Theo Epstein recently called the 34-year-old a “breath of fresh air.”

Here’s more from Heyman’s latest column:

  • Surprisingly, despite his quality production from 2017-18 and his reasonable price tag for next season, the Blue Jays aren’t certain to exercise first baseman Justin Smoak’s option, according to Heyman. Toronto must decide whether to bring back Smoak for $8MM or cut him loose and pay $250K. But if the team’s uninterested in retaining Smoak, perhaps it’ll pick up the soon-to-be 32-year-old’s option and shop him to first base needy-clubs. MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently took a look at several teams that could pursue a deal for the switch-hitting Smoak, who slashed .242/.350/.457 (121 wRC+) with 25 home runs in 594 PA this year.
  • Red Sox infielder Eduardo Nunez is “likely” to exercise his $5MM player option, per Heyman. Nunez could otherwise opt out and receive $2MM, but he’d be doing so on the heels of a rough campaign (heroics in Game 1 of the World Series notwithstanding). The 31-year-old hit a meek .265/.289/.388 (78 wRC+) in 502 regular-season plate appearances and accounted for minus-0.4 fWAR – the sixth-worst mark among those who totaled at least 500 PA. Notably, Nunez had a much better campaign in 2017, but he was still unable to secure a large guarantee as a free agent last winter.
  • Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud is a non-tender candidate, Heyman relays. The oft-injured d’Arnaud is projected to earn $3.7MM in 2019, his last year of arbitration, but the Mets could deem that too pricey in the wake of another injury-shortened season. D’Arnaud, 29, suffered a partial UCL tear in early April, limiting him to four games. With d’Arnaud unavailable, the Mets ended up relying on Devin Mesoraco and Kevin Plawecki behind the plate. There’s also uncertainty with Mesoraco heading into the offseason, given that he’s a pending free agent.
  • Astros superstar Alex Bregman is among those sticking with agent Brodie Scoffield, who recently left Legacy to start Tidal Sports Group, Heyman writes. The 24-year-old third baseman is coming off a tremendous season in which he hit .284/394/.532 (157 wRC+) with 31 home runs, more walks (96) than strikeouts (85) and 7.6 fWAR across 705 trips to the plate. Bregman’s in line to play his final pre-arb season in 2019.
  • Some manager-needy teams recently requested interviews with Padres executive Moises Alou, but the 52-year-old spurned those overtures, Heyman reports. Alou, a big league outfielder from 1990-2008, joined San Diego’s front office in 2015. He doesn’t have any managerial experience, though it does run in his family. His father, Felipe Alou, managed the Expos (1992-2001) and Giants (2003-06) to a combined 1,033-1,021 record, and he took home NL Manager of the Year honors during the strike-shortened ’94 season.
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Boston Red Sox Chicago Cubs Houston Astros New York Mets San Diego Padres Toronto Blue Jays Alex Bregman Cole Hamels Eduardo Nunez Justin Smoak Moises Alou Travis D'Arnaud

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NL East Notes: Phillies, Roark, Braves

By Steve Adams | October 24, 2018 at 5:54pm CDT

The Phillies are hiring away Astros minor league field coordinator Josh Bonifay as their new farm director, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic (subscription link). The 40-year-old Bonifay is the son of former Pirates general manager Cam Bonifay (1993-2001) and has spent nearly a decade working as a manager or coach in the Astros’ system with the exception of a 2017 stint as the Rangers’ minor league field coordinator. The Phillies parted ways with previous farm director Joe Jordan and several minor league hitting coaches in September, and Bonifay will be tasked with helping to implement a systemic change in the manner in which data is presented to minor league coaching staffs.

Here’s more from the NL East…

  • Tanner Roark heads into a contract season with the Nationals in severe need of a rebound campaign, writes Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. As Zuckerman explores, Roark has now posted an ERA north of 4.30 in three of the past four seasons, making what previously looked like outlier campaigns perhaps the new norm. There’s no mention of a possible non-tender or trade in Zuckerman’s piece, though it’s fair to wonder if the Nationals will feel comfortable committing a hefty salary to the 32-year-old Roark given his run of largely pedestrian results; MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz pegs him for a $9.8MM payday in 2019 — his final season of arbitration eligibility. While the Nats have a clear need for starters behind Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, Roark is becoming a relatively pricey option, although to his credit, he’s been a durable rotation cog (30+ starts in three straight seasons).
  • Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution looks at the Braves’ need for some help atop the rotation and the means by which they could acquire said help, though he notes that recent comments by GM Alex Anthopoulos caution against the possibility of an expensive splash. “If there’s a deal that makes sense for us, and it’s a good asset to have, we’ll do it,” said Anthopoulos. “I think the one where you scratch and really push, and you want to call it overpay in years or dollars, you feel like that’s the one final piece. … I don’t think we’re there yet right now.” Atlanta does have plenty of intriguing arms in the upper minors, some of whom have already debuted in the Majors. It’s possible that a few prominent contributors could yet emerge from within or that those pieces could be packaged for some high-end, cost-controlled help. A free-agent splash for someone like Patrick Corbin, however, seems decidedly less likely.
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Atlanta Braves Houston Astros Philadelphia Phillies Washington Nationals Tanner Roark

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AL Notes: Eovaldi, Gaston, Castellanos, Astros

By Jeff Todd | October 22, 2018 at 11:17pm CDT

As he prepares for the World Series, Red Sox right-hander Nathan Eovaldi says he has yet to have any talks with the club regarding a deal that would keep him off of the open market, John Tomase of WEEI.com reports. The hurler says he’d “love to be back,” though unsurprisingly it looks as if he’ll test the open market first. It’s certainly possible to imagine a fit with Boston, though the same could be said of quite a few other organizations as well.

Here’s more from the American League:

  • There’s some belief that the Rays will land Cuban righty Sandy Gaston, according to MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (Twitter links). Two other top players, the Mesa brothers, landed with the Marlins today. The Orioles had been seen as a chief competitor for these and other top young players who are eligible to sign rather than entering the draft. To date, though, the club has largely kept its war chest intact. Frisaro says it’s believed that it would cost Tampa Bay around $2MM to secure the amateur.
  • The lack of a suitable defensive position has long been the primary concern with Tigers slugger Nicholas Castellanos. As Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press writes, GM Al Avila says the current plan remains to keep Castellanos in right field, where he has “made some strides.” As Fenech writes, though, there are some good practical reasons to consider utilizing Castellanos at first base, where he’d be less of a concern defensively and wouldn’t clog up a spot in the outfield for other other players the club would like to get a look at. Of course, the first base position is spoken for, at least for part of the time, by Miguel Cabrera.
  • Despite a disappointing end to the 2018 season, the Astros enter the winter with a great deal of confidence in their existing roster, as Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports. Unsurprisingly, though, GM Jeff Luhnow identified starting pitching and catching as two areas that will need to be addressed. In other Astros news, the organization is expected to retain all of skipper A.J. Hinch’s coaches, Luhnow tells Rome (via Twitter). All are already under contract, per the GM. Of course, bench coach Joe Espada has received strong interest from other organizations as a managerial candidate, so it’s still possible the club will need to make a new hire.
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Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Detroit Tigers Houston Astros Miami Marlins Tampa Bay Rays A.J. Hinch Al Avila Jeff Luhnow Joe Espada Miguel Cabrera Nathan Eovaldi Sandy Gaston

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Jose Altuve Undergoes Knee Surgery

By TC Zencka | October 20, 2018 at 4:50pm CDT

4:50 PM: Altuve underwent surgery to repair a patella avulsion fracture in his right knee, according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (Twitter link).  Per McTaggart, an avulsion fracture as defined takes place when a small part of the bone attached to the knee’s tendon or ligament has loosened.

12:26 PM: Astros second baseman Jose Altuve underwent surgery on his right knee Friday, Mark Berman of Fox26 and MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reported (Twitter links).

McTaggart pointed out yesterday that the 2017 AL MVP played through knee pain throughout the second half of this season. Still, the exact diagnosis has not yet been revealed by either Altuve or the team, and the Astros have yet to confirm the surgery. As of right now, Altuve is expected to make a full recovery in time for Spring Training.

Altuve was the DH for the final three games of the ALCS against Boston, but manager AJ Hinch said the injury would have sent Altuve to the disabled list had it been the regular season. Presumably, the knee worsened as the year wore on. Altuve originally injured the knee while sliding into second base in a game against Colorado all the way back in July.

Before the injury, Altuve hit .329/.392/.464, whereas after the injury he hit .276/.366/.409. Nevertheless, the three-time AL batting champ still finished the season with an overall slash line of .315/.384/.449 and 134 wRC+.

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Houston Astros Newsstand Jose Altuve

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AL Notes: Verlander, McCullers Jr., Orioles

By TC Zencka | October 20, 2018 at 10:24am CDT

Justin Verlander doesn’t plan on shutting it down any time soon, it seems. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle quotes Verlander in a tweet: “I’m going to play until the wheels fall off.” In 2018, Verlander surpassed 200 innings and 200 strikeouts for the third straight season while accumulating 6.8 fWAR and achieving a career-best 3.03 xFIP. In other words, the wheels are secure. Verlander’s current deal runs one more season in Houston at $28MM, after which he will become a free agent in advance of his age-37 season. 

More from around the American League…

  • In another quote posted by Rome (via Twitter), starter Lance McCullers Jr. suggests that he and the Astros will be examining the state of his current health in the next couple of weeks. With rumblings about his arm health, McCullers addressed a potential injury by admitting that he’s “been pitching through some stuff.” The 25-year-old McCullers has never started more than 22 games in a season, but nevertheless he’s been a valuable swingman for Houston’s recent playoff runs, starting three postseason games while pitching in relief seven times over the past two Octobers. McCullers is arbitration eligible for the second time this offseason, though as a Super Two player, he is not due to be a free agent until after the 2021 season.
  • It’s not the sexiest of front office work, but the Orioles face a significant challenge in shaping their 40-man roster in advance of the Nov. 30 non-tender deadline. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com notes (via Twitter) that the 40-man roster, currently full, will require some finagling to open a minimum of four spots for pitchers Dillon Tate, Luis Gonzalez, Branden Kline, and catcher Martin Cervenka. Additionally, there are five other players currently on the O’s 60-day DL who will need to be added back to the 40-man if Baltimore wants to keep them. Those players – Richard Bleier, Pedro Araujo, Gabriel Ynoa, Mark Trumbo, and Austin Hays – figure to make the roster, with Ynoa being the most likely of the group to be let go. One spot should open when Adam Jones files for free agency, but that still leaves eight players Baltimore will need to non-tender, trade, or waive prior to December’s Rule 5 draft.
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Baltimore Orioles Houston Astros Rule 5 Draft Adam Jones Austin Hays Dillon Tate Gabriel Ynoa Justin Verlander Luis Gonzalez Mark Trumbo Pedro Araujo Richard Bleier

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