Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Astros Rumors

Report: Astros, Phillies “Very Interested” In Robbie Ray

By | at

Although Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray reportedly isn’t on the block, he’s nonetheless drawing trade interest, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Both the Astros and Phillies “are very interested” in Ray, Cafardo writes.

Arizona made one notable future-oriented move earlier this offseason when it traded superstar first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to St. Louis, though indications are the Diamondbacks aren’t set to rebuild. As a result, the club may keep Ray and other valuable veterans with the hope that it’ll bounce back from an 82-win 2018 next season. It’s clear, though, that Ray stands out as one of the D-backs’ most appealing trade chips.

Just 27 years old, Ray is fresh off his fourth straight productive season in the desert, where he has posted a 3.84 ERA/3.81 FIP with 11.03 K/9, 4.00 BB/9 and a 42.5 percent groundball rate in 587 2/3 innings since 2015. Ray did experience some travails in 2018, an injury-shortened season in which he logged an ugly walk rate (5.09 per nine), a low groundball percentage (39.2) and an unspectacular FIP (4.31) over 123 2/3 frames. At the same time, though, Ray managed a respectable ERA (3.93) and, among hurlers who threw at least 120 innings, finished fifth in K/9 (12.01), 17th in swinging-strike rate (12.9 percent) and 26th in infield fly percentage (11.9).

Because Ray’s a proven, in-his-prime starter with two years of affordable control remaining – he’ll make a projected $6.1MM in 2019 – it’s likely he has garnered interest from several teams besides Houston and Philadelphia this offseason. Regardless, the fact that those two clubs are eyeing Ray makes sense.

While the Astros’ starting unit features three established veterans in co-aces Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole and solid mid-rotation arm Collin McHugh, they’ve already said goodbye to Charlie Morton in free agency, and Dallas Keuchel may be next to sign elsewhere. Further, before free agency commenced, the Astros lost Lance McCullers Jr. for 2019 on account of Tommy John surgery. As a result, their rotation has two question marks in it heading into next season, and each of Verlander, Cole and McHugh are slated to hit the open market a year from now. Ray would help cover for their potential 2020 exits to some degree.

The Phillies’ rotation isn’t facing as much upheaval over the next year as the Astros’, though Philly could cut ties with Jake Arrieta next winter. For now, Arrieta and ace Aaron Nola are entrenched in the Phils’ rotation going into 2019, with Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez, Zach Eflin and Jerad Eickhoff currently looking like the favorites to battle it out for the remaining three spots. Pivetta, Velasquez and Eflin had difficulty preventing runs in 2018, however, while Eickhoff totaled a mere 5 1/3 innings in the bigs on account of serious injury issues.

AL Notes/Rumors: Realmuto, Astros, Keuchel, Orioles, A. Jones

By | at

The latest from the Junior Circuit . . .

  • The Marlins’ asking price for J.T. Realmuto has put off many a suitor, but the Astros are “still interested,” reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Per Morosi, the Fish are still insisting on one of either Forrest Whitley or outfielder Kyle Tucker, each near-consensus top-1o prospects, to headline the deal, so there’s been “no traction” in discussions. To say Whitley, 21, is drawing rave reviews in scouting circles would be to critically undersell the case – the 6’7 Texan is described by some scouts, per Baseball America, as the “best [pitching prospect] they’ve ever seen,” and has done little to discredit that view (aside, perhaps, from a 50-game suspension in early 2018 for a supposed positive banned-stimulant test) in his ascent through the system. Tucker has earned some detractors with his unorthodox swing and supposed nonchalance on the field, but he dominated (.332/.400/.590) the AAA-Pacific Coast League at age 21 and slots even higher than Whitley on some major-publication rankings. GM Jeff Luhnow, in the past, has been reluctant to deal from the cream of his system, though he did splurge in 2015’s deal for Carlos Gomez, departing with top-50 prospect Brett Phillips, top-100 Domingo Santana, and 2018 All-Star Josh Hader in the trade. Still, there is nothing close to precedent in the current Houston regime for a move of this scale.
  • In a video segment for MLB Tonight, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart addressed the likelihood of Houston reuniting with free agent lefty Dallas Keuchel, calling the chances “slim.” Houston, apparently, has balked at the desired length of a proposed deal from Keuchel’s camp, but McTaggart believes the club could circle back if it hasn’t acquired a rotation piece by “late January.” As of yesterday, Keuchel was still believed to be seeking a deal of five years in length, and the many teams interested were far less so when broached with those demands. The Astros, with a righty-heavy, thin-back-end rotation, could certainly use their former ace, but with dual rotation-headliners Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole set to hit free agency after next season, the club may be stashing its funds in preparation.
  • Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports paints a bleak portrait of Adam Jones’ future with the Orioles, noting in a Friday mailbag that Jones’ likely earning power on the market is “more than the Orioles would give him.” Jones, 33, spent 11 seasons with the club, amassing an excellent 29.4 fWAR over the frame. His production – and in particular, his defense – has steadily waned in recent years, cratering with a dismal -18 DRS in center field last season. Jones’ days at the position are likely finished, though he may yet have value to add in a corner spot – the five-time all-star, after all, still projects around league-average next season, per Steamer, and has kept his strikeout rate low in the dawn of the swing-and-miss age.

Astros Have Shown Interest In Seth Lugo

By | at

Per Marc Carig of The Athletic on Twitter, the Mets and Astros have been “engaged” in recent trade talks, with the ’Stros reportedly “showing interest” in right-hander Seth Lugo.

Lugo was primarily a starter throughout his minor-league career and into the early stages of his first big league tastes, but shifted mostly to the ’pen last year, to excellent results (3.17 FIP, 9.15 K/9, 2.49 BB/9). Despite his somewhat-advanced age, the 29-year-old Lugo has yet to hit arbitration and is still under team control for another four years, so he does represent an attractive trade chip for a Mets organization still in the midst of a major 25-man overhaul.

The data-hound Astros, of course, are always on the prowl for the latest edge, and may have found one in recent times with their stockpiling of spin-rate savants, viz. Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and, most recently, mid-season pickup Ryan Pressly, whose 3225 average RPM on the curveball ranked first among all big-league arms in 2018.  Lugo, notably, placed second, with an average curve RPM of 3173, and has long been considered to have one of the game’s fiercest hammers. His fastball, though, has also earned excellent marks, with FanGraphs grading the pitch as easily plus in each of the hurler’s first three big league seasons.

Following the departure of Charlie Morton to Tampa Bay, and the near-term loss of righty Lance McCullers Jr. to Tommy John, the back end of the Houston rotation looks much thinner than in recent seasons; Collin McHugh will move back from the bullpen, and rookie Josh James looks poised for another spot, but the fifth and final position is, at current, entirely up for grabs, to say nothing of depth-related issues. Houston could look to deploy Lugo as a starter again in 2019, though his career numbers in that role (4.26 xFIP) are vastly inferior to those as a reliever (3.03 FIP, 0.55 HR/9 vs 1.23 HR/9 as a starter).

The bullpen, however, remains an unquestioned strength – returners Pressly, Hector Rondon, Will Harris, and Roberto Osuna all had excellent years in 2018, and former stalwarts Chris Devenski and Brad Peacock (13.36 K/9 in 63 1/3 IP) struggled only with the longball. Given the glut of right-handed arms, Lugo would seem a luxury here if not for the contract status of the unit’s pillars: each of Harris, Pressly, Peacock, Rondon, and the now-injured Joe Smith are entering their final years of club control, so perhaps the Astros are looking to make a preemptive strike.

The Mets have certainly solidified the back-end of the bullpen in recent days, what with the trade for Edwin Diaz and the signing of Jeurys Familia, but the rest of the unit seems mostly in shambles: Robert Gsellman, Drew Smith, and Paul Sewald round out the remainder of ’18’s top performers, and none of the trio had a particularly encouraging season. The club could certainly use a defensive-minded type in center field who isn’t a complete zero with the bat, though dealing from its weakest regiment wouldn’t seem to make much sense.

Carig does take care to note that New York is “doing background work” on the Astros’ minor-league system, and later notes that the talks are “wider-ranging,” so it does seem more pieces are potentially at play.

Astros Reportedly Interested In Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Martinez

By | at

The Mariners have grown “increasingly confident” they’ll be able to trade designated hitter/first baseman Edwin Encarnacion before their spring training opens, Jon Morosi of MLB.com says (video link). Encarnacion’s market has picked up in the wake of the Twins’ agreement with Nelson Cruz, whose suitors are now turning to the former. The Rays, White Sox and Astros are each “involved” on both Encarnacion and Cardinals first baseman/outfielder Jose Martinez, according to Morosi.

Astros Made "Competitive" Offer For Nelson Cruz Before Twins Deal

By | at

Prior to this morning’s agreement with the Twins, slugger Nelson Cruz received “competitive” offers from both the Rays and Astros, according to Juan Toribio of The Athletic (Twitter link) and Fancred’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Specifics aren’t known, but it seems likely that the Twins would’ve had to outbid either by a fairly notable margin, given that the Rays won 90 games last season while the Astros won the 2017 World Series and appeared in a second consecutive American League Championship Series this past season. Minnesota ultimately secured Cruz with a $14.3MM bid that includes a $14MM salary for the 2019 season and a $12MM club option ($300K buyout) for the 2020 campaign. If Houston or Tampa Bay is still keen on adding a notable right-handed bat, there should be numerous options in play. The rebuilding Tigers, for instance, would likely be willing to move Nicholas Castellanos as he enters his final season of club control. The Cardinals, meanwhile, could move Jose Martinez to an American League club that’d be better suited to mask his defensive shortcomings at the DH spot.

Smith-Less Astros Unlikely To Add Another Late-Game Reliever

By | at

  • Don’t expect the Astros to look for a reliever in response to righty Joe Smith’s injury, according to president Jeff Luhnow (via Mark Feinsand of MLB.com). “Losing Joe is a blow, but I don’t think it requires us to go out and get another late-inning reliever. We’re going to have enough good arms in the bullpen to do what we need to do,” Luhnow said regarding Smith, who will miss six to eight months after undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles. Luhnow’s stance is understandable – even with Smith on the shelf, Houston’s bullpen will continue to boast a slew of proven righties in Roberto Osuna, Chris Devenski, Ryan Pressly, Hector Rondon, Will Harris and Brad Peacock.

Joe Smith Undergoes Surgery For Torn Achilles Tendon

By | at

The Astros announced today that righty Joe Smith has undergone surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon in his left leg. (H/t Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle, via Twitter.) It will sideline him for an estimated six-to-eight month stretch, putting a large chunk of his 2019 season in jeopardy.

Needless to say, that’s most unwelcome news for both player and team. Smith, 34, is said to have suffered the injury in a recent workout. The 34-year-old is slated to earn $8MM for the 2019 campaign, his second in Houston since signing a two-year deal last winter.

Smith, a crafty sidearmer who has held opposing right-handed batters to an anemic .215/.280/.311 batting line over his dozen MLB campaigns, would surely have been a part of the ’Stros pen again in 2019. Last year, he worked to a 3.74 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9. He was tough to square up, as usual, but did allow nearly 1.4 homers per nine — about twice his career average.

Of course, it’s only fair to note that the organization will have a bevy of alternatives, particularly if it makes some rotation additions that bump other players into relief contention. Smith, in fact, was not much of a factor in the club’s postseason mix, cracking the roster but making just one appearance (which did not go well). Still, he’s a quality veteran performer and it always hurts to carry a salary commitment that doesn’t provide production. The Astros will have to hope that Smith is able to recover relatively quickly and provide a mid-season boost.

Astros Sign Michael Brantley

By | at

DECEMBER 19: The deal is now official.

Brantley will receive a $2MM signing bonus and $15MM salaries in each year of the deal, per Rosenthal (via Twitter).

DECEMBER 17, 6:01pm: The terms have been agreed to, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, who tweets that the deal will not come with any options.

5:48pm: The Astros are “closing in” on a deal with veteran outfielder Michael Brantley, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’s expected to promise Brantley something in the range of two years and $32MM if completed, per the report.

Entering the offseason, MLBTR graded Brantley the tenth-best free agent on the market. We predicted both he and Andrew McCutchen would secure three-year deals at $15MM average annual values. If today’s rumored pact goes through, though, McCutchen will have topped Brantley handily with his own three-year, $50MM agreement with the Phillies.

For the ’Stros, this signing would deliver another veteran, left-handed-hitting corner outfield to a mix that already includes Josh Reddick. Both Brantley and Reddick are best with the platoon advantage, as is younger lefty-swinging outfielder Tony Kemp, which will make it interesting to see how the remainder of the roster is structured.

Brantley is certainly a polished offensive piece. The 31-year-old slashed .309/.364/.468 last year and is among the game’s best pure hitters, as reflected in his lifetime .295 batting average. He’s good for fifteen to twenty long balls annually, which is useful but hardly elite for a corner outfielder, but makes up for any shortcomings in that regard by rarely striking out (10.7% career K rate).

It certainly doesn’t hurt, either, that Brantley contributes in the running game. He swiped a dozen bags last year and has typically graded out as an above-average to excellent overall baserunner. In the field, Brantley has mostly drawn average marks for his work in left field.

The largest demerit, clearly, involves health. Brantley was limited significantly in 2016 and 2017 owing to a string of injuries and related surgeries. That, perhaps, is the most significant point of distinction between Brantley and McCutchen.

Even if the Houston club has its qualms about Brantley’s health outlook, it’ll have more flexibility than its peers to keep him rested and make the most of his skillset.  Brantley can spend time at DH and perhaps even at first base, with the right-handed-hitting Yuli Gurriel potentially operating in a similar fashion but as a right-handed hitter.

The broader slate of Houston stars definitely hues right-handed, so it’s not as if there’s an over-abundance of lefty bats generally. Still, as hinted above, this acquisition poses some interesting questions regarding the outfield mix, in particular. Brantley, Reddick, and Kemp aren’t the only pieces to consider, after all. In terms of righty bats, George Springer will continue to get regular time while Jake Marisnick could work as a platoon piece.

That works well enough on its own, particularly if we assume Brantley will see action in other areas, but leaves two players (both left-handed hitters) unaccounted for. 25-year-old Derek Fisher struggled badly last year in the majors, but is still an intriguing talent. And Kyle Tucker is widely viewed as one of the better all-around prospects in baseball. The 21-year-old had a forgettable first attempt at the big leagues, but laid waste to Triple-A pitching in 2018 and could well be a major factor next season.

It’s tough to know exactly how this’ll all shake out. For now, suffice to say, the Astros still have plenty of options. It’s not hard to imagine another significant bat fitting on the roster. And it’s also not difficult to picture a trade — whether a blockbuster or one of lesser significance — that’d make use of the backlog of lefty outfield bats.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Astros Have Renewed Interest In J.T. Realmuto

By and | at

  • The Astros are “back in the mix” for Marlins star J.T. Realmuto, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (via Twitter). It’s fair to wonder whether the Houston club was ever really fully out of the hunt. The club did add Robinson Chirinos and still has Max Stassi on hand, but that combination surely isn’t sufficient to sap the ’Stros’ interest in the top catcher in the game. Perhaps it’s not out of the question that the club would consider carrying three catchers if they swing a blockbuster, with Realmuto perhaps representing an option in the DH/first base mix and Chirinos also providing a potent bench bat against left-handed pitching (.258/.353/.485 career slash). Whatever the plan would be, the Astros first need to land Realmuto. As Frisaro hints, the club’s reported deal with Michael Brantley could be seen as an indication that top prospect Kyle Tucker — who’d surely be of keen interest to the Fish — might just be available. Of course, as Frisaro also notes, a variety of other teams remain in pursuit of Realmuto at this stage.

MLBTR Poll: Andrew McCutchen / Michael Brantley Contracts

By | at

As the MLBTR team put together this year’s ranking of the top fifty free agents, it became clear that there were a few bunchings of multiple players in similar market positions. That’s apparent most obviously at the top, where Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are both trying to push the bounds of what a 26-year-old star can earn (albeit at different positions), and in the sub-elite tier of the relief market, where there are a variety of very good pitchers who possess at least one or two obvious limitations on value.

It may be, though, that the tightest race between any two players — at least, in terms of ink spilled in relation to the level of contract we were debating — was between Andrew McCutchen and Michael Brantley. Proof? Tim Dierkes wrote Steve Adams and me an email on October 25th entitled, “Brantley vs Cutch revisited.”

In such situations, at some point, you’re forced to pick between the players — unless you take the easy way out (as I often do in our summer trade ranking list!) by grouping multiple players at one spot. Since Tim is made of sterner stuff than I, he was determined to put one ahead of the other — even if they ended up at the same predicted contract, as ultimately proved to be the case. I thought it’d be interesting to look back at some of our lengthy debate on the topic, and use it as a jumping-off point for a poll now that we’ve seen both players agree to deals.

It was something of an upset that Tim decided to place Brantley first. After all, he led off that aforementioned email with a series of power arguments that’d make Cutch’s agents blush: McCutchen has more power, doesn’t have platoon issues, “is indestructible,” and is a more versatile defender. Pop, offensive balance, durability, flexibility … seemed like a closed case.

Of course, there are counter-arguments in favor of Brantley, and Steve was happy to provide them in exhaustive detail. He summed up the main thrust of his viewpoint thusly: “Even if you look at their last three seasons, the only thing Cutch has on Brantley is volume of games played. Brantley has been a better hitter (same wRC+, but I’ll take the one that comes with a .300 average and half the strikeout rate) and a wildly better baserunner and defender.” With a slight age advantage to boot, there was quite a bit to like about Brantley.

It was a lively debate — and one that I was glad mostly to sit out while making observations that would keep me in the good graces of both of the warring MLBTR factions. Pro-Brantley: “He doesn’t walk. But he has super-elite contact ability that has allowed him to be a steadily outstanding producer of OBP.” Pro-Cutch: “.360+ OBP the past two years and still above-average power (which might play up in a smaller park). Plate discipline is as good as ever. Durability is a very fair point as well. Lack of platoon splits is nice.”

Ultimately, we predicted three-year, $45MM deals for both players. But that’s not how it has turned out. McCutchen secured a surprisingly hefty $50MM guarantee from the Phillies, who’ll bank on him as a steady and reliable (if not literally “indestructible”) asset for at least the next three seasons. That left us feeling optimistic about Brantley’s market, but word emerged this evening that he will not secure a third guaranteed season, reportedly agreeing to a two-year, $32MM-ish deal with the Astros. Though Houston wants to get the bat in the lineup as much as possible, it wasn’t forced to take on extra injury risk with another promised campaign in order to lure Brantley.

All that being said … how do you view the predictions and signings? (Response order randomized; poll link for app users.)

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top