Astros Exercise Club Options On Jose Altuve, Marwin Gonzalez
In perhaps the least-surprising decision of the offseason, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow tells reporters that the team will indeed exercise its 2018 club options over Jose Altuve and Marwin Gonzalez (Twitter link via the Houston Chronicle’s Jake Kaplan). Altuve will earn $6MM next year, and Gonzalez will take home a $5.125MM salary.
Altuve, of course, is one of the front-runners for American League MVP honors on the heels of a season in which he batted a ridiculous .346/.410/.547 with 24 homers and 32 stolen bases.
The 27-year-old superstar won his second consecutive American League batting championship and his third in the past four seasons. All told, he was a roughly eight-win player by both Fangraphs’ and Baseball-Reference’s version of Wins Above Replacement. In all likelihood, the American League Most Valuable Player Award will come down to a two-horse race between Altuve and Aaron Judge.
He’s led the American League in hits for the past four seasons, topping 200 total knocks in each of those years. Houston holds one more option over Altuve’s services for the 2019 season — yet another bargain at $6.5MM — before the five-time All-Star will be eligible for free agency in the 2019-20 offseason.
Gonzalez, 29 next March, had one of the most impressive and unexpected breakouts of any player in Major League Baseball. After hitting .268/.309/.413 in nearly 1200 plate appearances from 2014-16, the switch-hitting utility man erupted with a .303/.377/.530 batting line in 515 plate appearances. Gonzalez’s 23 homers and 34 doubles shattered his previous career-highs of 13 and 26, respectively. The former Rule 5 pick more than doubled his walk rate and also cut his strikeout rate by nearly four percent when compared to the preceding season.
Beyond his excellence at the plate, Gonzalez saw at least 130 innings at all four infield positions, including 281 at shortstop. He also played 331 innings in left field during the regular season before serving as the team’s primary left fielder in the playoffs. Gonzalez will be a free agent following the 2018 season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Injury Notes: Altuve, Yadi, Olson, Red Sox
Here are the latest health notes from around the game:
- The Astros dodged a bullet tonight when star second baseman Jose Altuve left the game after being struck on the forearm by a pitch. Thankfully, as Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle tweets, x-rays came back negative. The diminutive 27-year-old is leading the American League in hits for the fourth consecutive year and in batting average for the third time in four seasons. He’s also pacing qualified batters with a career-best 168 OPS+.
- Also departing with an injury tonight was Cardinals veteran Yadier Molina. The team announced that he’s undergoing testing as part of the concussion protocol after taking two consecutive foul balls off of his mask. His status for the rest of the regular season remains uncertain, but it could become a bigger issue if St. Louis can claw into Wild Card position.
- Athletics slugger Matt Olson has been diagnosed with a grade 2 hamstring strain, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. He’s very likely to miss the remainder of the season, but it won’t put a damper on an exciting campaign. Olson, 23, has streaked to 24 long balls in 216 trips to the plate, with a robust .259/.352/.651 batting line. He’ll fall shy of a full year of service, too, so the A’s will control Olson for six more campaigns.
- Things didn’t go quite as hoped for the Red Sox tonight. Lefty Drew Pomeranz was sitting in the high-eighties with his fastball, though he says that was part of a plan to save some gas for the later innings, as Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports. Star outfielder Mookie Betts left with a wrist issue, though there’s no reason as yet to think it’s significant. Of the greatest concern, perhaps, infielder Eduardo Nunez tweaked his injured knee. He suggested that he’ll sit out a few more games and try again to return, as Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald tweets.
Mike Trout, Kris Bryant Win MVP Awards
Mike Trout of the Angels and Kris Bryant of the Cubs won the most valuable player awards in their respective leagues, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced tonight.
If Trout’s win is a surprise, it’s only because many wondered of the impact of the fact that his team wasn’t in contention. Looking only at his numbers, the case was rather clear, and he got 19 of 30 first-place votes. It may have been only a typical season for Trout, but a .315/.441/.550 batting line, 29 home runs, and 30 steals (combined with outstanding baserunning and quality defense in center) represented the best all-around output in baseball. This is his second MVP, and the fifth consecutive year he has finished in the top two of the voting.
Mookie Betts was the other top contender for the American League prize, and he was Trout’s equal in most offensive areas excepting OBP (.363), but his context-adjusted output wasn’t anywhere near as good (171 wRC+ for Trout, 135 for Betts). That said, Betts was every bit as good on the bases, and graded better defensively, but still finished over 1 WAR behind. He received nine first-place votes. Star Astros second baseman Jose Altuve came in third in the race.
On the National League side, it was long apparent that Bryant would win. He very nearly did so unanimously, but second-place finisher Daniel Murphy garnered one top nod. In just his second season in the majors, Bryant blasted 39 home runs, put up a 149 wRC+, and made a difference with his glove and legs. That he was the best player on the best team in the game surely didn’t hurt.
It was a truly great campaign for the Nationals’ Murphy, too, who slightly topped Bryant in overall offensive production (156 wRC+) but wasn’t nearly as good in the other areas of the game. Corey Seager of the Dodgers, who took the Rookie of the Year award, finished an impressive third.
Injury Notes: Altuve, Bregman, Pearce, Gsellman
A look at some notable injury situations around the league…
- Ominous news for Astros fans tonight, as both Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman exited the game with injuries, per a pair of club announcements. Altuve was lifted from the game due to discomfort in his right oblique, while Bregman exited early due to right hamstring discomfort. Julia Morales of ROOT Sports tweets that both players will be re-evaluated on Friday — the Astros have an off-day tomorrow — but manager A.J. Hinch isn’t optimistic that either will be able to play in the series opener in Seattle on Friday. Houston topped the Rangers in an 8-4 win tonight, but the loss of either Altuve or Bregman would be devastating, particularly with a critical series against the Mariners on tap. Seattle is currently ahead of Houston in the Wild Card standings, though the Mariners themselves are currently two games back in the race.
- Orioles infielder/outfielder Steve Pearce has been shut down indefinitely after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection in his ailing right elbow, reports MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. Manager Buck Showalter revealed little about the injury to reporters, though Kubatko writes that the Baltimore skipper stated that Pearce could still return “in some capacity” later this month. The Orioles currently hold one of the two AL Wild Card spots, though having a bat of Pearce’s caliber in the mix would increase their chances of retaining that lead and of advancing in the postseason. Beyond that, Pearce is a free agent following the season, and September elbow troubles don’t figure to do him any favors in terms of earning power. The 33-year-old’s production has tailed off since being traded back to the O’s, but he still owns a terrific .288/.374/.492 slash on the season.
- ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin reports that Mets rookie right-hander Robert Gsellman has been playing through some degree of a labrum tear in his left (non-throwing) shoulder. Gsellman’s injury prevents him from being able to swing a bat, which obviously poses a problem for a National League pitcher — specifically one that has made three starts for the team late in the season. Per Rubin, doctors will wait until the offseason before determining if Gsellman needs surgery to correct the issue or if an offseason of rehab will allow the shoulder to heal. The 23-year-old Gsellman has a 3.92 ERA in 20 2/3 innings for the Mets since debuting earlier this summer.
Jose Altuve Hires Scott Boras
Astros superstar Jose Altuve has changed agencies and is once again represented by Scott Boras, tweets Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. Robert Murray of FanRag Sports first noted the potential change yesterday (on Twitter). The 26-year-old had previously been repped by Boras but left his agency in 2013.
The agency switch won’t have any immediate impact on Altuve, who is in the midst of one of the game’s most attractive contracts (from the team perspective). He’s earning a modest $3.5MM this season in what would have been his second arbitration season, and he’ll take home $4.5MM in 2017 — his would-be third arbitration season. Houston also holds club options valued at $6MM and $6.5MM for the 2018-19 seasons which are, of course, a lock to be exercised barring some form of catastrophic injury. Altuve is currently slated to hit the open market for the first time as he heads into his age-30 season, so he’ll have plenty of earning potential three years down the line as a free agent.
Altuve’s agency switch will be reflected in the MLBTR Agency Database, which contains agent information on well over 2,000 Major League and minor league players. If you see any notable errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
AL Notes: Desmond, Rangers, Perez, Altuve, Rollins
Ian Desmond‘s path to the Rangers all began earlier in the offseason, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The club let him know that they would have interest on the off chance that Desmond couldn’t find a multi-year deal and was willing to move to the outfield, says Grant, and that indeed turned out to be the case. “Things can change,” GM Jon Daniels explained. “You have to be prepared. You never know when a domino might fall. If you have any interest in that player, you have to express that early on.” Daniels has also made clear that he doesn’t believe there will be any difficulty in sorting out playing time when Josh Hamilton is ready to return.
Here’s more from Texas and the rest of the American League:
- Rangers co-owner Ray Davis discussed his organization today, and Grant has the story. Most notably, he said that the club can still add payroll for a mid-season addition after signing Desmond. As for that move, he explained: “It was a matter of need and Jon Daniels and Thad Levine finding a way to do things creatively. They came to us and proposed a creative deal. For me, this is a process where nobody other than the baseball people make the player decision. My only role is an economic one. They have a plan and decision they make long before they come to me.”
- Royals catcher Salvador Perez is excited at his new deal and hopes he’ll spend the rest of his career in Kansas City, writes Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. From the team’s perspective, despite a team-friendly contract already being in place, it made sense to swing another deal. “We went into Salvy’s previous deal with expectations that obviously he was going to be a terrific player,” said GM Dayton Moore. “We’ve always believed in him — as a talent, as a person, as a teammate. And he’s out-performed that contract. He’s an underpaid player in the game.” Noting the sacrifice that Gil Meche made when he left money upon departing the team, Moore explained that the motivation extended beyond pure baseball economics. “You focus on what’s right for Sal,” Moore said. “We’ve said from day one, that we want to create an organization that we’d want our own sons and family to be a part of. Well, Salvy’s family.”
- Meanwhile, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders whether other clubs will follow suit in rewarding underpaid players. He cites Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks, Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs, Jose Altuve of the Astros, Chris Sale of the White Sox, Madison Bumgarner of the Giants, and Chris Archer of the Rays as others on team-friendly pacts. From my perspective, most of those players line up more as traditional second extension candidates, in that their teams may well see some value in doubling down on their investments in the way that has occurred in the past for Troy Tulowitzki, Evan Longoria, Ryan Braun, Ryan Zimmerman, and others.
- As for Altuve, the Astros aren’t currently holding extension talks, according to Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. Like his friend Perez, Altuve has greatly outperformed his own contract, which would stand to pay him just $25MM if Houston exercises its two options. As Drellich notes, though, Altuve would still stand to hit the market at 29 years of age and probably has a better chance at longevity than does Perez.
- White Sox skipper Robin Ventura says that he envisions Jimmy Rollins making the club out of camp, as Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune tweets. “I expect him to make the team, unless something happens physically where it wouldn’t work,” said Ventura.
AL West Notes: Richards, Altuve, Athletics
Angels pitcher Garrett Richards suffered what appeared to be a significant knee injury while trying to make a play at first in the second inning of a game against the Red Sox Wednesday. He fell while still running to first and spent several minutes on the ground in obvious pain before being removed on a stretcher. There’s no word yet on the severity of the injury (which the Angels described as a “left knee/patellar injury“) but if it’s as serious as it appears to be, it would be a big blow to the Angels. Entering tonight’s game, Richards had posted a 2.53 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 167 innings this season, and the Angels are currently fighting the Athletics for first place in the AL West. Here are more notes from the division.
- Diminutive Astros star Jose Altuve has made it big despite his size, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. “He’s an anomaly,” says Astros assistant GM David Stearns. “He’s tough to explain, other than the fact he works as hard or harder than anyone, he’s got freakish hand-eye skills, he loves baseball and he wants to be great.” History indicates that Altuve is, in fact, very unusual, Kepner writes — there isn’t anyone in the Hall of Fame listed at 5-foot-6 or shorter who debuted in the Majors since the early 1940s. Altuve signed for just $15K as an amateur out of Venezuela.
- The Athletics have struggled since their surprising trade of Yoenis Cespedes and a draft pick for Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes, John Branch of the New York Times notes. It’s not clear that the trade is to blame, however. “We were struggling some before the trade as well, and we haven’t been as good offensively as we have been for the better part of a season,” says manager Bob Melvin. “But I expect us to get much better offensively because we still do have a very deep lineup.”
Astros’ Trade Discussion Notes Leaked
4:30pm: The Astros have issued the following statement regarding the leaked notes:
“Last month, we were made aware that proprietary information held on Astros’ servers and in Astros’ applications had been illegally obtained. Upon learning of the security breach, we immediately notified MLB security who, in turn, notified the FBI. Since that time, we have been working closely with MLB security and the FBI to the determine the party, or parties, responsible. This information was illegally obtained and published, and we intend to prosecute those involved to the fullest extent.
“It is unfortunate and extremely disappointing that an outside source has illegally obtained confidential information. While it does appear that some of the content released was based on trade conversations, a portion of the material was embellished or completely fabricated.”
2:29pm: Extensive trade discussion notes, apparently logged by Astros executives about their talks with other teams, have been leaked onto the site AnonBin here and here, with Deadspin breaking the story and Yahoo’s Jeff Passan verifying the authenticity of the logs. The earliest notes are from June 2013, and the latest are from March of this year. The Astros have yet to comment on the leak, which provides unprecedented detail into how the team values players and approaches trade discussions. According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Astros have been reaching out to people around baseball apologizing for the leaks, and plan to issue a statement soon.
A March feature by Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle outlines Ground Control, the Astros’ confidential internal database from which the trade discussion notes were likely taken. At this time, it’s unclear whether the information reached the Internet via a rogue employee of the team, or by some kind of security vulnerability in Ground Control. The trade discussion information, mostly from last summer and offseason, is somewhat dated in the fast-moving baseball hot stove world. The larger ramification is the breach of trust experienced by the many non-Astros executives cited in the notes. It’s unlikely any team would rule out the Astros as a trading partner based on this breach, but some teams could approach talks with added caution. Additionally, I imagine the many other teams with such highly sensitive material online are doubling down on security right now.
The Astros’ trade notes from last summer and offseason range from the blockbuster to the mundane; here are some highlights.
- On November 15th, Astros GM Jeff Luhnow expressed interest with Marlins GM Dan Jennings in slugger Giancarlo Stanton. From the notes: “[Jennings] said he doesn’t think he’ll trade Stanton and the only deal he could think of from us that would work would be [George] Springer and [Carlos] Correa. [Luhnow] said that would not work. [Luhnow] posited a deal around [Jarred] Cosart and [Delino] DeShields.” It’s not a big surprise that Luhnow rejected Jennings’ proposal out of hand, as Correa and Springer were ranked #4 and #19 on Keith Law’s top 100 prospects list for ESPN, and are major building blocks for Houston. That Luhnow didn’t appear to offer either player suggests he was mostly gauging Stanton’s price after an off-year with three years of control remaining. UPDATE: Jennings has commented to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, saying it’s fabricated that they ever offered Stanton to the Astros or any other team, also using the word “laughable.”
- Interest in Astros catcher Jason Castro was strong last offseason, with a few surprising suitors. The Blue Jays and Rangers reached out in mid-October to gauge Castro’s price, the White Sox had “definite high interest,” and Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik told Luhnow in November that he was getting calls from other teams asking if he could get Castro from the Astros for those teams. Zduriencik offered Dustin Ackley and was turned down.
- Notes for the Astros’ summer trade discussions begin at June 17th, 2013. The team ultimately went on to acquire Ronald Torreyes from the Cubs in June, and also dealt veterans Jose Veras, Bud Norris, and Justin Maxwell near the July deadline. The Astros did not end up acquiring any top 100-type prospects, but they sure did ask for the moon. For Norris, the Astros sought Kyle Crick and Clayton Blackburn from the Giants, Dylan Bundy or Kevin Gausman from the Orioles, Marcus Stroman and more from the Blue Jays, Xander Bogaerts, Allen Webster, Jackie Bradley Jr., or Garin Cecchini from the Red Sox, and Tyler Glasnow plus Luis Heredia or Nick Kingham from the Pirates. The Red Sox offered Ryan Lavarnway or Deven Marrero for Norris and were turned down. In the end, the Astros traded Norris and an international draft slot to the Orioles for L.J. Hoes, Josh Hader, and a 2014 competitive balance pick.
- When Nationals GM Mike Rizzo called to express interest in middling Astros starting pitcher Lucas Harrell, who had a 5.17 ERA at the time and nearly as many walks as strikeouts, “[Luhnow] told him we would still need a headliner like [Lucas] Giolito because we still value Harrell highly. Rizzo did not respond immediately.”
Harrell was designated for assignment, outrighted, and traded for a pittance nine months later, so the Astros might have overplayed their hand. - “Untouchable” players from other teams were revealed through conversations with their executives. White Sox GM Rick Hahn wouldn’t consider trading Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Jose Abreu, or Avisail Garcia. Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos considered Brett Lawrie off-limits. Pirates outfield prospect Gregory Polanco came up as well, in that GM Neal Huntington wouldn’t include him in any Norris deal. In December talks regarding Harrell, the Giants said they would not discuss Brandon Belt.
- More random notes: Mets executive Paul DePodesta asked Luhnow if the Astros would consider trading shortstop Jonathan Villar in a Daniel Murphy deal in December…the Marlins expressed interest in Jose Altuve, Matt Dominguez, and others in December.
Astros Extend Jose Altuve
Diminutive second baseman Jose Altuve already has “his face on the side of the stadium,” explains Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, and now has the contract to support his status as the team’s biggest attraction. Altuve agreed today to an extension that will guarantee him $12.5MM over the next four years and includes two club options for the 2018 and 2019 seasons ($6MM and $6.5MM, respectively). In addition to buying out Altuve’s remaining pre-arbitration season and all of his arbitration years, the Astros now control the 23-year-old Altuve for his first two free agent-eligible seasons.
Altuve, a client of Octagon since leaving the Boras Corporation in May, has held down the club's regular second base job since last year. Altuve emerged last year with a .290/.340/.399 line and 33 stolen bases over a full season of 630 plate appearances. He has failed to maintain quite that pace so far this season, however, as he currently sports a .280/.317/.354 line in 380 plate appearances. Altuve has swiped another 21 bags thus far in 2013, though, and advanced defensive metrics peg him as a stable, if unspectacular, presence at the keystone.
The move to lock up Altuve represents the first significant long-term commitment since Houston handed the reigns to GM Jeff Luhnow, but is unlikely to be the last. The deal does not provide Altuve with any no-trade protection. While the Astros will only be bound to pay $12.5MM to Altuve over the next four seasons, the deal would be worth up to $25MM over its full six year term if the club exercises both options. Altuve was not set to reach arbitration eligibility until 2014 and will not be eligible for free agency until 2017, at which time the Astros will have to decide whether to exercise one or both of the options they hold.
As MLBTR's Tim Dierkes explained upon Altuve's change of agents, the then-hot-hitting Altuve could conceivably have been worth a five-year deal in the range of up to $30MM. Dierkes pointed to the relevant, if not precisely comparable, extensions given to Alcides Escobar (four years, $10.5MM) and Cameron Maybin (five years, $25MM). With Altuve cooling off at the plate considerably since that time, the parties seem to have followed the Escobar model in structuring this deal. Both the Altuve and Escobar extensions guaranteed four pre-free agent seasons in exchange for a pair of options. Altuve, like Escobar, is a light-hitting, speedy middle infielder whose value is heavily dependent upon getting on base. In that respect, Altuve’s lower walk rate and higher strikeout rate this year (as against 2012) are of some concern, especially since his ISO is also down.
While Altuve has yet to take the step forward that some expected after an All Star appearance last season, he nevertheless remains a valuable young commodity. Luhnow says that the team felt the time was right to “remov[e] some of the uncertainty for him and for us.” Certainly, by reaching agreement now, Houston was able to lock up Altuve at a lower price than he might have commanded earlier in the year (or, conceivably, could command down the line). And the limited guarantee holds down the deal's risk to an Astros organization that has been highly protective of its present and future payroll.
Brian McTaggart of MLB.com was the first to report that the parties had reached agreement. McTaggart also tweeted that the deal did not include a no-trade clause. CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman provided the first detail on the length and value of the contract (on Twitter), with FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reporting the value of the option years (also via Twitter).
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports Images.
Rosenthal On Rizzo, Altuve, Mattingly
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo might make an intriguing free agent after the 2015 season, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal says in a recent video. Rizzo's friends tell Rosenthal that Rizzo is not afraid of leaving after 2015 if the team does not pay him well. The Nats exercised their 2014 option on Rizzo last month, and have another option for 2015. Earlier this week, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reported that the decision to exercise the 2014 option may have annoyed Rizzo, since the contract from which the option came was not especially lucrative. Under the 2014 option, Rizzo will be in the bottom third in GM pay, Kilgore noted. Here's more from Rosenthal.
- Rosenthal notes that Jose Altuve's recent decision to leave Scott Boras for his old agency, Octagon, is not necessarily an indication that Altuve will sign long-term with the Astros. There are currently no extension talks between the two sides, Rosenthal reports.
- If the Dodgers were to fire manager Don Mattingly, one problem would be that there are few obvious replacements, Rosenthal reports in another video. Neither Tony LaRussa nor Bobby Cox look like likely options, and members of Mattingly's staff like Davey Lopes, Trey Hillman and Tim Wallach aren't ideal. Still, Rosenthal says, the Dodgers will likely fire Mattingly anyway if the team doesn't improve, and the Dodgers have a rough schedule coming up.