The Houston Astros have signed right-hander Doug Fister to a one-year deal, they announced Thursday.
According to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation, Fister will be guaranteed $7 million in 2016 and could make $12 million if all performance bonuses are reached. The Astros had reportedly been interested in rotation depth throughout the offseason. Prior to the signing, the rotation included the likes of Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh, Mike Fiers, Scott Feldman, and Lance McCullers. It's possible that Feldman could now be used in a relief role. Fister appears to be a possible bounce-back candidate for the team next year. Always one of the best control pitchers in the league, Fister's walk rate took an unusual spike last season, resulting in the loss of a spot in the Nationals' rotation. The Astros hope that Fister will be able to return to his 2014 form, when he went 16-6 with a 2.41 ERA. He struck out 98 but walked just 24 over 164 innings pitched. If the signing does not work out, however, Houston may not have a problem. They had the eighth-best rotation ERA in the Majors last year. Fister is just one of the handful free agent pitchers that is looking to bounce back in 2016. Others include Bronson Arroyo, Cliff Lee, Mike Minor, and Tim Lincecum. Outside of Arroyo, they are all still looking for new teams. Last season, the soon-to-be 32-year-old Fister went 5-7 with a 4.19 ERA and a 63 to 24 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 103 innings pitched with the Nationals. According to FanGraphs, he was worth 0.2 Wins Above Replacement. --Devan Fink
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After Mike Leake signed earlier this week, the market for other mid-tier starting pitchers, like Yovani Gallardo, have begun to move to forefront around Major League Baseball.
Gallardo's agent, Alan Nero of Octagon, told The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo said that he has been in discussions, but that nothing has "moved forward" during this holiday week. Teams are in on him, but not quite all-in. The Royals, Astros, and Orioles have all been linked to the free agent right-hander. Cafardo notes that fellow starter Scott Kazmir's market appears to be tied to Gallardo's, meaning that once Gallardo signs, teams who were unable to get him will turn to Kazmir. They are, at least in my opinion, going to get comparable contracts. Gallardo, who turns 30 in February, was very solid production-wise last year. He went 13-11 with a 3.42 ERA and a 121 to 68 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 184 1/3 innings pitched. According to FanGraphs, he was worth 2.5 Wins Above Replacement. --Devan Fink
The Houston Astros have acquired right-hander Ken Giles from the Philadelphia Phillies, Mark Berman of FOX 26 in Houston reported Wednesday evening.
In return, the Phillies acquired four prospects, according to multiple media reports. Right-hander Vincent Velasquez, left-hander Brett Oberholtzer, outfielder Derek Fisher, and one yet to be reported player head to Philadelphia for Giles. The Astros have wanted to get a hard-throwing relief pitcher for quite some time now, considering the back-end of their bullpen was fairly weak in 2015. Names that had been mentioned as targets for Houston included Aroldis Chapman, Craig Kimbrel, and others. Giles appears to be their man, though. He throws 100+ MPH and has had two stellar seasons in Philadelphia. After coming up midway through the 2014 season, Giles was promoted to Jonathan Papelbon's setup man, a position he held until Papelbon was traded to the Nationals this past July. From July 24 on, Giles had 17 save situations and saved 15 of them. He was groomed to be a closer and succeeded well in his brief time there. In Houston, he will trump Luke Gregerson in the full-time closing spot. Overall, Giles went 6-3 with a 1.80 ERA (2.13 FIP) in 69 appearances. Over his 70 innings pitched, he struck out 87 guys and walked just 25. Giles' command with both his fastball and slider has allowed him to be effective in a back-end relief role with Philadelphia. Giles also comes with plenty of team control. Being so good, so young, Giles is still signed through the 2020 season through the pre-arbitration and arbitration processes. This increased his value for Houston, as Giles will not only be the closer now, but he will be for a long time. Houston had to give up a lot of talent in order to acquire Giles. Velasquez was rated as the 86th-best prospect in baseball (via MLB Pipeline) prior to the 2015 season and Fisher was their 1st round pick in 2014. In order to get Giles, they truly had to pay the price. --Devan Fink
The Oakland Athletics announced the acquisition of infielder Jed Lowrie from the Houston Astros on Wednesday. Jane Lee of MLB.com first reported the deal.
In return, the Astros got Double-A right-hander Brendan McCurry. Lowrie does not exactly fill a need in Oakland. Rather, he adds depth to their infield, which already includes Brett Lawrie, Marcus Semien, Danny Valencia, and Eric Sogard. It is not clear exactly where Lowrie will play regularly, but he can fit at every infield position. It is possible that the Athletics decide to move one of their other pieces to fill a true need with the club, though it remains to be seen what is in the cards. The 31-year-old Lowrie has bounced between the Astros and Athletics since 2012. He spent that year with Houston, but was then dealt along with Fernando Rodriguez to Oakland for Chris Carter, Brad Peacock, and Max Strassi. After spending two years with the A's, Lowrie re-signed with the Astros in free agency. Now he heads back to Oakland in yet another trade. Lowrie is a valuable acquisition for the Athletics becomes he comes with three years of non-expensive control. He will make $7.5 million in 2016, $6.5 million in 2017, and has a $6 million team option with a $1 million buyout for 2018. In 2015, Lowrie hit .222/.312/.400 with nine home runs and 30 RBI in 263 plate appearances. He missed a big chunk of the season due to a torn ligament in his thumb, and after Carlos Correa's emergence at shortstop, he moved to third base when he returned. The Astros should be able to absorb the loss of Lowrie from their lineup relatively easily, as Luis Valbuena can slide in full-time at third base. He made 85 starts there in 2015 and hit well. The team also receives the Athletics' 30th-best prospect (via MLB Pipeline) in exchange for Lowrie. The 23-year-old McCurry posted a 1.86 ERA, 11.7 K/9, and 2.4 BB/9 between High-A and Double-A last season, making all 50 of his appearances out of the bullpen. --Devan Fink Major League Baseball organizations had until today at 5 PM eastern to offer their impending free agents qualifying offers.
A qualifying offer is a one-year, $15.8 million deal, which is the average of the top 125 one-year salaries in the game. Any impending free agent can be offered a qualifying offer, however, that player must have spent the entire season with the organization that is offering them the deal (i.e. traded players like Johnny Cueto cannot be offered a qualifying offer). If the player accepts the qualifying offer, they are basically re-signing with their former club to a one-year, $15.8 million deal. If the player rejects the qualifying offer, they become a free agent as scheduled. However, if they sign with a different team, then their original team (the team they are coming from) will receive an extra first round draft pick at the end of the first round. The team that signs the player loses their first round pick, as long as they are not within the top 10 in the draft order (which in that case, they would lose their second round pick). In the three-year history of the qualifying offer, no player has accepted the deal. An MLB-record 20 players were offered a qualifying offer today. They have one week to make a decision whether they want to accept or decline the deal:
--Devan Fink |
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