Houston Astros Done Making Significant Moves
By Jason Burke
At Houston Astros FanFest on Saturday, GM Jeff Luhnow suggested that the team is likely done making big moves.
Over the past month or so the Houston Astros have been linked to multiple pitchers in trade talks with Sonny Gray, Chris Archer and Jose Quintana being the main targets. Well, Jeff Luhnow told the Houston Chronicle on Saturday “the Astros’ current roster is ‘probably’ the roster with which the team will open the season.” Well there goes that fun.
From what I have gathered in seeing how Luhnow interacts with the media, he is generally fairly straightforward in what he hopes to accomplish. If he says that this is the team the Astros will be heading into opening day with, I believe him. That is, unless one of the GMs from the Rays, A’s or White Sox lower their asking price or the situation in Houston changes this spring. An injury to Dallas Keuchel or Lance McCullers is something that could make the club more willing to meet the current asking price to acquire one of those starters.
As everything currently sits, Keuchel, McCullers and Collin McHugh should be locked into rotation spots, and while newcomer Charlie Morton isn’t a guarantee, he has the next-best shot. That leaves Joeseph Musgrove and Mike Fiers as options for the fifth spot, but what happens to the one that doesn’t claim the role is a bit cloudy. Houston already has Chris Devenski as a long man, while Michael Feliz can go more than one inning if needed. Adding another long man isn’t really necessary.
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The guys on the Baseball America podcast said that they like Musgrove as a potential number two in this rotation behind Keuchel due to his control. They were likely factoring in that McCullers missed stretches of time last season, bumping him down slightly. I would say McCullers is the better overall of the two, but if you’re looking for more of a sure bet to eat innings, Musgrove is the way to go.
It actually makes sense for the Houston Astros to roll with what they have at the moment, because there is a chance that Keuchel returns to Cy Young form and McCullers is able to stay healthy, which would give the team a pretty good one-two punch at the top of the rotation. Throw in the potential for Musgrove to have a breakout season of sorts, and the highly touted duo of David Paulino and Francis Martes waiting for an opportunity in Triple-A, and there is certainly depth for the Astros to lean on in the rotation.
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The question that the Astros have to answer is whether or not that depth will be good enough come October, and whether or not the arms they currently have can stay healthy. Time is the only tell for each of these problems, so standing pat is the right way to go. If/when the Astros need to add an arm, they will surely ante up and get one, as they have in the past.