As previously mentioned, Charlie Morton will be a free agent this offseason. He will not be the only Houston Astros starting pitcher on the market as one of their longest tenured players will also become available.
Dallas Keuchel was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 7th round of the 2009 draft. After being called up in 2012, he has been a mainstay on the Astros major league roster. However, the two-time All-Star (2015, 2017) with a World Series Championship (2017) will reach free agency for the first time.
During the 2018 season, Keuchel put together a 12-11 record with a 3.74 ERA, a 3.69 FIP, and a 1.314 WHIP. Aside from only making 23 starts in 2017, Keuchel has made at least 26 starts in each of the seasons that he has only been a starting pitcher. This includes the 34 starts he made this season in which he compiled 204.2 innings pitched.
Within those 34 starts, he made 20 quality starts. He only allowed more than 3 runs in 8 starts and he only pitched less than 5.0 innings in 2 starts.
Keuchel has also compiled 8 postseason appearances. During those appearances, he holds a 4-2 record, a 3.24 ERA and a 1.152 WHIP. This includes a 6.0 innings pitched, 0 earned run effort in a Wild Card game against the New York Yankees in 2015 and a 5.2 innings pitched, 1 earned run effort in an ALDS game against the Boston Red Sox in 2017.
This postseason, Keuchel helped the Astros return to the ALCS after he pitched 5.0 innings with only 2 earned runs allowed against the Cleveland Indians. Keuchel will turn 31 years old prior to the 2019 season, so he will most likely be looking for a longer contract than Morton and Happ.
However, as the Yankees front office worked hard to get under the luxury tax line prior to the 2018 season, money may not be an issue if it means significantly upgrading the starting rotation. Due to this, alongside Keuchel’s regular season and postseason success, he could be a strong option for the Yankees (if he is willing to shave off his beard, that is).