The Houston Astros have been looking to keep the gang together as much as possible. They had been looking to extend key young players, hoping to lock in the likes of Lance McCullers Jr., Carlos Correa, and Alex Bregman. But these deals can take time.
On Wednesday, the Astros were able to get one of those players signed. McCullers inked a five year extension worth $85 million.
Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. and the Houston Astros are in agreement on a five-year, $85 million contract extension, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 24, 2021
Houston Astros overpay to keep Lance McCullers Jr. in town
To a degree, one can understand that price tag. McCullers has posted a career 3.70 ERA and a 1.262 WHiP, striking out ten batters per nine innings. With Scott Boras as his agent, the Astros were going to need to pay handsomely to keep him from reaching free agency.
But McCullers is hardly a given. He has appeared in 25 games only once in his five years in the majors and has never pitched more than 128.1 innings in a season. He has battled injuries, including Tommy John surgery, which kept him from pitching at all in 2019.
But this also adds a degree of certainty to the Astros rotation. Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander are slated to hit free agency after this season, while Jake Odorizzi is signed through 2022. Houston has to hope that McCullers can continue to develop and become a top of the rotation starter.
To this point, he is not that type of pitcher. While he may be a solid middle of the rotation arm, he has not displayed either the consistency or the durability needed to be anything more than what he is. As McCullers is 27 years old, there is hope that he can be something more, but he is not the type of pitcher that is worth an average annual value of $17 million.
The Houston Astros have locked Lance McCullers Jr. up for five more years. However, they drastically overpaid to do so.