The absurdity that is the Houston Astros continues...

[jerichoholicninja]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/02/astros-name-myers-closer-rework-vesting-option.html

 

They have named Brett Myers their closer. Only the Astros would take one of their best starting pitchers and move him to a role that is essentially irrelevant for a team in their position. Not only is he one of their best starters, he's probably their best trade chip and his value has just been reduced dramatically unless he's traded before the season starts. Genius.

[bball123h]

I don't think that's totally absurd... His ERA was up, K/9 down, WHIP up from 2010. He wasn't that great in 2011. Plus, they have Wandy, Norris, Duke, Hernandez, Lyles, Happ, Harrell, and perhaps Paul Clemens and Kyle Weiland all in the competition for the 5 starter spots, not counting anyone they could pick up after teams begin cuts.

 

This isn't like moving Gallardo to the pen... While Myers may be among their "best" starters, he's not much better than the pile below him any more, and may be helped a lot by the decreased workload. Plus, they had nobody with experience to close (Lyon doesn't count), so this may solve a few problems. Clear a bit of the SP logjam and get an established closer out of the deal.

[jerichoholicninja]

While I agree that while Myers is a good starter on their team it doesn't make him a good starter overall, they are rebuilding and need prospects. They either need to trade Myers now or leave him in the rotation. While it was a different situation, look at what we gave up for K-Rod last year. Nothing essentially. A good starter will always bring back more than a good to great reliever. I feel the biggest reason this is stupid is because they are going to lose a lot. They don't need a closer. And you can't use the experience excuse because look at what they had last year. Melancon was a nobody who had thrown about 40 innings before becoming their closer.

[Ennder]

I'd give the job to the best young RP (Wilton Lopez I guess?). Myers is not going to be a valuable trade chip as a closer but some young arm that takes the job and runs with it gains instant value. If your team doesn't plan on winning soon it is usually foolish to go with anything but a young guy as your closer.

[bball123h]

If they could have traded Myers as a starter, they probably would have by now. It's a bad contract, but I think it may be easier to move him as a closer than a starter. If nothing else, you leave the door open to trade him to a team that has a need in either role.

[JohnBriggs12]

I'd give the job to the best young RP (Wilton Lopez I guess?). Myers is not going to be a valuable trade chip as a closer but some young arm that takes the job and runs with it gains instant value. If your team doesn't plan on winning soon it is usually foolish to go with anything but a young guy as your closer.

 

I disagree. They control Lopez through 2015. Now you might think they won't be competitive until 2016 or later, but you can't send that signal to your fan base. They've come to terms with them not being competitive this year and next, but you have to give them hope 2 years down the road. Myers has mininmal value in either role as a trade chip. There is likely to be many more attractive starters on the market in July. Moving him to closer creates an opening for a young starter. Besides, they won't have a ton of closing opportunities and that's not going to help Lopez's development. With Lopez in the 8th inning, they can stay in games longer too.

 

They have some young position players worth watching like Altuve, Martinez and Paredes. They have a veteran starter in Rodriguez who is much more attractive than Myers. I think they'll be interesting to watch actually.

[fondybrewfan]

So what is the over/under on wins for them this year? Man they are going to be bad

 

I am going with 65 but I could very easily see them under 60

[monty57]

I'm with Ennder. Whoever they put at closer should be able to post 20+ saves. An average middle reliever will get nothing in trade, but the same guy with the "proven closer" tag added to his name will net a decent return in trade.

 

I don't know their personnel very well, but at least Myers has a name and "veteran status," so even if they don't trade him now, someone will want him mid-season as a starter. Unless they know something about him injury-wise, or unless they have some very promising young SP who need to be in the rotation, I think they'd be better off leaving him as a starter and giving the closer role to one of their middle relievers.

[xisxisxis]

You can't save a game if your behind in the 9th. If they really have a logjam of young starting pitchers with promise then they'd be better off biting the bullet and trading Myers and picking up as much salary as they could to get something decent in return. If they don't have a logjam and they are just going to throw out a replacement level player then it doesn't make a lot of sense putting Myers in as your closer - He has a lot more value pitching 200 innings and saving a bullpen that is going to be overworked than pitching 60-70 IP. Unless the 'Stros are clearly telling their fans they don't care how bad the team is this year.

[TooLiveBrew]

I wonder if the Astros tried to move Meyers this offseason as a SP & there was no market for him. If that's the case, I could see trying him as a RP/CP & seeing if the extra velocity turns him into a desirable trade chip.

[umphrey]

I was thinking maybe they wanted to open up spots for prospects in the starting rotation, and they couldn't get any trade offers for Myers, so they moved him to the pen as opposed to sending one of their prospects back to AAA. Or bounce the prospect around between starting and bullpen, which might be worse.

[Ennder]

I think the Astros will finish over the Cubs. They will surprise people and be in the 70s for wins. That team is better than people think though still not good at all.

[pebadger]

Not to drag the thread off track or anything, but it's going to be a weird year in terms of adjusting to all the change in the division from a fan perspective. It'll still be easy not to like the Cards for reasons too numerous to count, and I've never much liked the Reds either, but it should be fun finding new reasons not to like the divisional opponents.

[umphrey]

I think the Astros will finish over the Cubs. They will surprise people and be in the 70s for wins. That team is better than people think though still not good at all.

 

I don't know, looking at their starting lineup, they have essentially 6 rookies penciled in as full time starters. They have this many ABs, career:

 

195

221

168

808 (Jed Lowrie)

208

469

192

7433 (Carlos Lee)

 

So they pretty much have 2 guys that have a full season of experience. Also it's not like most of these guys are great prospects, they are just throwing it at the wall and see what sticks.

[Ennder]

But the Cubs are starting Castro and a bunch of guys who have proven they can't hit, not sure that is much better~. I also think the Astros have better pitching than the Cubs.

 

I actually think this is a good move from a baseball standpoint. It lets them start their younger arms and you don't want your best RP as your closer because it is a waste. However I still think I'd rather stick a young guy in the position and pump up their trade value because Myers just isn't going to gain much trade value.

[bball123h]

Does he even have trade value right now? Coming off a bad season, owed at least $14 million according to Cot's ($11 million for 2012, plus a $3 million buyout), and possibly another $10 million in 2013.

 

Also has a bad history, with that fairly well-known blowup with a reporter in Philly.

[trwi7]

Does he even have trade value right now? Coming off a bad season, owed at least $14 million according to Cot's ($11 million for 2012, plus a $3 million buyout), and possibly another $10 million in 2013.

 

Also has a bad history, with that fairly well-known blowup with a reporter in Philly.

 

But he was also the mastermind behind this and that makes him awesome.

 

[RockCoCougars]

Frankly, a lot of my optimism for the Brewers this season is rooted in the fact that they get to play these guys 18 times (with roughly the same number against the Cubs and Pirates).

[Crew2323]

That prank was hilarious. I don't know how anyone involved could keep a straight face through that, especially when it was announced he was traded for Kobayashi.