Have to see the financials to decide how good this is. As an outright signing I don't like it because he hasn't been good for 2 years. But if it's a cheap deal then it's awesome because the ceiling on him is extremely high. This now is enough to qualify the off season as successful when it comes to dealing with the pen. A proven quality arm in Smith, and a high upside guy with closing experience. To go along with Devo, Harris, Giles and Musgrove we have a ton of depth to deal with injuries or ineffectiveness.
Looks to me like he was good in 2016...what am I missing? https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rondohe01.shtml
He wasn't bad in 2016, but a 3.53 ERA for a reliever isn't ideally what you want from a guy in close games. His WHIP was dominant, but his HR rate was high. I would say that's just a little bad luck, but the high HR rate happened again last season. If we can get that HR rate back down, he could be awesome. If he repeats 2016, then I would hope he's 4th or 5th in our reliever depth chart.
The Nationals and others wanted him so My guess is that it wasn’t for the minimum or around there unless he really wanted to be an Astro.
This definitely isn't a sexy signing. However, it's an effective one. At his best, he's a really solid reliever for us who can come into high leverage situations and get some big outs. At the worst, he's our 4th/5th reliever. The bright side is that even if he's our 4th/5th best reliever (and he's able to stay healthy), he's still a better option than some of the guys we had to roll out there last season (Sipp, Guduan, Jankowski, Tolliver).
Astros IF and DH are right handed. Marwin is going to be a near full time player keeping those guys fresh during regular season. If it was playoffs, Marwin would easily have the leg up on LF. At the start of the season, I expect someone else will get more ABs in LF than him even if he's the opening day starter. Astros aren't completely done. By essentially done, I wouldn't expect them to go out and sign a much bigger free agent than Smith or trade for a lot of salary. To me, I take it that they are likely going to have to move salary to take on any significant salary. No Wade Davis level deals. No this is a sure fire Giles replacement level deals (unless they make a really good trade). Astros are just bargain hunting and tinkering with salary allocation at this point. If Astros make a deal, it likely won't be for one of the more talked about guys.
P; ...And Anthony Gose. My guess is Martes is the first injury callup in AAA, and Sipp/Gose battle for the LHP slot. The only other question is if they want to stretch out Musgrove and give him one more shot at being a starter.
Will be interesting to see what our pitching coaches/analytics/hi-tech gadgets can do with Rendon's slider. Verlander talked about the difference it made for him almost immediately after being acquired...maybe we'll see the same for Rendon.
Yeah, I looks like the pitching staff is packed to the brim. Giles/Smith/Harris/Devo/Musgrove/Peacock/Rondon/Feliz/Paulino?/Hoyt?/Sipp?/Goose?/Martes? (And that just the bullpen personnel). Whoever still has options will likely be playing in Fresno. I'd anticipate some trades to clear up roster space at some point. Because Goose is in for some serious competition, if he manages makes the team and stick on the roster. But he is a true wild card. He can be a defensive specialist, a base runner, and a 100 mph Left handed specialist.
Ohtani and every other player that agrees to sign with a team that gets to play Astros 17+ times a year?
22 of 25 spots currently “settled”: McCann Gurriel Altuve Bregman Correa Reddick Springer Marwin Gattis Marisnick Verlander Keuchel Morton McCullers McHugh Peacock Musgrove Devenski Rondon Harris Smith Giles 1 bullpen spot between: Sipp: lefty, guaranteed $6M Gose: Rule 5 lefty, upside, no options Hoyt: elite k rate Feliz: high upside Martes: high upside Gustave/Guduan/others: darkhorses 2 position player spots between: Stassi: only catcher on roster if they don’t use a Gattis as the backup, also out of options Fisher: high upside, could fill everyday LF, bats LH Moran: Marwin/Marisnick could play LF so Moran could be primary bench bat Kemp/White/Davis/Reed/Tucker/others: darkhorses I expect we will see a trade of two. Also wouldn’t be surprised to see them sign Lucroy.
I assume this means Cozart will play 3B for them. That defense on the left side of the infield is going to be glorious. Angels becoming a fun to watch team, looking forward to attending some battles at MMP the next few years.
Angels potential lineup is improved though Kinsler/Pujols are a year older, Ohtani is still a ?, and who knows if Simmons and Upton have the same type of offensive year. Pitching is biggest weakness with injury history. They'll make Astros sweat a little more but not enough to take division IMO. Kinsler - 2B Trout - CF Upton - LF Pujols/Ohtani - DH Cozart - 3B Simmons - SS Calhoun - RF Cron - 1B Maldonado - C
Angels will be really really good if they stay healthy and Ohtani is as good as everyone hopes. That lineup is as good as Houston’s.
