FA's at the end of 2019-2020 season Verlander, 37 Cole, 29 McHugh, 32 Reddick and Gurriel contracts will have to be platooned
McHugh's such a fan favorite despite his lackluster post-seasons and basically not being a dependable starter for 2 years, while everybody seemingly pisses on Correa despite the latter's progress over the next 3 years being pivotal to this team's contending chances.
er what...? He didn't give up a single run in the postseason last year and has a 3.60 ERA in 20 IP career in the playoffs. And hard to be dependable starter last year if he's not starting but had 2.0 WAR and a sub 2.00 ERA from the bullpen...
This is a fun exercise... If they all perform as well as they did in 2018 (granted with McHugh in the starting rotation instead of bullpen) I see it being something like this. Verlander: 3 yrs/85 million Cole: 6 yrs/ 160 million McHugh: 2 yrs/ 20 million
Have we been on different message boards? I've sure as hell never seen anybody overly fond of McHugh. Most of the board doesn't even seem to want him starting. As for the potential contracts, it's almost impossible to say. The cone of possibilities for all 3 is extremely wide. If Verlander has a down year at his age, I doubt he commands too much. If he has another awesome year I could see 80-100 million. If Cole has a down season, then he regains his inconsistent label and could get lowballed. Another awesome year he's getting paid like a true ace and he's looking at 175-200 million. McHugh hasn't had a full season as a starter since 2016, and he wasn't great that year. If he has a great year his body of work looks solid and he could get 50 million pretty easily, a bad year and we're talking 10-20 million tops.
I'm assuming I'm the one overly fond of McHugh, though I don't piss on Correa. Granted, I've been on the McHugh train since early last year when I noticed his slider while Nick has not been. Since then, I've been wrong as McHugh has exceeded my "backup QB" expectations for him in the regular season and the postseason. Early season looks a little scary right now for McHugh as he doesn't look ready, but fully expect a mid to high 3 FIP from him this season if he gets and then stays reasonably healthy.
2019 free agents: Verlander $110M/4yrs Cole $170M/6yrs McHugh $26M/3yrs Miley $18M/2yrs Harris $6M/1yr Smith $2M/1yr Rondon $3M/1yr Chirinos $4M/1yr 2020: Gurriel $8M/2yrs Springer $60M/4yrs Brantley $26M/2yrs Reddick $6M/1yr Marisnick $12M/2yrs Peacock $18M/3yrs 2021: McCullers $34M/2yrs Devenski $6M/1yr 2022: Diaz $4M/1yr Stassi $4M/1yr Pressly $18M/2yrs Osuna $40M/3yrs 2023: White $4M/1yr Kemp $6M/1yr 2024: Altuve $66M/4yr Bregman $240M/8yrs
Correa is going to go out and win the MVP this year and it will all change. Looks like he's set to be a free agent when he'll be 27 which would put him in prime 10 year mega contract territory. Maybe the Astros can work something out which can keep him an extra year though. I wouldn't want to give him a 10 year deal at 27 which early age back issues.
As predicted... the thread evolves to a McHugh lovefest! (I'm on board with him being a huge find by the organization, exceeding overall expectations, and was a better than expected contributor out of the bullpen... but he does get some irrational love from some).
I know you weren’t asking me but felt the need to play along. I’m thinking 180+ innings of 3.50-3.75 ERA, above league average innings.
Career Average Houston Starter McHugh: 25 GS, 152 IP, 3.70 ERA, 106 ERA+, 1.253 WHIP, 8.4 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, .9 HR/9, 3.60 FIP, .708 OPS, .308 BABIP If he can do that we're in great shape. If he can do better we're golden. Looks like a 4/5 starter to me, and everybody needs those.
