The Astros announced that they have designated right-hander Rafael Montero for assignment, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic on X. They also optioned righty Seth Martinez, with those two moves opening roster spots for lefties Yusei Kikuchi and Caleb Ferguson, who were acquired prior to the trade deadline yesterday. Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle relayed the full slate of moves on X.
Montero, now 33, is in the second season of a three-year, $34.5MM deal he signed with the Astros after the 2022 season. He had just made 71 appearances for Houston that year with a 2.37 earned run average, 27% strikeout rate, 8.5% walk rate and 52.9% ground ball rate. He recorded 14 saves and 23 holds in the process, then added another ten strong performances in the postseason as the Astros won their second World Series.
But his performance has declined significantly since that contract was signed. He made 68 appearances for the club last year with his ERA ticking up to 5.08. His 26.5% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate and 41.2% ground ball rate were all a bit worse than the year prior. There may have been a bit of bad luck in there, as his .358 batting average on balls in play was very high and his 15.3% home run per flyball ratio was almost three times his 5.7% rate from the year prior.
Here in 2024, his 4.70 ERA is actually a slight improvement over last year, but things under the hood are bleak. His 14% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate are both significantly worse than last year and also subpar compared to league averages. He’s actually been pretty lucky when considering his .243 BABIP and 78.6% strand rate. His 6.39 FIP and 5.23 SIERA suggest he’s actually been worse than his ERA would indicate.
It was reported last week that the Astros were looking to move Montero’s contract as they pursued pitchers with notable salaries such as Zach Eflin and Jameson Taillon. In the end, it seems they were unsuccessful in finding a taker, which isn’t surprising when considering his numbers. Now that the deadline has passed, their only option will be to put him on waivers and they will therefore see Montero depart for nothing.
Given his performance and contract, he will certainly go unclaimed, at which point he has enough service time to elect free agency while retaining all of his salary. Houston will remain on the hook for it while any other club could then sign him and pay him just the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Astros pay.
That’s obviously not the result the club was hoping for when they signed that deal and it’s yet another development that shines an unflattering light on an unusual period in Astros’ history. Despite winning the 2022 World Series, the Astros parted ways with general manager James Click just days after hoisting that trophy. Click was hired somewhat hastily after Jeff Luhnow was fired in the wake of the club’s sign-stealing scandal coming to light. Owner Jim Crane reportedly had a contentious relationship with Click and decided to pivot, despite the club’s continued success while Click was in charge.
Dana Brown was eventually hired to take over as the club’s GM, but not until January of 2023. There was a period of a few months where Crane decided to run the baseball operations department himself, reportedly advised by former big leaguers Jeff Bagwell and Reggie Jackson.
During that window, the club’s two most significant transactions were the Montero deal and the three-year pact for first baseman JosĂ© Abreu, both of which turned into huge misfires. Like Montero, Abreu grappled with massive struggles before he himself was released last month. Click later took a job in the front office of the Blue Jays, the club that just acquired Kikuchi for Jake Bloss, Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner.
Montero will surely find himself on the open market in the days to come. Some club could perhaps take a shot on him based on his past success and the fact that there will be effectively no cost. Apart from the 2022 season, his track record is pretty spotty, as he currently has a 4.71 ERA in 462 1/3 career innings. He had a solid run with the Rangers in 2019 and 2020, posting a 3.09 ERA over 46 2/3 innings with a 28.6% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate. He was traded to the Mariners prior to 2021 and then struggled badly with a 7.27 ERA, before the Astros acquired him at that year’s deadline. As mentioned, he then had the best season of his career in 2022 before his results tailed off.
Ouch. That’s a hefty salary
This AND Abreu… double ouchie!
Douchey!
He was huge in helping Houston win it all in 2022
Sad that he fell off after getting the money he deserved
That tends to happen with some players. They bust their buttons to get paid and when they do, they relax and fall off a cliff.
Kind of like Josh Hader right now.
Hader definitely got paid for that 335 ERA+ and isn’t even “league average” this year. Astros fans will have better insight than I, but I’m pretty sure he’s looked a lot better as the season has progressed.
Hawkeye75: Or they don’t relax and don’t change their approach at all, but baseball is hard at the MLB level and results fall off.
It happens to every player sooner or later.
this sucks to see, he was so good 2 years ago
Wow!! Horrible contract but they have no choice but to eat it.
Jim Crane finally let Dana Brown do what needed to be done months ago.
Lots of money for a journeyman reliever who put up one really good year. Courtesy of Crane and co.
Crane let Bagwell make a contract decision and this and Abreu is what happens.
Lmao said it at the time. Bagwell getting influence would be the undoing. So obvious.
FWIW Baggy was a good hitting coach and is a decent commentator
The Bagwell situation is so thorny. He’s a freaking legend as a player and garbage as an executive. I’m glad that his relationship with Jim Crane helped him overcome personal issues, but he’s pure frustration for fans these days.
What a nice walkaway payday!!
About half of $34.5M…
If he goes through Waivers and
another team can just pay the
pro-rated minimum & Astros responsible
For the rest..My bets are on
Angels, A’s, White Sox, Rays..
They all love to get cheap players
To turn into trade chips!
Wait a minute, Angels don’t like to trade ..
At least when they should!
$25 he signs with the Dodgers or Yankees or Phillies
Unless the Dodgers, Yanks or Phils truly phu**ed up their Deadline and have one to jettison… (I’m skeptical this is true…) then their 40s are pretty set, no? I could see a differwnt PS contendah grabbing Montero though!
Dodgers. He needs the big ballpark.
Comerica is pretty spacious too and the Tigers are just about out of arms.
Good call beebs. Pirates? Reds? Marlins?
Marlins?
Mets, where he got his start along with deGrom.
I tend to agree. For the league minimum, the Mets might make a play here.
His ERA is over 4.0 so the O’s will all over him and he apparently has a year of control!
ouch. truth hurts.
In his spot, I’d go to Asia so that he can pocket all of the Astros money while making more there.
RedSox
Luis Garcia replacement
Loved Bagwell as a player but a great contract designer!!!
Montero needed to go. He was good that one year but they did OVERPAY!. Just like with ABREU!!!
But we shall see if this was a good deal for either. Kukuchi. Yes he deserves a chance. He could rebound. Joey was not really going to see a future here althought he did feel part of us. Maybe he takes over in Toronto for Springer. As for Seth he needed to go down or such too. Just has not been great.
I think we still have roster spots but not sure. With Bloss and Joey traded not sure if that counts as 2 spots. But maybe leaving them for Garcia and Verlander to return against Tampa or something.
Well, unfortunately I don’t think Verlander or Garcia will be back in time for the Rays series this weekend, considering they just each threw against live hitters yesterday. They will no doubt have a few minor league rehab games as well. Kikuchi has good stuff and most definitely deserves a chance, I’m just nervous about his high ERA at MMP, which will be half of his starts from here. Will definitely miss Loperfido though
Your first paragraph is incorrect. The two contracts were overpays, but Abreu had a long history of success and a recent MVP award. No one saw such a quick decline coming. A reliever like Montero, though, should not receive a three year deal, and certainly not closer money.
*Meant not a great contract designer!!!
Gee that Hader must be killing Astro fans , been horrendous. Last loss a real heartbreaker. Three run shot to Taylor. Really 🙂
39.6% Strikeout and 8.2% walk rate. Both better than his previous year..
Batting average against .187.
The problem he has had is Home Runs.
He still has 21 saves, but batters are seeing his pitches over the plate a bit too often.
He is thoroughly professional, and no doubt is working on improving that.
I would definitely not describe his performance as “horrendous”.
Horrendous maybe an exaggeration, but with a one run lead , Hader comes out .. you feeling good or nervous ? Nice save yesterday right back on the horse. That was nice to see.
lol this GM is eating up the owner’s cash, Crane brought it upon himself though.
Window closing fast here
Another Astro heading to Toronto…
Ya love to see it. I knew the mariners not keeping him was the right thing to do. Dude threw 96 mph fastballs but right down Broadway. Center cut with minimal run on them. Big league hitters gonna bat practice those pitches. Astros bullpen not even remotely as good as it was in 22′
This reflects the fact that you can’t give more than 100 percent effort. When you throw harder than your arm can handle, you get hurt one way–injury–or the other–fastballs are straight as a dart and get pounded.
Two years ago if he had signed the same deal with the Yankees then Astro fans would be like “we let him walk for that?” No shade just saying hindsight is always 20/20 and undefeated in these types of discussions. Had he performed close to what he did to get the deal it’s a bargain. He didn’t and here we are but that doesn’t mean it was a bad deal at the time. History says he was more likely than not to be this guy and not the one you paid but man if he had walked and was the guy you paid somewhere else Astro fans would be banging on garbage cans in anger!! lol
Big Misfires and financial hits.
I’m wondering if it had more to do with attitude or work ethic.
Having watched him in person in Seattle what struck me is he seems disinterested. Like a guy who doesn’t care much about the game just happens to have a howlitzer for an arm so he’s getting paid because of it. Doesn’t give off a single “love of the game” vibe and that could certainly affect work ethic.
Gr8One:- “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” or summit like that.
You say R Montero seemed “disinterested” while pitching in Seattle. Funny. I saw something completely different when I watched him in person in Seattle. I saw a Pitcher that was genuinely baffled at his luck on balls in play.
I always thought he was desperately unlucky during his time in Seattle. He had great raw stuff, wicked movement and most of the time an ability to control it. I genuinely felt like he was a victim of rotten luck in Seattle. Baseball can be a strange and wonky game. If a Pitcher is going through a spell of giving up bloopers, bleeders and swinging bunts like Montero did in SEA, the baseball gods tend to pile it on. For example: He’d give up a parachute hit followed by an AB where he’d be the victim of bad umpiring or a passed ball.
MLB can be a ridiculously absurd game at times, it has a force or a momentum that can snowball on a victim like Rafael Montero. Why do you think ball players are so superstitious!? Haha the guy made a lot of money ….but he paid for it.