The Astros had a “very high” amount of interest in Nick Pivetta prior to the trade deadline, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports. No deal was worked out between Houston and Boston, naturally, as the Red Sox were still in contention and opted against moving Pivetta or any other impending free agents. The Astros instead pivoted to landing Yusei Kikuchi from the Blue Jays in what was arguably the most impactful trade of deadline season, as Kikuchi’s dominance dominance since coming to Houston has been a key factor in the Astros’ run to the AL West crown.
Pivetta made his final start of the 2024 campaign yesterday, and the right-hander finishes his eighth MLB season with a 4.14 ERA over 145 2/3 innings, as well as very strong strikeout (28.9%) and walk (6.1) rates. Pivetta’s success was limited by a propensity for allowing hard contact and a lot of home runs, but all in all, he has made a solid case for himself as he enters free agency in advance of his age-32 season. On paper, the Astros’ mix of younger arms and veteran starters returning from injury should help the team make up for the possible departures of Kikuchi and Justin Verlander in free agency, yet the “you can never have enough pitching” cliche is a persuasive counter-argument. Bolstering the group with a mid-tier option like Pivetta could be an attractive option to the Astros this winter.
Some other items from the AL West…
- A CT scan on Josh Jung’s surgically-repaired right wrist revealed no structural damage, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). Jung missed most of the season after undergoing the surgery in early April, and was still bothered by some discomfort in his wrist after returning to the field in late July. The Rangers ended Jung’s season with an IL placement earlier this week, and Bochy said that the third baseman’s shutdown period will involve “complete rest for a couple of weeks and then we’ll test it and see where he’s at.” Jung hit only .248/.278/.367 in 169 plate appearances following his surgery.
- The Mariners’ offense has been one of the best in baseball since Edgar Martinez assumed hitting coach duties on August 23, yet it isn’t clear if Martinez will be back in the job next season. The Seattle Times’ Adam Jude writes that the club has already started looking for a new hitting coach, though the M’s would seemingly love having Martinez return, if he is willing to take on the daily grind of a coaching role over a full season. The possibility exists that the Mariners could both hire a new top hitting coach and still retain Martinez, as Jude suggests that Martinez could stay on as a coach for just home games, in order to cut down on the travel.
LordD99
Martinez is a HOFer worth tens of millions. I doubt he returns for that grind. An advisor role makes sense, but will the new hitting coach feel empowered with Martinez staring over his shoulder?
Canuckleball
I imagine any hitting coach brought in will have the situation clearly laid out for him.
If the Mariners feel Edgar is a key part of the offenses rebirth, they should move heaven and earth to keep him around. If they can have even a half decent offense next year with those pitchers, they could make some real noise next year.
Fever Pitch Guy
Canuck – The better question, does the 61-year-old Martinez adhere to the latest analytics approach for hitting? If not and the front office does, then he probably wouldn’t be a good longterm fit.
YankeesBleacherCreature
The article says he doesn’t with his “see ball, hit ball” approach. Julio Rodriguez likes Edgar so I think they should offer him enough to try to keep him.
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
Well Edgar has proven that he knows how to make the team hit better than the front office does
Fever Pitch Guy
YBC – Thank you, I couldn’t read the article because of a paywall.
I don’t know the Mariners front office enough to offer an opinion, hopefully they value results over analytics.
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
I don’t like the idea of trying to force Edgar for the season grind if he doesn’t want to the mariners need him
Fever Pitch Guy
Pivetta has been very consistent, versatile and fairly healthy the past two seasons. He will get paid well, likely not by the Sox. I wish him well.
Warden of the North(acoss13)
Fever,
Your Red Sox had a run during the season where they looked like a playoff team. I hope Breslow gets to make moves, you guys have some great players, they just need a little help.
Fever Pitch Guy
acoss – Thank you for the encouraging words, I appreciate it!
They have some really good prospects coming up, and a good core of young established players (Devers, Abreu, Duran, Houck, Crawford).
The run this season was a bit of a mirage though. Easy schedule, pitching staff starting strong because of an entirely new approach, and both Devers & Duran were having outstanding seasons.
Until a couple weeks ago they had basically the same record as last year when they finished last, so good runs are nothing new over the course of a 162-game season. If Sox management had decided to GFIN at the trade deadline, they’d be in a playoff spot for sure.
Hoping next year will be different, but with ownership saying they don’t plan to contend until at least 2026 it will probably be another bridge year next season.
Bruin1012
Fever the we all know that the Red Sox need high end pitching help to compete the next couple of years.
I would argue this is exactly the time to take on a big contract like Burnes or another tor arm and add a couple of high end relief arms. The reason for this is two-fold this gives them a legitimate window opening next season but in three years or so I think it’s highly likely low cost higher end arms are going to start to show making it less likely they will rely on a high end free agent arm such as Burnes. Next year as guys like Anthony, Campbell, and Teel matriculate we are going to start hearing about the list of arms coming for Boston. IMO the prospects that are going to break out next season is multiple pitching prospects and next year will be the year that rest of the prospect experts like BA realize that low and behold the Red Sox have arms coming.
The guys they have coming aren’t likely to make difference next year or even the year after that since they were mostly in A ball this year but they are coming. It’s time to address the pitching now the future will take care of itself.
This team can compete as early as next season if ownership lets Breslow add that tor arm and a couple of high end bullpen arms. They should be able to this without going over the lux tax.
Fever Pitch Guy
Bruin – Excellent post, I fully agree!
Ownership has stated they don’t plan to acquire elite talent via trade or free agency until CMAT has established themselves at the major league level. Hopefully missing the postseason for the third year in a row will change their mind and they try to win next year, I think this year’s financials will have a big impact on how they approach 2025.
Salvi
Can you point to the specific “Ownership has stated”. Have not heard or seen that. Seems more of an assumption than a thing any ownership looking to sell tickets would actually “state”.
olmtiant
Couldn’t agree with you more… if Nick was thought to be part of the starting pitching problem good luck!! He was solid to say the least since the trade ( which was a great one for Boston) plus his down the stretch/ playoff pitching was pretty darn good also….
letitbelowenstein
Too bad about the non-deal, though. The Vazquez trade turned out to be pretty darn good. Maybe they could have done something similar with Pivetta.