Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Astros Rumors

Martin Maldonado Reportedly Drawing Interest From Several Teams

By | at

Veteran catcher Martin Maldonado has been a staple of the Astros lineup in recent years, joining the club as a part-time option behind the plate in deadline deals during both the 2018 and 2019 seasons before sticking in Houston as the club’s primary catcher for the 2020-23 campaigns. Now, however, the 37-year-old veteran is a free agent for the first time since the 2019-20 offseason as the Astros plan to pivot to youngster Yainer Diaz as their primary catcher for the 2024 season.

While Maldonado is out of the starting role in Houston, he’s already drawing plenty of interest on the open market per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, who reports that “4-5 teams” have checked in on the veteran already this offseason. Presumably, one of those clubs is the Astros themselves, as the two sides reportedly have mutual interest in a reunion even as Maldonado would consequently take a smaller role with the club going forward in deference to Diaz.

A 27th-round pick by the Angels in the 2004 draft, Maldonado has never been particularly outstanding with the bat. Since making his major league debut with the Brewers back in 2011, Maldonado has never posted above average offensive numbers by measure of wRC+ in a 162-game season, though he did manage a 107 wRC+ during the shortened 2020 campaign. He fell back to Earth in the following three seasons, however, slashing just .183/.260/.333 (66 wRC+) with a 31.5% strikeout rate in 355 games. Despite those offensive deficiencies, however, has generally been regarded as among the best defensive catchers in the game throughout his career.

That stellar defense took a major hit in 2023, as Statcast placed Maldonado in the first percentile among all catchers with -18 framing runs this season, after years of the metric regarding him as slightly below average at pitch framing, with -1 to -2 framing runs per year. Those iffy framing numbers were more than made up for in the past by Maldonado’s throwing arm behind the plate and blocking abilities, but those metrics dipped in 2023 as well. While the differences were only slight, they exacerbated his struggles with pitch framing in 2023 to leave him worth -1.2 fWAR this season, a bottom-five figure in the majors among players with at least 300 plate appearances this season.

Dire as those numbers look, it’s still reasonable that the Astros and other teams would have interest in Maldonado’s services next year. After all, he’s clearly well-respected as a game-caller who does a good job with a pitching staff, considering Houston’s pitching staff is second to only the Dodgers with a 3.63 ERA since Maldonado took over as the club’s primary catcher in 2020 despite ranking 10th in xFIP and 11th in SIERA over that same period of time. What’s more, a deal with Maldonado would surely be a short-term, low-cost affair given his age and difficult platform season.

Those factors could make Maldonado an attractive back-up option for teams in need of a one-year solution behind the plate, particularly for those with a young catcher who could benefit from an experienced mentor to share time with. Speculatively speaking, the Brewers, Rays, Marlins, and White Sox all have a need behind the plate this offseason, with the White Sox in particular likely to dedicate time to former Astro Korey Lee behind the plate in 2024. Lee, 25, has just 36 games of experience at the big league level and has worked with Maldonado previously, as the duo shared time behind the plate during Lee’s first big league cup of coffee in 2022.

Astros Notes: Payroll, Rotation, Maldonado, Neris

By | at

The Astros advanced to their seventh consecutive League Championship Series in 2023 but fell shy of a third straight World Series bid when the division-rival and eventual World Series Champion Rangers knocked them off in a thrilling seven-game series. They’ll head into the winter with a trio of notable relievers hitting free agency (Hector Neris, Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek) and with a rotation that’s a bit thinned out by to injuries of Lance McCullers Jr. (flexor tendon surgery) and Luis Garcia (Tommy John surgery). Veteran Michael Brantley is also returning to the open market.

Despite a plethora of needs up and down the roster, general manager Dana Brown openly acknowledged at this week’s GM Meetings that his team doesn’t “have a ton” of financial flexibility heading into the offseason (link via Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle). That’s unwelcome news for ’Stros fans, though Brown suggested that if the right situation presented itself, owner Jim Crane might push beyond his current comfort levels.

As it stands, strong rookie performances from the likes of Hunter Brown and J.P. France give Houston a quality group of six starters on which to lean. Reacquired ace Justin Verlander, lefty Framber Valdez and righties Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy round out the rotation options.

Verlander will pitch next season at 41, however, while Valdez and Javier faltered a bit as the year wore on; Javier’s rotation spot was skipped a couple times over the summer as he labored through mixed results, while Valdez turned in a pedestrian 4.64 ERA over his final 99 innings before being rocked for 12 earned runs in 12 postseason frames. Urquidy spent several months on the injured list and turned in 73 innings of 5.30 ERA ball between the regular season and playoffs combined.

The depth beyond those six is more concerning. Righties Shawn Dubin and Brandon Bielak both had rough showings in Triple-A. The latter tossed 80 innings of 3.83 ball in the big leagues but did so with a 10.2% walk rate, 17.6% strikeout rate and too many home runs allowed (1.35 HR/9) to necessarily bank on a repeat. Former top prospect Forrest Whitley, also on the 40-man roster, posted a 5.70 ERA in 30 Triple-A frames.

Brown indicated to reporters that he’d be open to opportunities to add “a legit third starter or better.” Logically speaking, doing so without radically increasing the payroll would likely require operating on the trade market rather than in free agency. It sounds as though that’s viewed more as a luxury than a priority anyhow; McCullers and Garcia are expected back sometime in July, and Brown instead called the bullpen and backup catcher “priorities.”

To that end, it’s perhaps not surprising to hear that the ’Stros and longtime catcher Martin Maldonado could continue their relationship. Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports that the two parties have mutual interest in a reunion, adding that Brown has already met with Maldonado’s agent, Dan Lozano, during this week’s GM Meetings. The Astros have publicly declared that Yainer Diaz will be their primary catcher in 2024, but as Brown himself spelled out, adding an experienced backup is a goal.

Houston has stuck with Maldonado for four and a half years despite the fact that he’s perhaps been MLB’s least-productive hitter during that time. Over the past three seasons in particular, Maldonado has been a liability at the dish. In 1212 plate appearances since 2021, he’s turned in a .183/.260/.333 — about 34% worse than league average by measure of wRC+. However, the Astros are enamored of Maldonado’s game-calling, game-planning and broad defensive skills. Maldonado ranks among the game’s best at blocking pitches in the dirt over the past four years, although his framing skills fell off a cliff in 2023 and his caught-stealing rate has steadily declined.

Houston clearly loves Maldonado’s work with their pitching staff, however, and the organization would surely welcome him working in a mentor role to Diaz, whom they hope can cement himself as the catcher of the future. Add in that a new deal with Maldonado in a reduced role would undoubtedly be a low-cost arrangement, and it wouldn’t at all be surprising to see them hammer something out. Maldonado earned $5MM in 2022 and $4.5MM last year.

Maldonado isn’t the only former Astro who’s on the radar. Via Rome, Brown acknowledged that he’s also spoken with Neris’ representatives at Octagon about a new deal, though there’s no indication a new deal is close to fruition. Neris turned down an $8.5MM player option and although he’s 34 years old will quite likely be able to secure a multi-year pact on the open market this winter after turning in a sub-2.00 ERA in his second season with Houston.

Turning to a pair of Astros icons, both Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman are entering the final year of their contracts. Brown has been forthcoming about his desire to make the pair lifelong Astros, but agent Scott Boras — who represents both players — said at this week’s meetings that contract talks have not yet begun (link via Kawahara).

Astros fans will want to check out the pieces from both Kawahara and Rome in full, as they’re rife with refreshingly straightforward answers from Brown — the type of candor that many of his peers throughout the league generally shy away from offering. Beyond acknowledging priorities in the bullpen and behind the plate as well as interest in bolstering the rotation, Brown suggested that outfield won’t be a primary focus this offseason, given the presence of Kyle Tucker, Chas McCormick, Yordan Alvarez, Mauricio Dubon and Jake Meyers. That doesn’t expressly rule out an addition — unexpected opportunities on the trade market, for instance, could always arise — but it doesn’t seem that’s a hot-button issue for the Astros at the moment.

Astros Have Interviewed Joe Espada In Managerial Search

By | at

Astros bench coach Joe Espada has received an interview in the club’s managerial search, GM Dana Brown confirmed this afternoon (link via Chandler Rome of the Athletic). That’s no surprise considering he has been viewed by many as the logical choice to replace Dusty Baker atop the Houston dugout.

Espada has never managed in the big leagues but has gotten serious attention from a number of teams. He was reportedly one of the finalists in the Marlins search last offseason and has interviewed for several jobs over the years. This morning, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal listed Espada among the potential targets for the Brewers as they set out in search of Craig Counsell’s replacement.

Curiously, Brown told reporters today that the Astros would not grant permission for Espada to interview with Milwaukee until Houston had made its own decision. However, Rome reports that Espada’s contract with the Astros expired on October 31 — thereby negating Houston’s ability to block him from speaking with other teams.

That the Astros have considered trying to prevent Espada from interviewing elsewhere at least seems to suggest he’s a legitimate candidate for the Houston job. Brown pushed back against characterizing the 48-year-old (or anyone else) as the favorite but confirmed Espada was the only in-house person under consideration. That rules out first base coach Omar López, who had been floated as a potential option in the immediate aftermath of Baker’s retirement. Brown added that another team’s bench coach without MLB managerial experience (whom he did not name) is among the other candidates.

Espada has spent the past six seasons as Houston bench coach, holding the position under both A.J. Hinch and Dusty Baker. Before that, he’d logged three seasons on the Yankees staff. Espada has managed for Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic but has no experience doing so in the affiliated ranks.

Latest On Brewers’ Managerial Vacancy

By | at

The Brewers are suddenly looking for a manager for the first time in almost a decade, with Craig Counsell’s stunning move to the Cubs yesterday. Some of the options they are considering as a replacement, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, are current Brewers bench coach Pat Murphy, Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly, Astros Bench coach Joe Espada, Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough, Astros hitting coach Troy Snitker and former player Rickie Weeks.

Counsell departing Milwaukee wasn’t totally unforeseen. He was on an expiring contract in 2023 and extension talks didn’t come to fruition. But with David Stearns moving on from the Brewers to become president of baseball operations for the Mets and then firing manager Buck Showalter, many assumed Counsell would follow him to Queens. But Counsell joining the division-rival Cubs was not foreseen or known to be on the table.

Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio spoke on the matter yesterday, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and it seems he was surprised as well. “When he first told me, I said, ‘Are you messing with me?’” Attanasio added that “It is what it is” and that the club intends to continue putting their best foot forward without Counsell. “We have a really good thing. I give Craig credit for helping to build that, and for adding all these coaches, all of whom have stayed. So we’re going to look for a manager who can continue having a terrific clubhouse culture and that can help us keep winning and hopefully get over the hump in the playoffs.”

As for the Mets, despite the generally spendthrift behavior of Steve Cohen in recent years, they apparently never got close to the $40MM over five years that Counsell secured from the Cubs. Per Andy Martino of SNY, there was a sense that his interest in coming to the Mets wasn’t actually that high and he was merely using them to drive up the bidding. That would track with his reported interest in resetting the market for managerial salaries. Perhaps he wasn’t especially willing to do that in Queens since he grew up in the Midwest and Chicago is a better fit for him, or perhaps the Mets were content to hire a manager with lesser demands, but the end result is that the Mets landed first-time manager Carlos Mendoza instead.

As for the Brewers’ immediate concerns in relation to this, though it may sting that Counsell joined a division rival instead of the Mets, the focus now will be on filling the void. It seems they weren’t terribly proactive while Counsell was still available, with Attanasio stating that he and general manager Matt Arnold “thought it was going to muddy things if we started interviews with third parties” but that Arnold has “conducted a couple of internal interviews, for what that’s worth.” That suggests they are still in the early stages of their search, with still a wide list of potential candidates being considered, as mentioned above.

Murphy, 65 this month, has a small amount of managerial experience. He was in the Padres’ organization in June of 2015 when Bud Black was fired as manager. Murphy got the gig on an interim basis for the second half of that season but Andy Green took over for the 2016 campaign. Murphy then came to the Brewers to serve as bench coach under Counsell and has garnered plenty of interest from clubs with managerial openings since, but has stayed in Milwaukee.

Mattingly, 63 in April, has plenty of experience as a bench boss. He was at the helm for the Dodgers from 2011 to 2015 and then for the Marlins from 2016 to 2022, before joining the Blue Jays as bench coach for the 2023 season.

Espada, 48, has coaching experience with the Marlins and Yankees but has been the bench coach of the Astros since the start of the 2018 season. He has been connected to various managerial gigs in the past few years but is still with the Astros, who just saw Dusty Baker step out of the skipper’s chair. It’s been speculated that Espada could take over in Houston but nothing is official there.

McCullough, 44 next month, has been the first base coach of the Dodgers since the 2021 campaign. He recently interviewed for the managerial opening in Cleveland but that position has now been filled by Stephen Vogt.

Snitker, 35 next month, is the son of Atlanta manager Brian Snitker. He has been co-hitting coach for the Astros for the past five seasons alongside Álex Cintrón.

Weeks, 41, played in the majors from 2003 to 2017, most of that in Milwaukee. He was hired by the Brewers for a player development role going into the 2022 season.

Enoli Paredes To Elect Free Agency

By and | at

The Astros have assigned right-hander Enoli Paredes outright to Triple-A, per a club announcement. There had been no prior indication Paredes was on waivers. The move leaves the Astros with 37 players on their 40-man roster. Paredes is electing free agency, per Ari Alexander of KRPC 2 (X link).

Paredes, 28, was added to the club’s roster prior to the 2020 campaign. He made 22 appearances for them in that shortened campaign but has mostly been on optional assignment for the past three years. He has now tallied 37 major league appearances in total with an earned run average of 3.90. His 23.6% strikeout rate is around league average but his 19.7% walk rate is roughly double par.

In 2023, he spent most of his time at Triple-A, with a 4.80 ERA over 54 1/3 innings. His 27.3% strikeout rate was strong but he again struggled with free passes, giving them out to 18.6% of hitters at that level. Beyond his control issues, he’s also set to be out of options next year, meaning he will have less roster flexibility going forward. Both of those factors likely led to the Astros removing him from the roster.

GM Dana Brown Reportedly "Pushing" For Joe Espada As Manager

By | at

  • The Astros could be nearing the end of their search for a manager to replace veteran skipper Dusty Baker, who retired at the end of the 2023 season. Per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, GM Dana Brown is “pushing” for the organization to promote bench coach Joe Espada to take over for Baker in the role. That being said, even an endorsement from Brown doesn’t necessarily guarantee the job will go to Espada; after all, as recent reports have indicated that both owner Jim Crane and adviser Jeff Bagwell will have “immense say” over who takes the reins from Baker in the dugout when all is said and done. Former Tigers and Angels manager Brad Ausmus along with third base coach Omar Lopez are among the other rumored contenders for the managerial gig in Houston.

Hector Neris Declines Player Option With Astros

By | at

Right-hander Hector Neris will test free agency after declining his player option for the 2024 season, MLB Trade Rumors has learned.  Neris passed a postseason physical, which was the final step in turning the Astros’ $8.5MM club option (with a $1MM buyout) for 2024 into a player option.  The terms of Neris’ two-year, $17MM deal with Houston allowed that club option to vest into a player option if Neris made at least 110 appearances over the 2022-23 seasons, and the righty easily passed that benchmark with 141 games pitched.

Neris turned 34 back in June, yet doesn’t appear to be slowing down at all, considering that he posted a 1.71 ERA over 68 1/3 innings in 2023.  An 11.4% walk rate is a red flag, yet most of Neris’ other metrics were well above average, and he was one of baseball’s best at limiting hard contact.  A 3.89 SIERA might be a better reflection of Neris’ 2023 performance given his walk rate and his .219 BABIP, yet in some sense, Neris’ luck was evening out after a 2022 season that saw him post a 3.72 ERA but a 2.70 SIERA.

The combined result is a 2.69 ERA/3.29 SIERA over Neris’ two seasons in an Astros uniform, as well as 56 holds in a setup role in front of closer Ryan Pressly.  With Rafael Montero, Phil Maton, and Bryan Abreu also contributing to a strong late-game mix, Neris was routinely called upon to shut down batters in the seventh or eighth inning, with generally impressive results.  In addition to his regular-season work, Neris also had a 1.50 ERA over six innings and eight appearances during the 2022 playoffs, helping the Astros win the World Series.

There wasn’t much suspense that Neris would test the market again, as he should be able to land another multi-year deal coming off of this strong performance.  The 10-year MLB veteran formerly worked as the Phillies’ closer early in his career, so he might have some extra appeal to a team that could use at least a backup option for save situations, even if Neris is likely going to be targeted as a setup man by most of his suitors.  Neris looks to be one of the better options available in a typically crowded bullpen market, and some options are already off the board since the Braves re-signed Joe Jimenez and Pierce Johnson.

Astros Promote Gavin Dickey To Assistant GM

By | at

The Astros announced a series of internal promotions earlier this week, most notably the promotion of Gavin Dickey to an assistant general manager position.  Dickey is a longtime member of the Astros’ staff, working in numerous jobs since his initial hiring as a scout in 2011.  Most recently, he worked as a special assistant to GM Dana Brown during the 2023 season.  The 40-year-old Dickey moved right into scouting on the heels of his playing career, which consisted of six seasons in independent ball and in the Mariners’ and Braves’ farm systems from 2006-11.

Report: MLB Grants Yariel Rodriguez Free Agency

By | at

Right-handed pitcher Yariel Rodriguez has officially been declared a free agent by Major League Baseball, reports Francys Romero (X link). He is now free to sign with an MLB team.

Rodriguez became one of the more intriguing options on the pitching market when he was granted a release from his contract with NPB’s Chunichi Dragons a month ago. He has been conducting showcases for MLB clubs in the few weeks since but was barred from officially signing with a major league team until today. There’s nothing to suggest he’ll sign imminently, of course, but this removes the procedural hurdle he still needed to clear.

A native of Cuba, Rodriguez turns 27 in March. That’s atypically young for a free agent pitcher. He worked out of the bullpen over parts of three seasons with the Dragons. Rodriguez had a dominating showing in 2022, when he pitched to a 1.15 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate over 54 2/3 innings. He worked as a starter for his home country during the World Baseball Classic. Once that event concluded, Rodriguez decided not to report back to the Dragons. He sat out the remainder of the 2023 season — the team placed him on the restricted list — before his camp secured his release.

MLB teams figure to have differing evaluations on Rodriguez’s viability as a starter. He’s an intriguing arm with promising stuff and success at the second-highest level of professional baseball in the world. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported last month that the Rays were among 15 teams with scouts in attendance for one of Rodriguez’s recent workouts in the Dominican Republic. This afternoon, Romero listed (on X) 10 clubs that had shown interest in the hurler: the Astros, Yankees, Rangers, Pirates, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Phillies, White Sox, Mets and Giants.

Yainer Diaz To Be Astros’ Primary Catcher In 2024

By | at

Astros’ general manager Dana Brown spoke with KPRC 2 recently about the club’s priorities. He naturally listed bullpen as a target area with Phil Maton, Hector Neris and Ryne Stanek set to become free agents. He also said that the club will need a backup catcher for Yainer Diaz, who is going to be “the main guy next year.”

The Astros have been employing Martín Maldonado as their primary backstop in recent years, which certainly hasn’t been because of his bat. Though he had a nice showing at the plate in the shortened 2020 season, he has hit .183/.260/.333 in 1,212 plate appearances over the past three years. That amounts to a wRC+ of 66, indicating he was 34% worse than the league average hitter over that stretch.

Despite that tepid offense, he has been a valuable member of the Astros in that time thanks to his glovework and his handling of the pitching staff. But his defensive numbers slid a bit in 2023, hardly surprising since he is now 37 years old. With his contract now expiring, it seems the club is planning to move on.

That decision has been made easier by the emergence of Diaz, who had a breakout year in 2023. His 2.9% walk rate is quite low, but he also limited his strikeouts to a 19.6% rate. He launched 23 home runs and produced a line of .282/.308/.538 for a wRC+ of 127. Among catchers with at least 350 plate appearances for the year, only Sean Murphy had a higher wRC+ mark, with his 129 just two points ahead.

But with Maldonado behind the plate most days, a lot of that production took place while Diaz wasn’t catching. He did get 42 starts as the catcher but also 36 as the designated hitter and seven at first base. It’s hard to get meaningful data from that small sample of work behind the plate but, for what it’s worth, Statcast liked his blocking and work with the running game. However, each of Statcast, FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus considered his framing to be subpar. Regardless of the details, the overall body of work was strong and it’s logical the club wants to give him the gig next year.

Diaz is only 25 so it’s entirely possible there’s still room to grow. He has just over a year of service time, meaning he won’t qualify for arbitration before the end of 2025 and isn’t slated for free agency until after 2028. Perhaps the club will face some challenges in moving from a respected veteran to a far younger catcher, but those concerns could be ameliorated somewhat by bringing in a veteran to support Diaz.

Maldonado could perhaps be that veteran, though it might be tough for the club to bring him back and then limit him to a part-time role. Other options on the free agent market include Austin Hedges, Yasmani Grandal, Victor Caratini and Tucker Barnhart. The trade market could feature guys like Jacob Stallings of the Marlins or Kyle Higashioka of the Yankees.

As Brown outlines, targeting bullpen help will be a logical move with Maton, Stanek and Neris headed for the open market. Neris actually has a player option and no decision has been publicly reported on that, but it sounds like Brown is expecting him to turn it down. That’s not surprising since Neris posted a 1.71 ERA in 2023. He won’t be able to sustain a .219 batting average on balls in play or 90.5% strand rate, which is why his 3.83 FIP and 3.89 SIERA were more than two runs above his ERA. But nonetheless, he recorded 31 holds and a couple of saves while striking out 28.2% of batters faced. It’s a net $7.5MM decision, with the option valued at $8.5MM with a $1MM buyout. He probably won’t be able to get his ERA under 2.00 again but he should still be able to beat that guarantee on the open market.

Brown noted that some of the replacements could be internal but they may look to make some moves this winter as well. Josh Hader is the top reliever available but there are also names like Jordan Hicks, Matt Moore, Reynaldo López, Robert Stephenson and many more.

Financially, the club may be walking a tricky line, unless they want to break their own tendencies. They have generally tried to stay under the competitive balance tax, which will have a base threshold of $237MM next year. The club is already at $231MM for next year, per the calculations of Roster Resource, though Neris opting out will drop that below $225MM. Adding a backup catcher and a reliever won’t necessarily break the bank, but it doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room if they want to stay under the tax again in 2024.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows FOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top