Astros to re-sign Rafael Monteiro

Rafael Monteiro The Astros agree to a three-year $34.5 million deal, ESPN’s Jeff Bassan reports. Montero is the third elite loyalist to fall off the board early, after re-signing Padres Robert Suarez And the Mets stuck to Edwin Diaz.

It’s a great deal considering Montero has only collected 0.1 bWAR during his career and only had an ERA north of six last year, but he talks about how great he’s looked since landing in Houston, and puts the early value difference on a quality relief monument.

Montero, 32, threw 68 rounds 1/3 of the Houston pen this year in addition to six thrown late last year after coming from Seattle, scoring 2.18 ERAs in that time with a 26.8% strike rate and 8.6% walking rate. He posted 7.27 Era’s Ugly (albeit with appropriate accessories) in Seattle last year, before the Astros acquired it as part of Kendall Grafman Deal. In Houston, he relied more on his Fastball, and reduced his use of dips and slides. The hitters found it extremely difficult to set his pitches, and he only gave up three home runs all year (and another one in the playoffs) and ranked 91st for average exit velocity.

It certainly isn’t worth anything that this isn’t the first time Montero has had some success, but it crashed soon after. He was signed by Rangers on a minor league deal in 2019 after four unsuccessful years with the Mets that concluded with Tommy John surgery prior to the 18 campaign. He turned out to be a valued member of the Rangers Bullpen that year, throwing 29 runs of 2.28 ERA balls. He pulled back a bit in 2020, but the Rangers were still able to flip him over to the Mariners for a number of possibilities – Andres Mesa And the Jose Cornell – Before the 2021 campaign, but things will fall apart for him in Seattle.

While it’s easy to look back on the 2019 season with Rangers and draw parallels to his last season with the Astros in that it was a strong season isolated among a broader group of poor production, there is plenty of evidence to suggest he has past the corner for good. For example, in 2019, his peripherals were far less impressive than his actual output, and were larger than a much smaller sample size (29 rounds vs 74 1/3 in Houston). In the end, concluding any kind of free multi-year agency deal for dwellers comes with a significant degree of risk, and given how difficult it is to predict future performance of dwellers, there are no guarantees Montero will perform as it did in 2022 over the life of this deal.

This deal locks in a major shareholder from their world championship winning team, but it’s strange to see a big deal like this take place a day after the team moved on from their general manager. Chandler Roma from the Houston Chronicle It reported that GM assistant Andrew Paul and senior director of baseball strategy Bill Verkus were running the Astros’ day-to-day operations following James Cleck’s departure, although Roma adds that this doesn’t necessarily mean that these two were responsible for the Montero deal.

Houston projected payroll now stands at $164 million Per RosterResourceabout $15 million shy of the 2022 mark. There is every chance of bringing Justin Verlander back, while they can look for additions at center, catcher and first base, so there is a strong possibility that their paychecks will comfortably top the $179 million mark from 2022.

The Bulls were one of the strengths of their roster this past season, and with the likes of Ryan Presley, Brian Abreu, Ren Stanek, Hector Neres and now returning Montero, he’s become one of the best players in baseball once again.

It also bodes well for the best other analgesics on the market. Montero’s $34.5 million deal follows Suarez’s five-year, $46 million contract with Padres and Diaz’s record-breaking five-year $102 million deal with the Mets. Generally, shooters are well paid to start a free agency this year, and shooters agents like Taylor Rogers and Kenley Jansen are sure to point the difference to these deals as price points when entering into negotiations.

Image credit: USA Today Sports.