Houston Astros Report: Mike Fiers Agrees To One-Year Deal

We’re in mid-January and for Houston Astros’ fans, it’s that time of the year where we see how much our favorite players mean to the franchise.

We’re in mid-January and for Houston Astros‘ fans, it’s that time of the year where we see how much our favorite players mean to the franchise.

As each team does their due diligence as those important arbitration dates near, it seems all the dominoes seem to fall in place just ahead of Spring Training.

There are currently four players still in need of negotiating their deals for the upcoming season and we now know that at least one of those four will be back with the Astros.

Who am I talking about?

Mike Fiers.

According to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, the Astros have inked him to a one-year deal:

This particular negotiation seemed like one that would be sorted out quickly because of such little difference in the filing numbers.

I’ve come to grow on Fiers so it’s good to know things between he and Astros apparently went smoothly.

In the Jeff Luhnow-era, this regime prefers not to go to arbitration but did so last season for the first time of his tenure with Jason Castro last season.

Castro ultimately lost that battle…

Fiers continues to prove that he’s a reliable pitcher that can make plays to help the team win.

We all remember that day in late August back in 2015 when he no-hit the Los Dodgers gracefully, being the first Astros’ player to do so since Darryl Kile back in 1993.

It’s not an easy thing to do and you bet that meaningful — and slightly more lucrative — pitching seasons are still ahead of him.

He’s not necessarily a “lights-out” guy but can theoretically get the job done.

That’s certainly why he’s still with the Astros.

But on another note, the Astros still have deals to negotiate with three more players.

Those are:  Marwin Gonzalez, Will Harris and Collin McHugh.

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I expect those to be settled accordingly and with little drama to boot.

The one to watch for would definitely be MarGo’s — the Astros filed at $3.25 million will he submitted a request for $4.2 million. 

I don’t blame him for asking but he’ll definitely have to come down on that number, unless he’s confident he can win in arbitration.

But based off this regime’s track record in arbitration so far, I’d definitely tilt the scales in the Astros’ favor.

We’ll have to see.

Fiers, 31, went 11-8 with a 4.48 ERA, tossing 134 strikeouts with an underwhelming 4.43 FIP and decent 1.358 WHIP through 168.2 innings pitched in 2016.

Go Astros.