Houston Astros: The MLB Tender Deadline: Winners and Losers

The MLB Tender Deadline has passed, and the Houston Astros made out like bandits. Here’s who is staying and who is leaving as well as the winners and losers.

So Houston Astros fans, as you likely know, the 1st Friday of every December is the league’s MLB tender deadline. Simply put, by 7 p.m. CST, all teams have to notify their arbitration-eligible players as to whether or not they will be tendered a contract.

If they are, they stay with the team. If not, they become free agents.

The Houston Astros had nine players that were arbitration eligible. Mike Fiers was the only Astros player non-tendered and now hits the free agent market. Realistically, Fiers was a big asset to the ball club with most of the rotation injured in the middle of the season.

However, for reasons that go beyond his salary, he had to be let go. Namely, the biggest reason being a disciplinary one. Fiers’ actions towards Luis Valbuena during a match up with the Angels last season sealed his fate with the Astros.

Mike Fiers is still a solid pitcher, and we here at HOH wish him all the best. Unfortunately, he was the one loser out of the MLB tender deadline. The other arbitration eligible players are being tendered contracts. They include the following among others:

Dallas Keuchel
Marwin Gonzalez
Brad Peacock
Ken Giles
Lance McCullers Jr.
Collin McHugh
Jake Marisnick

According to Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle and other reporters, all the above listed players will return to the Astros in 2018. Considering how all contributed so greatly to the World

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Series victory, this was one of many smart moves by Jeff Luhnow and Jim Crane.

The GM and owner were definitely winners of this MLB tender deadline. Crane and Luhnow have been playing their cards perfectly. For them, being the reigning World Champs gives them the luxury of staying put with what they have.

Bringing Back the Bear!

Additionally, another big winner from the tender deadline was catcher and designated hitter, Evan Gattis. Early reports throughout the week listed him as a non tender candidate as well. El Oso Blanco becomes a free agent next winter, so perhaps the team would have wanted to dump his salary and use that money to sign another big bat like Giancarlo Stanton.

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Alas, Crane and Luhnow decided they didn’t need to go that route. Instead, both men made their faith in the bear known by including him on the tender list. Thanks to some Christmas magic, Evan Gattis is coming back to the Houston Astros in 2018!

Consequently, there was no real logical reason for getting rid of him. His production over the years has been solid, albeit imperfect. Not to mention, Gattis has always been a fan favorite. Believe it or not, that certainly helps his case!

True, the team could decide to trade him before Spring training, However, the likelihood of that is almost non-existent at this point. Biggest evidence of this? Quoted words from Jeff Luhnow himself:

"“You saw the power production went down a little bit this year. I don’t know how much of that was due to the fact that he was catching as much as he was. But he’s got 30 homers in there somewhere, and he hit for a higher average, and he’s drawing walks,” Luhnow said. “He’s doing a lot of things toward becoming a complete player, and he could be one of the elite DHs in the game next year.”"

And the Band Played On!

Long story short, most of last year’s team will be back. Crane and Luhnow will wait for the good offers to come. If they don’t, there is no shame in staying right where they are. Most of the world champion band is sticking around, and it’s a pretty good feeling.

Next: Five things Dodgers fans have to come to grips with

Even with this, there was one report saying the team may be pushing hard for Japanese star, Shohei Ohtani. The Astros can always use more star power on their roster. Whatever happens, the spacemen look to defend their world title well in 2018!

GO HOUSTON ASTROS! WORLD CHAMPS!

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