Houston Astros: Three strategies to fill the 500 inning void in the rotation
By T.A. Mock
Free agency options
The first place that the Houston Astros should look to fill this massive void is obviously the free agent market. The only obstacle in acquiring players here is money, there are no prospects that have to be swapped or anything like that.
There are also several quality arms that are out there on the market as well. There aren’t a ton of the top tier arms, especially after Clayton Kershaw re-upped with the Dodgers, but there are a lot of quality, value arms to target.
The biggest name on the market comes from Arizona. Patrick Corbin had a great but short season in 2015 and seemed primed to become a bonafide star the following season. But that didn’t happen and struggled in 2016 and 2017. However, he finally reached that breakout point this past season, just in time for his big payday.
He threw over 200 innings for the first time in five years, had a 3.15 ERA, a very good 1.05 WHIP, and 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings. He was very, very good and climbed into the star rankings in the MLB. He’ll cost a pretty penny but he would provide an excellent lefty arm to this rotation.
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Corbin is a slot above the rest of the arms on the market but, fortunately, the Astros don’t necessarily need a star pitcher since they already have Verlander and Cole for next year. There are guys in the next tier that could be had for a lot cheaper that could have a similar impact.
A reunion with JA Happ shouldn’t be out of the question as he has been one of the most solid, consistent pitchers for the past few years. The Astros could even target Nathan Eovaldi after they got a good, up-close look at him in the ALCS.
Other targets could include but aren’t limited to, Gio Gonzalez, Lance Lynn, Clay Buchholz, Jeremy Hellickson, and Tyson Ross. The Astros obviously need to find guys to fill these innings and all of these guys would be good options.