Astros, McCullers agree on five-year extension.
McCullers in agreement on 5-year extension
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Bracing for the loss of two 200-game winners, the Astros appear to have a homegrown ace-in-waiting upon which to build their future starting rotations.
Lance McCullers Jr. is in agreement with the club on a five-year contract extension worth $85 million, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Chronicle. The deal is pending a physical and will not be official until McCullers passes. Astros general manager James Click declined comment Wednesday night.
A person with knowledge of the talks said McCullers entered “deep” negotiations with the team Tuesday night. His deal is the longest and most lucrative given to a starting pitcher in Jim Crane’s ownership tenure, surpassing the threeyear, $30 million deal free agent Scott Feldman received in 2014 and Justin Verlander’s two-year, $66 million extension in 2019.
McCullers’ extension does not take effect until 2022, meaning he’s tied to Houston through the 2026 season, when he will be 32. McCullers will get a $3.5 million signing bonus as part of the deal but will still make a $6.5 million base salary in 2021, important for an Astros team intending to remain under the $210 million competitive balance tax.
The impending departures of Verlander and Zack Greinke, who are in their final season under contract, will clear nearly $57 million in payroll space for 2022, allowing the Astros to splurge
on McCullers while being mindful of the competitive balance tax. Before McCullers’ extension, Houston had just $82.67 million committed to next year’s payroll, according to Spotrac, giving Click and Crane flexibility to spend.
McCullers’ new deal will pay him $15.25 million in 2022 and 2023 and $17 million in 2024, 2025 and 2026, according to a person familiar with the terms.
Keeping McCullers solidifies an Astros rotation that would be left without an established ace to front it, assuming Verlander and Greinke don’t return after this season. Judging by the commitment made Wednesday, the Astros are optimistic McCullers can become one.
In 2022, the rotation is set to return McCullers, Jake Odorizzi, Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy and Cristian Javier — a formidable fivesome of varying success. Javier finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2020. Valdez found his control and blossomed into a budding workhorse before fracturing his left ring finger earlier this month. Odorizzi is a nine-year veteran with five seasons featuring at least 150 innings.
McCullers has the best arsenal of them all. His sinking two-seam fastball reaches 96 mph, complementing a changeup, cutter and trademark power curveball. McCullers famously threw 26 breaking balls in a row to close out Game 7 of the 2017 American League Championship Series against the Yankees, securing a pennant and cementing his place in Astros lore.
The verdict on this deal will be determined by McCullers’ ability to stay on the field. He has a career 3.70 ERA and 3.29 figure for fielding independent pitching but also has spent 402 days on the injured list. The deal signals immense faith from the front office that McCullers can eat innings and stay healthy — two traits he hasn’t been able to string together.
McCullers, 27, has only 5082⁄3 major league innings of wear on his right arm, nearly nothing for a player his age and service time. It can give the Astros hope he is ready to absorb an acelike load, but without the proven numbers, worry will remain.
McCullers has never thrown more than 128 innings in any season or made it through a full 162-game schedule unscathed. He missed the entire 2019 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
McCullers’ injuries have ranged from chronic to fleeting. He dealt with elbow problems throughout the early part of his professional career. He pitched during the 2018 postseason with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow before having Tommy John surgery that November. He posted a 3.93 ERA in 55 innings during the truncated 2020 campaign, his first after the operation.
McCullers missed one start in 2020 after irritating a nerve in his neck while sleeping awkwardly on an airplane. After he returned from that brief stint on the injured list, he did not yield an earned run in his final 17 ⁄3 regular-season innings. 2
The Astros must believe that is an indicator of his future success. Multiple times this spring, McCullers reiterated his surgically repaired elbow feels better than ever. He built his pitch count to 90 during a B game against the Miami Marlins on Wednesday in Jupiter.
“It’s nice to have a clear mind,” McCullers said. “It’s nice to know that I’m ready to go, essentially. I’ve always been dealing with injuries — a UCL tear or rehab — or on an innings count or a pitch limit coming into camp and easing into everything. I didn’t have to do that this time, and now I’m built up. It’s exciting for me because I feel like I’m going to be able to throw my best baseball quickly.”