Depleted rotation gets help
Top remaining free-agent starter Odorizzi agrees to a two-year deal
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — With their rotation depth dwindling to neardesperation, the Astros pounced on the best free agent starter still on the open market.
Houston reached a two-year agreement with righthander Jake Odorizzi on Saturday, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. According to multiple reports, the deal includes a player option and is heavily incentivized.
Astros general manager James Click declined comment. Odorizzi would need to pass a physical and COVID-19 intake screening before officially joining the team, which appears braced for bad news concerning blossoming lefthander Framber Valdez.
“It’s a really big deal if everything works out the way we hope it does, especially with Framber going down,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said after the team’s 6-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Mets. “It’s hard to find quality like Framber, but this is a possible quality deal for us and for him if it works out.”
Houston is still awaiting a second opinion on Valdez’s fractured left ring finger. But the Odorizzi signing suggests Valdez could miss an extended portion of the season.
Even with Valdez at full health, the Astros already had limited starting pitching depth. His absence thrust the Astros back onto the market for Odorizzi, a nine-year veteran who overlapped with Click in Tampa Bay.
Four of Click’s major outside acquisitions this offseason were with him during his Tampa Bay tenure: outfielder Steven Souza Jr., relievers Ryne Stanek and Steve Cishek and, now, Odorizzi. The 30-year-old was a firstround pick of the Brewers in 2008 but spent five of his first six major league seasons with the Rays.
Terms of Odorizzi’s deal weren’t disclosed.
For at least most of the winter, the Astros appeared unwilling to cross the $210 million competitive balance tax threshold — a benchmark they passed during the 2020 season. They entered Saturday with a $196,457,977 CBT payroll, according to Cot’s Contracts.
If Houston crosses the threshold for a second consecutive season, it will pay a 30 percent tax on all overages. Any 2022 draftpick compensation the club receives this winter from declined qualifying offers would come later in the draft, too.
For example, in this June’s draft, the Astros’ compensation pick for George Springer will come after the fourth round as a result of crossing the threshold in 2020. Their compensation pick for Gerrit Cole in last June’s draft was after the second round.
Yet, the need for immediate help apparently outweighed any potential long-term setback.
Odorizzi has a 3.92 lifetime ERA and was an All-Star in 2019 with the Minnesota Twins. He threw only 13⅔ innings during the 60-game season in 2020 and had three stints on the injured list — one for a blister, another for an intercostal strain and another for a chest contusion after he was hit by a comebacker.
Still, Odorizzi was the best free agent available. His two-year deal gives the Astros insurance for 2022, too, when they're scheduled to lose Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke and Lance McCullers Jr. to free agency.
For 2021, though, Odorizzi projects to provide stability in a rotation without much of it.
Odorizzi threw at least 143 innings in every season from 2014 to 2019. Two of his new rotation mates — Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy — never have thrown more than 140 innings in a professional season. Javier’s career-high is 115⅔ innings. Lance McCullers Jr. has never thrown more than 130 major league innings in a season, either.
Odorizzi’s five-pitch arsenal is predicated on a four-seam fastball and splitter. Lefthanded hitters have just a .683 OPS against him, while righthanded hitters slash .243/ .313/.424.
Odorizzi is a flyball pitcher who allows 8.1 hits per nine innings, but walks just 3.1 per nine. After allowing 59 home runs between 2016 and 2017 in Tampa Bay, Odorizzi yielded just 16 homers in 159 innings in his 2019 All-Star season with the Twins.
He was the ace of a Minnesota team that captured the American
League Central but was swept by the New York Yankees in the ALDS. Odorizzi threw in the Game 3 — the only postseason appearance of his major league career.
The Astros now present him a chance at a few more.