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Astros, Dallas Keuchel Have Had Recent Discussions

By Steve Adams | March 7, 2019 at 10:26am CDT

The Astros are still in touch with free-agent lefty Dallas Keuchel about a potential return to Houston, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). ESPN’s Buster Olney hears similarly, tweeting this morning that the two sides have talked recently but, as of last night, were not close to agreeing to a deal. Heyman notes that the Phillies remain interested on a short-term pact, while MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand wrote Tuesday that Keuchel is still seeking a multi-year pact.

Houston currently has Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Collin McHugh and Wade Miley penciled into the top four spots in the rotation, with Brad Peacock and Framber Valdez vying for the fifth spot in camp (a rotation battle recently explored by The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan). Re-signing Keuchel would push Peacock back into the multi-inning relief role in which he excelled last season. Beyond that, though, bringing Keuchel back into the mix would address the looming rotation void facing the Astros beyond the current season. Each of Verlander, Cole, McHugh and Miley will be a free agent following the 2019 season. Houston has top prospect Forrest Whitley looming in Triple-A and will ideally get Lance McCullers Jr. back from Tommy John surgery in 2020, but the absence of even a single current member of the rotation on the books in 2020 does lead to some longer-term uncertainty.

Keuchel, 31, may not be the ace-caliber arm that he was when he took home the American League Cy Young Award in 2015, but he’s still very clearly a solid starter who’d improve just about any rotation in the Majors. Slowed a bit by neck and back injuries in 2016-17 — he still made 49 starts over those two seasons — Keuchel once again crossed the 200-inning threshold in 2018. Last season, he tossed 204 2/3 frames of 3.74 ERA ball with 6.7 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.79 HR/9 and a 53.7 percent ground-ball rate. Even excluding his pair of sub-3.00 ERA campaigns in 2014-15 (and that 2015 Cy Young nod), Keuchel has worked to a 3.77 ERA in 518 2/3 innings over the past three years.

Whether his lofty asking price has dropped to the point where the Astros would consider re-signing their homegrown lefty still isn’t clear, though recent talks between the two sides suggest that Houston is hardly closed off to the general concept. Re-signing Keuchel wouldn’t cost the Astros a current draft pick, but it’d prevent them from receiving the compensatory draft selection they’d receive if they allowed him to sign with another club.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/03/astros-rumors-dallas-keuchel-return.html

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signing dk gives you a new starter and a new reliever (assuming mchugh or peacock goes back to the pen).  it's a deal that makes sense, as long as it's short term (2 years?).  not sure he would accept anything like that.  maybe he would do a 1 year to hit free agency again?

i have to assume our analytics nerds are crunching numbers in some basement, and they know exactly what it'll cost to keep the guys we want to keep (cough, bregman), and still go after cole/verlander.  that plan obviously included letting marwin and dk walk.  as long as signing him doesn't fuck up that plan, i'm down.  i can't imagine it would.

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2 hours ago, Jshep34 said:

Damn heb commercial curse.
Waiting on ticket options to open up for our trip to Baltimore/Dc

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
 

stubhub them before you leave. recommend sitting in different parts of the ballpark. for night games, sit behind the astros dugout (third base side), for day games, try and sit underneath the awning/overhang  so the sun doesn't wipe you out. great ballpark. 

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signing dk gives you a new starter and a new reliever (assuming mchugh or peacock goes back to the pen).  it's a deal that makes sense, as long as it's short term (2 years?).  not sure he would accept anything like that.  maybe he would do a 1 year to hit free agency again?
i have to assume our analytics nerds are crunching numbers in some basement, and they know exactly what it'll cost to keep the guys we want to keep (cough, bregman), and still go after cole/verlander.  that plan obviously included letting marwin and dk walk.  as long as signing him doesn't fuck up that plan, i'm down.  i can't imagine it would.

I don’t know that I do more than 1 year. Too much of a powder keg
I would be fine with this as long as DK is there mentally...and stays there the first bad month he has.
It smacks of “you ain’t the best, but you’re the best I can get” on both sides. Certainly, for Dallas. That sort of arrangement is fine in March but in July if he’s sporting a below .500 record and a plus 4.00 ERA it’s going to be ugly for everybody.
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Ken RosenthalVerified account @Ken_Rosenthal 2h2 hours ago More#Astros have made both one- and two-year offers to free-agent left-hander Dallas Keuchel, sources tell The Athletic. Offers not in range Keuchel is seeking. Desired terms not known.  

Yeah, exactly what I’m saying above.
If Dallas ends up in Houston on a 2 year deal, that could real ugly in the locker room in a hurry if he struggles
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11 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:


Yeah, exactly what I’m saying above.
If Dallas ends up in Houston on a 2 year deal, that could real ugly in the locker room in a hurry if he struggles

not sure about that.  he's been outspoken to a fault, but he's not the leader in that clubhouse.

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2 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

not sure about that.  he's been outspoken to a fault, but he's not the leader in that clubhouse.

Yeah, he's not part of the boy band that leads the locker room, nor is he the sound sage master of the woooo.

He's an idiot Sooner/pig that turned down big money twice in terms of a long term deal and on a 1 year QO.

Still hopes he signs a 1 year deal with the Astros.

Edited by HtownHorn
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Yeah, he's not being realistic about his career.  He still thinks he can pitch like a Cy Young winner, when he hasn't been at that level in years.  That said, I don't see much of a downside to signing him to short deal.  I don't think there will be a problem in the clubhouse.

Edited by kevwun
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Thought this was a good article summing Keuchel’s situation.

being a unicorn: pitcher that gets more than 200 IP but not being great.

https://www.mlb.com/news/dallas-keuchel-one-of-last-of-old-school-workhorses

 

Still, this is likely part of why he remains unsigned weeks after Spring Training began, because a sport focused on velocity, missing bats and future performance sees him as the solid workhorse he projects to be for the next few years, while Keuchel is probably selling himself as a Cy Young-winning World Series champion -- as he should.

 

Regardless of where he ends up landing, Keuchel might be the last of his kind for a while, especially with the unsigned Shields unlikely to get to 200 ever again. It's hard to throw 200 innings in a season these days. It's even harder when you're good, not great.

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Well Stros just killed my yearly outing.  The past couple seasons I have gotten 20-25 friends together on one day and we have all went and been in the Torchy's Deck to watch the game and shoot the shit etc.  So much easier there than in a rown/multiple rows etc.  Helped it had some seats too there that some of the lard asses could sit in when needed.  Found out today they made the Torchy's Deck into group seating only now with 60 as minimum group.  

Thanks a lot Obama 

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13 hours ago, kevwun said:

 I don't think there will be a problem in the clubhouse.

winning cures clubhouse problems, and this team is gonna win.  the worst thing dk ever did re: the media interaction was right before the verlander trade, and we were playing like shit.  if he comes back, he'll have to swallow some pride, but i think everyone else will be happy to have him, and the team should be better for it.

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1 minute ago, mycox said:

That is horrible news. It's always fun out there hanging out with strangers. Plus there is booze.

Yeah I guess the top area by the bar will still be first come first serve, but the actually deck is a no go.  

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Well Stros just killed my yearly outing.  The past couple seasons I have gotten 20-25 friends together on one day and we have all went and been in the Torchy's Deck to watch the game and shoot the shit etc.  So much easier there than in a rown/multiple rows etc.  Helped it had some seats too there that some of the lard asses could sit in when needed.  Found out today they made the Torchy's Deck into group seating only now with 60 as minimum group.  

Thanks a lot Obama 

I guess you’re gonna need to make a few more friends?

 

But yeah that blows

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so, the torchy's bar is still good to go but the seating area - the deck overlooking center is reserved for groups? am i understanding that right? hell, i don't think i've ever been on the actual deck of it but go to the bar all the time. that's my spot when i go to games by myself. 

love day games at torchys

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1 hour ago, Mez2 said:

so, the torchy's bar is still good to go but the seating area - the deck overlooking center is reserved for groups? am i understanding that right? hell, i don't think i've ever been on the actual deck of it but go to the bar all the time. that's my spot when i go to games by myself. 

love day games at torchys

Games by yourself eh?  If only there was someone who lived 1000 ft away?

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25 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

So those were her boss’s tickets? 

Or the companies. Probably why she was fired ;) We started getting them in 13 or 14 before the team hit its stride. We were the only people who would take them apparently if no from her company was going. After that she kept on asking my wife if we would wanted them the day of. 

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