Astros agreed to a contract with the righty Jake Odorizzi, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link) The agreement is a two-year pact with a player option for the 2023 season. Odorizzi is represented by Excel Sports Management.
Reports emerged yesterday about Houston’s interest in Odorizzi, which seemed natural considering that Framber Valdez is in danger of losing the entire 2021 season after suffering a fracture in the ring finger of the throwing hand. Although nothing has been decided on Valdez’s status yet, the addition of Odorizzi will help to reinforce an Ostros rotation that also includes Zack Greinke, Jose Urquidy, Lance McCullers Jr., and Cristian Javier. More inexperienced options like Luis garcia and Brandon Bielak now it will be projected as Triple-A depth, instead of being called upon to contribute immediately at the level of the grand league.
Odorizzi does not fit well with Astros’ usual pitching acquisition model, as he does not have the large turnover rates that Houston has always favored in recent years. It may be that the need to replace Valdez put Odorizzi on the team’s radar, and Astros GM James Click has known Odorizzi since the time they were together in the Rays organization. Houston will win a veteran arm that has a history of eating starters, although Odorizzi shot just 13 2/3 frames with the twins in 2020 due to a series of minor injuries.
Problems with blisters, a distended chest and a blow to the chest by a long line resulted in three injuries on Odorizzi’s injured list, putting a sour end to what had been successful management in Minnesota. Odorizzi posted an ERA of 4.01 and an above average of 24.83 K% on 323 1/3 entries in 2018-19, and chose to return to the Twin Cities in 2020 after accepting the $ 17 qualifying offer, 8 million of the team.
That decision to bet on himself did not work entirely, as a more typical Odorizzi season in 2020 would likely result in a longer and more profitable free agent contract for the pitcher (who will turn 31 later this month). With Odorizzi having control over his fate for the 2023 season, he technically ended up getting the three-year contract he hoped to receive for much of the winter, although it took almost a week in March to finally get the contract.
After exceeding the competitive equilibrium tax threshold in 2020, Astros are now close to the line again, with a projected tax figure of $ 200.7 million before counting the cost of Odorizzi’s business. The inclusion of the player option may allow Houston a way to stay below the $ 210 million limit, but even if the Astros ended up exceeding the limit, they would have the entire season to go back below the $ 210 million mark and avoid a raise of taxes bill as payer twice.
More than paying additional dollars, the Astros’ biggest concern with the luxury tax may be more related to summons penalties for teams that override the CBT, as Ken Rosenthal of Athletic recently noted. With McCullers, Carlos Correa, and possibly Justin Verlander everyone in line to receive qualifying offers next winter, Astros may be planning to reload their farm system with extra compensatory choices if those players reject a QO and sign elsewhere. Houston would also have to forgo a larger amount of draft and international signature bonus capital to hire a free agent who rejected a QO from another club.
The MLBTR ranked Odorizzi 11th on our list of the top 50 free agents in the offseason, projecting him to a $ 39 million deal for three years. The Twins, Giants, Angels, Red Sox, Cardinals, Mets, Phillies and Blue Jays were among the many teams that had some level of interest in Odorizzi during the off-season, with clubs coming in and out of the hunt depending on other transactions.
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