Cuban RHP Yariel Rodriguez is reportedly signing with Toronto. The Astros were reported to have had interest earlier this offseason.
Just cuz:
Well that would be a nice surprise!
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Rome and Rosenthal on it:
A backend of the bullpen of Hader, Abreu and Pressly… uh yeah sign me up for that.
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Man, I’ve already gotten my mind right around Abreu as the future at closer. But Hader would be a nice add.
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Would rival Dotel, Lidge, Wagner. 6 inning games. Sign me up too.
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I had forgot that he spent some time in the Astros’ farm system.
WE DO NOT SPEAK OF HIS DEPARTURE
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Idk what you’re talking about. He just magically appeared on the Brewers at some point.
Sounds pretty damn good to me.
He sprouted from Bernie Brewer’s head. Josh Hader, the Midwestern god of wisdom and fastballs
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Hader would certainly be a welcome addition with all the uncertainty in the bullpen.
My “friend” has been posting regularly about Jim Crane wanting Hader by name. He literally has 2 dozen posts dating back nearly 12 months about it.
He says Crane directed Brown to try to trade for him before the deadline last year.
He says that Crane feels Hader is an exception to the budget and could make a big offer.
He is not sure if Crane will overpay or outbid some of the other teams, but he will make a legitimate offer that would result in team record payroll and paying the CBT penalty.
To my understanding, once you cross the CBT threshold, there is no additional penalty (other than the tax) for additional spending until you reach the next threshold. So the question is, if he is willing to go into CBT for Hader, does that loosen the purse strings for other moves?
It’s a penalty on each dollar until you hit the next tier, I think, so there’s still a downside to spending more. I would imagine Crane sees Hader as special though. He loves his fireballers.
Hader also fits the Crane mold of an elite player potentially available on a short-term/high AAV contract. I don’t think there’s anyone else like that out there this year. Hader could get a 5+ year deal but I could also see him accepting something like 3/$75M; lots of the prognosticators have guessed he’ll get 4 years.
Basically, if there’s money to spend, Hader seems like the right “fit” for Crane’s spending philosophy.
In other relief pitching news, according to Jon Heyman, Hector Neris is seeking a two-year, $22M contract in free agency.
2-$22M seems reasonable for Nerris.
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It does. Heyman reported it after all the rumors connecting Astros to Hader started circulating today.
Conflicting reports. I read a couple of days ago Nerris wanted three years.