re: DAT: Offseason Thread (Spring Training has begun!!)

Interesting. He's always had really good stuff and it finally seemed to come together for him last year.

ETA although I forgot how good his numbers were in 2014 as well. He's probably the most intriguing of the "cheaper" options though I doubt he would be that cheap

It wouldn't be that bad cause there's only 1 year left on his deal. It would be a major "going for it this year" move

ERA/FIP/xFIP
home: 3.57/3.94/4.05
away: 3.42/3.67/3.44

surprisingly better on the road

eta: this is for 2016 only

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Buster Olney @Buster_ESPN Lefty reliever J.P. Howell is looking for a one-year deal, teams say. Giants are among teams that have asked about him.

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Could Howell be an option?

The Ashby move is going to come home to haunt this team in ways most don't even yet fully comprehend.

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But to even act like the odds wouldn't be better is silly

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I don't think anyone is doing that...

Carlos and Carlos Attorney's at Law. What a great 4-5 punch with Altuve at 3

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No it doesn't kill the chance. But to even act like the odds wouldn't be better is silly. The Astros need an ace, whether it's Sale or someone else. And they have the pieces to get it done. But naw, let's hoard prospects that may or may never be good. On a team with a good young nucleus at the MLB level already, that is just dumb

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I'm all aboard trading away prospects to bring in an Ace. I think what a lot of people are worried about is opening a hole on the MLB team in the process of getting the Ace. Trading away Springer does exactly that.

How far did the Rangers get in the playoffs? And I would venture most people feel they have not one, but two Aces on the Starting Rotation. There's a difference between hoarding prospects and trading away MLB everyday players. I think that is what most of us DATers are worried about. We see really strong teams on paper not make it far in the playoffs -- either from under-performance or actual holes in the team.

It doesn't make sense to close a hole when it creates an equally large one. And make no mistake, whether you are a numbers guy or a eyeball test guy -- take away Springer from the lineup of last years team, and that offense would have been absolutely dreadful.

That said -- I'm all for offering EE 5 years at $28/year with a team option for a 6th year and a 1 year opt-out clause for EE. Get him on board, send Springer, Martes, both Tuckers, and any other player form the Astros farm system that is currently in the Top 100 minor leaguers list and bring in Archer or Sale.