Happy New Year! We’re less than 90 days away from the 2023 MLB season and it has come up on us quickly! The 2022 Champion Houston Astros are slowly filling out their 40-man roster and seem to be ready to go without making any further moves. Let’s get into what’s important this week.
Arbitration is coming
Recommended Videos
The MLB deadline for players to agree to a deal or go to arbitration is Jan. 13. The Astros have eight players to reach a deal with -- two in their third and final arbitration season (Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek), one in his second arbitration season (Framber Valdez) and five in their first arbitration season (Kyle Tucker, Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy, Blake Taylor and Mauricio Dubon.) All salary projections are via spotrac.com.
Phil Maton - RHP - Arb. 3
2022 salary: $1.55 million
2023 projection: $3.67 million
Ryne Stanek - RHP - Arb. 3
2022 salary: $2.1 million
2023 projection: $4.07 million
Framber Valdez - LHP - Arb. 2
2022 salary: $3.0 million
2023 projection: $8.8 million
Kyle Tucker - RF - Arb. 1
2022 salary: $764,200
2023 projection: $5.95 million
Cristian Javier - RHP - Arb. 1
2022 salary: $749,100
2023 salary: $3.11 million
Jose Urquidy - RHP - Arb. 1
2022 salary: $748,700
2023 projection: $3.69 million
Mauricio Dubon - OF/IF - Arb. 1
2022 salary: $727,000
2023 projection: $818,000
Blake Taylor - LHP - Arb. 1
2022 salary: $643,360
2023 projection: No projection listed - Best guess is less than $900,000
Meet the newest Astro
The Astros made a roster move this week, trading cash for Pirates OF Bligh Madris. Madris has the cool distinction of being the first player from Palauan descent to play in the majors. As far as what he can do - he hit .177 in 39 games with the Pirates. This a Triple-A depth signing, where Madris should do well in Sugar Land. If the Astros have an emergency, the good news is he has MLB experience. Madris played all three outfield positions and first base with the Pirates and will be competing with someone like J.J. Matijevic for a bench role.
Ronel Blanco bringing heat in LIDOM
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys closer Ronel Blanco has been the most dominant reliever in the Dominican League, firing more than 48 consecutive scoreless innings, spanning more than two seasons. Blanco hasn’t given up a run in LIDOM since 2020.
The flame-throwing righty may be able to earn a spot somewhere in the Astros bullpen, but he has an uphill climb based on the massive amount of depth that Houston has. Blanco struggled in his major league debut in 2022, pitching to a 7.11 ERA in limited innings. He was, however, terrific in Triple-A again, pitching to a 3.63 ERA with almost 12 strikeouts per nine innings.
With the Astros likely carrying seven relievers and Hunter Brown, it’s unlikely Blanco beats out Ryan Pressly (one), Bryan Abreu (two), Rafael Montero (three), Hector Neris (four), Ryne Stanek (five), Phil Maton (six) or Seth Martinez (seven). All of those pitchers are right-handed, giving lefties Blake Taylor (eight) and Parker Mushinski (nine) a leg up in the organizational depth chart.
Blanco is an interesting trade candidate, due to the fact he’d likely be useful on a lot of teams that have less depth than Houston.
