WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Houston Astros’ pursuit of Blake Snell predated José Urquidy’s forearm strain, perhaps signaling just how the club views a starting rotation that seems to thin with each passing day. Talks got so serious that some players inside the Astros’ clubhouse believed the team would land Snell.
The longer Snell lingered on the free-agent market, the more amenable he and agent Scott Boras became to the sort of short-term, high-dollar deal Houston owner Jim Crane is inclined to give. Snell signed one with the San Francisco Giants on Monday night, forcing the Astros to reassess their starting rotation with nine days until Opening Day.
“We were having conversations,” general manager Dana Brown said on Tuesday. “I don’t know how close we were. I thought we had a chance. Obviously the Giants were willing to do more, but we were having conversations with him. The only thing you can do is get involved, take it where you’re able to take it and leave it at that.”
The club’s most pertinent question before breaking camp on Sunday is whether the Astros will pivot. On Tuesday, Brown said the club is “not actively doing anything,” but left the door open for an external addition to an injury-ravaged rotation.
Manager Joe Espada remained diplomatic on Tuesday afternoon, reaffirming that he and Brown “feel really good about what we have in that room.” Privately, though, some with the club have expressed concern about depth that continues to dwindle.
That Houston even pursued Snell would seem to reinforce that worry, but Brown remained adamant that “ultimately, I feel good about our rotation.” Asked then why the team would even try for Snell, Brown praised a pedigree he doesn’t seem to see with other available pitchers.
“It’s a different guy. If we have a bunch of guys that are similar to the other guys that are available, why go after them? Why pay more money for the same production,” Brown said.
“We feel like if we get Snell, that’s a huge piece, so you have to be on the market for a guy that’s a huge piece like that. But the other guys that are available, they compare to all of our guys that we have depth with. I wouldn’t want to pay more money and we got a guy right around the minimum or a little bit more. That wouldn’t be smart.”
World Series hero Jordan Montgomery, a man with a career 3.68 ERA, is still seeking work. Reigning American League All-Star Michael Lorenzen is among the free-agent starters still available, too. Clubs will start trimming their spring training rosters this week, too, perhaps putting more arms on the market.
The Athletic’s Jim Bowden reported on Tuesday the Astros won’t pivot to Montgomery. Lorenzen would make sense as a more cost-effective alternative for a team already poised to exceed the competitive balance tax and carry its largest Opening Day payroll in franchise history.
The #Astros do not plan on pivoting to Jordan Montgomery according to sources
— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) March 19, 2024
Signing Snell to a similar deal he received from the Giants would have thrust Houston further into uncharted territory — perhaps even across the second competitive balance tax threshold. Crane has never even paid the first luxury tax threshold during his 14-year ownership tenure.
Still, during a period when Crane has deviated from his standard operating procedure and spent handsomely in free agency, signing Snell seemed like the sort of aggressive move he’s become accustomed to authoring.
Crane is an aggressive owner always willing to pursue win-now moves, but trepidation about increasing an already record budget may have given him pause. The Astros already forfeited one 2024 draft pick by signing Josh Hader, who rejected a qualifying offer from the San Diego Padres, and stood to lose another if they signed Snell.
For a club that needs to replenish its farm system — and is run by a general manager hired, in part, for his draft and scouting acumen — preserving every pick would seem paramount. Crane, however, is the same owner who helped orchestrate a trade of Houston’s two best prospects for 40-year-old starter Justin Verlander last August.
Verlander provided a boost to a reeling rotation. Snell would’ve done the same for this one.
Instead, Houston must grapple with growing uncertainty. Verlander still hasn’t faced hitters since reporting to camp with shoulder inflammation. Urquidy will join him on the injured list when the season starts. Depth starter Shawn Dubin threw one of his first bullpen sessions of spring training on Tuesday, meaning he won’t be ready when the minor-league season begins. It leaves six healthy, fully stretched-out starters on Houston’s 40-man roster.
Some skepticism even met relatively good news about Urquidy, who said an MRI revealed no damage to his ulnar collateral ligament and he hoped to resume a throwing program in 10 or 15 days. Brown estimated Urquidy will miss “a little over a month.”
Urquidy, who already underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017, said he received “some opinions from different doctors and they were on the same page.”
“We took a look at everything inside the elbow and the ligament was very fine, normal,” Urquidy said.
Urquidy threw 43 pitches before pulling himself from a minor-league game last week after feeling “kind of tight in my forearm.” Urquidy said his velocity started to dip during the first three innings he threw. The team originally planned to start him in a Grapefruit League game a day earlier, but Urquidy said he asked for an extra day of rest because he woke up “super sore, which is very normal in me.”
On Tuesday, Espada confirmed that Urquidy will begin the season on the injured list, where he’s spent far too much of his career. Since 2021, Urquidy has spent 178 days on the injured list with arm-related issues. Shoulder issues limited him to 63 innings last season, during which he posted a 5.29 ERA.
Presuming an injury-plagued pitcher will rehab without issue — or return on a timeline similar to one without an injury history — is a dangerous gamble, one Houston seems willing to wage.
(Photo of Jordan Montgomery: Megan Briggs / Getty Images)
