Houston Astros mulling over Rule 5 possibilities, free agents - MLB News
The 40 man roster for the Houston Astros currently stands at 31. They will be looking to add at least one or two quality free agents while preserving their future prospects at the same time. Due to the current condition of the roster, the Astros will certainly
have some room to show flexibility.
The players the Astros can lose if they are not on the roster include pitchers Josh Zeid, Kyle Weiland, Jason Stoffel, Brett Oberholtzer, Chia-Jen Lo, Jose Cisnero and Ross Seaton. Position players who can be lost include outfielder Robbie Grossman and Marc
Krauss, who was acquired by the by the Astros in a trade with Arizona Diamondbacks.
Expected to be a part of pitching rotation next season, top pitching prospect Jarred Cosart is also on a risk of being lost if not added to the 40 man roster. Shortstop Jonathan Villar, who was ranked Number 15
prospect by the MLB.com for the Astros is another. Villar missed last two months of the season due to a broken hand. He punched a door while playing for Corpus Christi.
In the free agent market, the Astros seem to be playing the waiting game, as they had said earlier. They have shown some interest in their former first baseman for the club, Lance Berkman but nothing can be said for certain. A number of teams have shown
interest in Berkman and have held informal meetings with him.
Jeff Luhnow, the club’s general manager has hinted that they will be picking some free agents to the team. The club is aware that it will need spots for them and at the moment they have a few available. "We do need positions to be able to sign Major League
free agents," Luhnow said. "We have a forecast of how many we have to have available."
The team will, however, is not expected to bring major money to the table and one can expect them to seriously pursue free agents after the winter meetings in early December to be held in Nashville, Tennessee.
The team has also approached other players apart from Lance but nothing has yet been finalised and things may take more time to take shape. “We have had several conversations with numerous agents about numerous types of players but nothing’s close at this
point,” Luhnow said.
The Astros will be getting the first picks in the draft as they finished last in 2012. Last year they picked shortstop Marwin Gonzalez, who had a pretty good season and relief pitcher Rhiner Cruz, who was not much of a success story and posted a 6.05 ERA.
The general manager still aims to make use of the first picks his team will get. "We're anxious to see what's available," Luhnow said. "Theoretically, we should have access to the best available player that's not going to be on the 40-man roster during the
Rule 5 Draft and we plan to take advantage of that opportunity."
The Astros have very limited time left to protect their prospects. If they acquire a player, that person will have to be part of the 25 man roster for the whole of next season. It is a bit tricky for the ball club right now and they will need to find a balance
in picking players to protect and free agents that they want to add to their roster.
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