How Houston Astros GM can put his foot down on Montero situation
STONE COLD 'STROS
26 June 2023
STONE COLD 'STROS
Houston Astros relief pitcher Rafael Montero is going through a rough patch, well that might be putting it mildly. With the All-Star break on the horizon, Montero is coming up on a shockingly bad first half of the season.
He currently has the worst ERA of all qualified relief pitchers in MLB (7.76), and he can no longer be counted on to protect a lead. Yet, manager Dusty Baker continues to play him in high leverage situations with little to no success. At least in Montero's case.
So how do the Astros fix him? The team isn't going to cut Montero, he has a boatload of money left on his contract. And relief pitchers are inconsistent by nature, having good years after bad ones regularly. But this just isn't a bad year for Montero, he's unplayable at this point if you ask anyone outside of Dusty.
The team also can't just ship him to Triple A, he's out of options. Astros GM Dana Brown certainly has his hands full. He didn't sign Montero, owner Jim Crane did. And you have to think Baker had some role in the offseason, with no GM steering the ship during free agency. So he has to be careful with this situation as to not ruffle any feathers.
His best bet may be coming up with a fake injury and working on getting Montero fixed on the backfields of a minor league facility. This would also remove him from the active roster, and Baker couldn't be tempted to use him in a game.
Montero needs to come up with a quality secondary pitch to get batters out. Per the Houston Chronicle, Montero's four-seam fastball is an effective pitch. Batters are hitting only .238 against it. But against all of his other pitches, batters are hitting a whopping .405.
Nobody said figuring out this situation would be easy, but the team cannot continue to run Montero out on the field. This isn't 2022, winning the AL West will be much more difficult this year with the Rangers and Angels playing significantly better baseball.
It's time to earn your money, Dana Brown. Good luck, we're counting on you.
The Houston Astros didn’t just sweep the Philadelphia Phillies. They sent a message.
In three tightly contested games against one of the best teams in baseball, the Astros leaned on their elite pitching and timely offense to secure a statement sweep. Hunter Brown was electric in the finale, shutting down the Phillies’ lineup and showing the kind of dominance that’s become a defining feature of his game. Bryan Abreu slammed the door with four strikeouts to close out the win, and rookie Cam Smith delivered the deciding blow — an RBI single in the eighth to drive in Isaac Paredes, lifting the Astros to a 2-1 victory.
It wasn’t a series filled with offensive fireworks, but that’s exactly the point. Both teams sent out top-tier pitching throughout the series, and Houston was the team that kept finding a way. For much of the season, the Astros’ inconsistent offense might’ve been a concern in a series like this. But this time, it felt different. The bats showed up just enough, and the pitching did the rest.
Now, with Houston on pace for 96 wins at the halfway point, the question becomes: Is the league officially on notice?
Maybe. Maybe not. But one thing is certain, the Astros have the third-best record in baseball, they’re 17-7 in one-run games, and they’re playing with the kind of rhythm that’s defined their near-decade of dominance. Unlike last year’s uneven campaign, this version of the Astros looks like a team that’s rediscovered its edge. Whether or not they need to take care of business against the Cubs to validate it, their recent run leaves little doubt: when Houston is clicking, there are very few teams built to stop them.
Off the field, however, a bit of long-term uncertainty is starting to creep in. Reports surfaced this week that extension talks with shortstop Jeremy Peña have been put on hold as he recently signed with super-agent Scott Boras. The combination has led many to wonder if Peña might follow the same free-agent path as Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa, and others before him. Boras clients rarely settle early, and Peña, now one of the most valuable shortstops in the game, could command a price tag the Astros have historically avoided paying.
If Peña and even Hunter Brown are likely to get priced out of Houston, the front office may need to pivot. Isaac Paredes could be the most logical extension candidate on the roster. His approach — particularly his ability to pull the ball with authority — is tailor-made for Daikin Park and the Crawford Boxes. Last year, Paredes struggled to leave the yard at Wrigley Field, but in Houston, he’s thriving. Locking him in long term would give the Astros offensive stability and the kind of value they’ve typically targeted.
As for Cam Smith, the breakout rookie is far from free agency and will remain a cost-controlled piece for years. That’s exactly why his contributions now, like his clutch eighth-inning knock to beat Philadelphia, matter so much. He's one more reason why the Astros don’t just look good right now. They look dangerous.
And the rest of the league is starting to feel it.
There's so much more to get to! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday.
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