It is the off-season. You may not want to hear that yet, but there are several 2022 Astros that are no longer with the team. Here is the YouTube for this Article too.
Who are they? Who do we think will be back? I list them in order of likelihood. I will dig into the details of payroll implications of this here.
Likely Back
Michael Brantley- Brantley has said he is coming back. It is almost as if it is already done.
Possible
Yuli Gurriel- Yuli however SEEMS to be really considering the ramifications of a significant surgery and whether he wants to put his 39 year old body through the physical wear and tear of another baseball season. For now, I assume he will be back at a lower cost.
Longshots
Christian Vazquez- Vazquez probably won't be back as I expect the Astros will pair their young catchers with Maldy as their mentor in 2023.
Rafael Montero- I believe Montero has pitched himself out of the Astros price range.
Aledmys Diaz- I think Diaz is going to get better offers than the Astros will be willing to give him.
Retired
Jason Castro- Castro is retired. He won't be back.
Option players
Justin Verlander- (player)- JV did formally decline his $25M option for 2023.
His potential re-signing is likely to be the most divisive decision the Astros will face this offseason.
Let me give you a table of possibilities.
Media is rumoring a deal of $40 for 2 years (or one with a player option for a second year.)
I THINK this deal gets done. We will discuss what the ramifications are here.
Trey Mancini- (mutual)- The Astros did decline Mancini's option. I assume that Mancini will get a better offer
Will Smith- (club)- I believe that the Astros will NOT bring Smith back. The Astros did cline Smith's team option.
To summarize
Brantley back
Gurriel probably back
Verlander back
If this is the case how does it impact the 2023 payroll. Check that out here.
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I will push out a video in tonight on this on the YouTube