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One of the first things that Houston Astros GM Jeff Luhnow must do is activate any player from the 60-day DL to the 40-man roster. The deadline to do so is this Friday. The Astros had to do a lot of roster manipulation to activate some prospects to the 40-man roster. While several players were placed on the 60-day DL at some point in 2015, only three players finished the year on the list.
With the upcoming Rule V draft on December 10th, roster space will be a premium for the Houston Astros. The Astros have several top prospects who could be taken in the Rule V draft, headlined by the promising prospect, Joseph Musgrove. Will the three players currently on the 60-day DL stick with the Astros?
When the Astros signed Feldman just two years ago, it was a different time in the Astros franchise. They were coming off their third straight 100+ losses seasons. The Astros staff was young and unproven, so the Astros signed Feldman to be the defacto ace of the staff because he was a veteran. At the time, Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh were not thought of as impact players. While he has not been terrible, he doesn’t fit the mold of this young Astros’ team.
The team has several starting pitching prospects close to being ready for the big leagues, so there might be a little looking around Feldman by most Astros fans. However, he has $10 million reasons why he will be on the staff in 2016. Plus, there is never enough pitching depth in your rotation as the Astros found out last season.
Feldman was on the DL several times this past season, finishing there with a shoulder injury after coming back from a torn meniscus. While he may not be the ace he was signed to be, he can be a valuable depth piece.
2015 Feldman stats: 5-5 record/ 3.90 ERA/ 61 strikeouts in 108 1/3 innings.
Verdict: Feldman will stay with Astros, but they might try to trade him. They will not eat that contract.
Peacock was acquired by the Astros in the Jed Lowrie to the A’s deal and was once a big time prospect with the Washington Nationals. He had taken a hit with various injuries the past two seasons, not allowing his value or career to take off. He has been leapfrogged by Lance McCullers and Vincent Velasquez this year and will have to fight the next wave of talent upcoming.
What is Peacock’s value to the 2016 Astros? While it appears that the rotation is already crowded, signing another free-agent starter will eliminate the need for Peacock. One of CTH’s readers and former writer suggested that Peacock could be used out of the bullpen, in a similar form to Wade Davis with the Royals.
While Peacock would not be the flamethrower reliever that Luhnow is looking for, he could probably throw between 93-94 MPH in short stints with an 80 MPH slider and mid 70’s curveball/change up (via Fangraphs).
2015 Peacock stats: 0-1 record/ 5.40 ERA/ 3 strikeouts in five innings.
Verdict: Peacock has a career ERA of 4.69, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he were no longer an Astro. If he sticks around, it will be as a reliever.
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Deduno is nothing more than a long man in a mop-up role, which may fall into the hands of Feldman in 2016 with Mark Appel and Musgrove knocking on the Astros’ door. Deduno was claimed on waivers towards the end of the 2014 season from the Minnesota Twins. Luhnow was trying to build up his bullpen with veteran relievers with a terrible experience in the 2014 season with blown saves.
2015 Deduno stats: 0-1 record/ 6.86 ERA/ 17 strikeouts in 21 innings.
Verdict: He will be designated for assignment, pass waivers, and stay in the Astros system. He will have to prove himself before given a chance again.
Next: A.J. Reed and Tyler White win MiLBy Awards.
While the Astros have some room currently with Scott Kazmir, Colby Rasmus, Tony Sipp, Joe Thatcher, and Oliver Perez becoming free-agents, I don’t see Deduno sticking on the roster. Feldman is the most likely to stay on the roster with Peacock as a maybe. We will see what Luhnow thinks on Friday.