Astros: Don’t look for a J.D. Martinez and Astros reunion

With J.D. Martinez seeking the big bucks, there is little chance that he would return to the Astros.

The Houston Astros are not afraid to spend money on players to help them win. They brought in Josh Reddick, Charlie Morton, and Carlos Beltran. Also, they acquired big salary players in Brian McCann and Justin Verlander. This season was a perfect example of Jeff Luhnow’s plan.

Have a core group of young star players supplemented with some veterans to offer leadership. If you need one more piece at the trade deadline, then you ship a few prospects for a guy like Verlander. Above all, don’t deplete the farm system like the Drayton McLane era.

Like the Royals faced for many years, when you have a group of young talented players, you can’t afford to keep them all. Luhnow knows this but is going to try his hardest to keep the band together starting after 2019. With the expectations rising, expect the team salary and ticket prices to be on the rise.

You have probably heard this before. With the core players salaries expanding, there will be less money available for free agents. There may be more demand for players to come to Houston than in the past. However, the supply of money may prevent any big name free agents seeking big time money.

Cross J.D. Martinez off the list.

A former Astro is now a free agent in J.D. Martinez. Yes, the same guy we let go to keep other non-worthy players on the 40-man roster before the 2014 season. He showed some promise with the Astros, but he blossomed into an All-Star looking for a big payday in Detroit. The Tigers felt like they couldn’t afford him, so they moved on and traded him to the Diamondbacks.

To start off with, there is a 2% chance that Martinez returns to Houston. Not that the Astros couldn’t use his bat in the lineup, he did bat .303 with 45 homers and 104 RBIs. The Astros already have George Springer and Josh Reddick for the next few year. Derek Fisher, Marwin Gonzalez, and others need to play.

According to Rob Bradford, Martinez has signed on with Scott Boras. This is something that the Astros will eventually have to deal with concerning Jose Altuve. All agents will try to get the most money for their clients, but Boras has a history of being difficult for the teams to work with.

Jerry Crasnick reported that the early impressions are that Boras is seeking a 200 million dollar contract for Martinez. The Astros have not really been a team to throw a lot of money out to free agents. If they were to sign him, this would eat into the money that they have set aside to pay their in-house guys.

Next: Can the Astros win back to back WS like Bregman suggested?

While Martinez may be the top free agent this offseason, there is no chance that the Astros sign him. The Astros don’t need to add that much pop to the lineup. They need to sure up the bullpen. They also need to start looking into extending some of their young stars. It’s a hard pass for Martinez, but good luck to him.

***Stats from Baseball-Reference***