3 free agents not named Carlos Correa that Astros should sign

The Astros are still pursuing Carlos Correa, but there are other free agents on the block worth evaluation.

The Houston Astros are once again lining up for another World Series title. Las Vegas has the Astros as the odds-on-favorite, Justin Verlander is back, Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve look sharp and Kyle Tucker Tucker and Yordan Alvarez are still not even in their prime, all is well.

But while most Astros fans have spent countless hours of the night checking Twitter to see if Carlos Correa has re-signed, it’s worthwhile to look around the league and see what other contenders have done.

The Toronto Blue Jays traded for third baseman Matt Chapman and signed right-handed pitchers Kevin Gausman and Yimi Garcia, among other solid pitchers. The Seattle Mariners have traded for All-Stars Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez from the Cincinnati Reds.

The Los Angeles Angels signed righty Noah Syndergaard and re-signed reliever Raisel Iglesias. The Chicago White Sox signed infielder Josh Harrison, relievers Kendall Graveman and Joe Kelly. And everyone from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees to the Blue Jays to the Los Angeles Dodgers are in on the Freddie Freeman sweepstakes.

Even if the Astros keep Correa, Houston will see some fierce competition through the American League this upcoming season. And while Houston may very well already have a deep roster, there are some free agents still out there that could add even more depth to a team in win-now mode.

With that in mind, here are a few non-Carlos Correa free agents the Astros should consider.

Chris Archer

The Astros rotation is still somewhat of a question mark. Sure – the return of Justin Verlander is exciting, but the rest of the rotation is somewhat of a mystery. We have no idea when Lance McCullers Jr. will be back on the mound.

We have no idea if Jake Odorizzi will be able to bounce back from a poor season. We have no idea if Jose Urquidy can be healthy for an entire season. And there’s reason to believe we might see some sophomore season regression from Luis Garcia.

Signing an uber-talented starting pitcher like Chris Archer would help quell any concerns.

Archer is a two-time All Star with certain flaws, but when he is sharp he’s a dominant pitcher. He’s 61-81 in his career, but a lot of his time has been spent on bad teams – early 2010s Tampa Bay Rays and the mostly forgettable late 2010s Pittsburgh Pirates.

In fact, the only team Archer has been on with real championship aspirations was last year’s Tampa Bay Rays – a season shortened for Archer by some bad-luck injury.

Archer seems like a prime candidate – if he signs with a winning team with a winning culture and can remain healthy – to have somewhat of a renaissance in his early 30s.

He’s already been linked to the Miami Marlins, the Braves and the Chicago Cubs, but Archer has shown interest in the Astros before. And if McCullers isn’t gonna be back anytime soon, Archer might be a worthwhile risk in the short term.

Trevor Rosenthal

Speaking of guys who’ve been injured, Trevor Rosenthal really has not played any meaningful baseball since 2019. He only pitched 23 innings in 2020 season and then had a season-ending injury with the Oakland A’s before the start of the season last year.

But prior to those injury-riddled seasons, Rosenthal was arguably one of the best under-the-radar relief pitchers in the league. Since 2015, Rosenthal is in the 98th percentile in fastball velocity that maxes out at 99 mph.

Rosenthal uses that fastball pace to mix in a solid slider combination to generate his high whiff rates. And if you like lots of strikeouts, Rosenthal might make you blush. Rosenthal is among the league leaders from 2015 to 2019 in K rates with a 13.8 strikeout per nine rate.

He comes with serious injury concerns as he’s had multiple surgeries over the past three years, and there are questions as to whether or not he can ever get back to his old form.

But if he’s still on the market at this point, perhaps he’d be willing to take a short-term deal to regain his form and improve his market value for free agency in 2023 or 2024. If that’s the case the Astros should pounce.

Houston’s bullpen situation may not be too shabby at the moment, but it’s never a bad thing to have too many good relievers.

And with the way AL contenders are adding to their roster, this may turn into an arms race of signing talent. And Houston ought to sign a player like Rosenthal on the roster rather than facing him in the playoffs.