3 free agents not named Carlos Correa that Astros should sign

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.