Astros salaries from incredible bargains to burning cash

Jake Odorizzi – $7,833,333

No matter how you slice it, $1.305 million per win, $340,000 per start or $75,000 per inning, this is a bad deal for the Astros. Some of my Climbing Tal’s Hill colleagues believe Odorizzi will have a renaissance in 2022 and provide some value, but I’m dubious.

I’m generally a numbers guy, but Odorizzi didn’t pass the eye test or fifth inning very often in 2021. Odorizzi is under contract for 2023, too, though the Astros could buy him out for “only” $3.25 million.

Pedro Baez – $6,250,000

Guess who the ninth highest paid player on the Astros is? Once upon a time Baez was pretty good and worth a salary in this range, but it wasn’t with the 2021 Astros where the Astros got 4.1 innings from him.

I don’t want to pick on an injured player, this is more about the Astros decision to sign Baez. There’s an argument that he’s going to be on the roster due to guaranteed dollars, but that’s doubling down on a bad decision.

Baez is taking a roster spot from someone that could potentially help the team while topping out around 89 MPH. My guess is he pitches in blowouts only. The news gets worse as Baez is under contract in 2023 also, unless the Astros want to pay Baez $2,000,000 to not pitch, which I think they consider.

Astros Orbit:

Marwin Gonzalez’s minor-league contract was selected by the New York Yankees, and Jake Marisnick inked a $1.3 million deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Both players made their respective Opening Day rosters.