4 free agent reclamation projects that the Astros should target this offseason

Matthew Boyd

It wasn't that long ago that Matthew Boyd looked like he had a bright future on the mound ahead of him. During the 2019 season, Boyd's ERA left something to be desired, but he also struck out 238 batters in just 185.1 innings of work. Given the fact that he had also been good about limiting his walks, his upside was hard to ignore if he could just fix his issues with giving up homers.

Unfortunately, the next few years didn't play out that way as he dealt with arm issues and saw his time on the mound limited by injury. All of that came to a head in 2023 when it was announced that Boyd needed Tommy John surgery. Signing Boyd right now would be a risk and more of a long-term play, but he also could probably be had for cheap right now as he rehabs from surgery and the upside is tremendous assuming that all goes well.

Richard Bleier

There is no shortage of bullpen arms available that, with just a tweak here and there, could end up being bargain signings. One such reliever is Richard Bleier who is fresh off a 2023 season with the Red Sox where he posted a 5.28 ERA before he got released in August.

Bleier dealt with shoulder issues last season, so a certain amount of due diligence into his medicals would be necessary, but there is real upside here. When he is right, he throws a ton of strikes and he is uniquely good at getting soft groundballs even if his junkballer stuff doesn't miss a lot of bats. His low fastball velo may not be exactly what an analytics-forward team like Houston would prefer, but as a change of pace lefty out of pen, Houston could do a lot worse...assuming he is actually healthy.

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