Heist For Houston: Astros Sign Cristian Javier to Five-Year Extension

Cristian Javier and the Astros agreed to terms on a five-year extension

After Astros GM Dana Brown spent much of media day discussing a changing of the tide in the Astros front office, he more than lived up to his promises.

Brown said he believed in securing talent for the long-term, taking care of the fan base by retaining their players and not losing homegrown players in free agency. He took less than 24 hours to follow through on his word. 

The Astros announced today that they have come to terms with their co-ace of the present and ace of the future in Cristian Javier. 

Javier signed a five-year, $64 million extension that buys out his arbitration years and his first two years of free agency. Javier was headed to his first year of arbitration before the deal was reached. 

Javier is coming off of a dominant 2022, after going 11-9 with a 2.54 ERA. His .170 opponent batting average was the best in the MLB and only Shohei Ohtani and Carlos Rodon struck out more batters per nine innings. 

El Reptíl became even more un-hittable in October going 2-0 with a 0.71 ERA. He started Game Four of the World Series in a must win game on the road, and went on to throw six innings of a combined no-hitter, the second combined no-no Javier opened in 2022. 

His first combined no-hitter came against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. Simply put, when the lights shine bright, Javier is at his best.

There is some risk in the deal, as he is yet to spend a full season in the bigs as a starter, but it’s a risk well worth taking. Javier is now locked up through 2027 and will hit free agency for the first time at age 30. 

His $64 million extension is $21 less than what Houston extended Lance McCullers Jr. for in 2021. That deal was a good value. Assuming Javier continues trending upward, this is an absolute heist for Houston. In his first contract negotiation as a GM, Dana Brown did something very few hitters were able to do off of Javier in 2022: hit a no-doubt home run. 

Speaking of home runs, next on Brown's to-do list--lock up Kyle Tucker.