*Photo from the Miami Herald*
The Houston Astros have signed RHP Ryne Stanek to a one year, $1.1 million deal, according to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. It is the first major move made by the Astros in what has been a slow moving offseason so far for baseball. The Astros have confirmed the deal.
Stanek said of the chance to join the Astros that "Obviously, the team is really good and looking for a chance to play for a championship. That's the whole plan. I really like how they run things. Their analytics department, their player development and everybody is really good. And obviously they’ve shown a really good track record of helping guys get better, and that’s the whole plan -- to come out here and play better and win."
Stanek spent 2020 with the Miami Marlins, posting a 0-0 record with a rather high 7.20 ERA, striking out 11 hitters in 10 innings pitched across 9 relief appearances for the Marlins. In his 4 major league seasons, Stanek has a 2-7 record with a 4.00 ERA, throwing 173 1/3 innings across 152 total appearances, 56 of them being starts.
Stanek said he wanted to be in consideration for a high leverage role in the Astros bullpen, saying that "That’s obviously what I’m looking for. I think one of my strengths, obviously, is something that I’ve been able to do a bunch of different things. I’ve pitched in a lot of different situations and had success doing that, so I think the ability to be flexible for me and do whatever they see for me is a plus."
Stanek got his career started in 2017 with the Rays, and became one of many pitchers Kevin Cash used to be openers, spearheading the opener movement across MLB, with Stanek starting 29 games in 2018, and 27 in 2019. At the trade deadline in 2019, he was traded to the Marlins, where he transitioned to a relief role, and hasn't made any starts or served as an opener since that trade.
Astros GM James Click said of the Stanek signing that "First and foremost, the stuff that he has, he can get big outs in big situations and he was looking for an opportunity to win a leverage role in a bullpen. That's something that we can certainly use and I think a lot of teams can use. Especially in our situation, we’re hoping to have a lot of big outs to get in 2021, and he’s one of the guys we identified as someone that can do that for us.'
Click also was asked about any further moves in the making for the Astros this offseason. Click said that "We’re still actively pursuing several other options and certainly don’t anticipate this being the last move of the offseason. We're obviously excited about the guys that stepped up for us in 2020, but we’re going to have a lot of big outs to get in 2021 and beyond that. We’re probably going to be tested depth-wise as a lot of guys will go from having thrown very few innings in 2020 to throwing a lot of innings in 2021. We are going to need a deep, talented roster to cover all those extra innings."
Stanek will have to fill in a spot in a depleted Astros bullpen, which has lost veterans Roberto Osuna, Chris Devenski, and Brad Peacock to free agency. Stanek currently joins an Astros bullpen featuring likely closer Ryan Pressly, Joe Smith, Brooks Raley, Enoli Paredes, and Blake Taylor as returning members.
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