How Houston Astros still hold all the aces post-Verlander
Justin Verlander has left the Houston Astros to sign with the New York Mets.
The Houston Astros have the best 5-man rotation in baseball. Lance McCullers is the only starter with a guaranteed salary set in stone for next season: $15.3 million. Justin Verlander will make $43 million next year.
Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy and Luis Garcia are eligible for arbitration. Their 2023 salaries are estimated at $33.6 million. That's about the same amount the Dodgers paid David Price last season. The Astros had the seventh-highest payroll in 2022 ($183 million) but they got the most bang for their buck. With Verlander coming off the books, the Astros are expected to have the ninth- highest payroll next year ($141 million). The team is the betting favorite to win the World Series next season, but it's not likely to be cheaper.
The four Astros pitchers who threw a no-hitter in Game 4 made less than half of what Justin Verlander will make next season. In 2015, the Yankees started Masahiro Tanaka, who made $22 million, and Dallas Keuchel, whose salary was $524,000.
