Miraculous quartet of Astros’ starters
But there are four other names, far less touted, that have become just as important to their sustainability. Four pitchers who deepened what has become an impressive rotation. Four young players who contributed critical value to a very high payroll. Four homegrown players who emerged from an international market that normally ignores them.
They are Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy and Framber Valdez — and that even one of them emerged to become a Major League starting pitcher borders on a miracle.
“Not one, not two, not three — four,” said Bill Murphy, one of the Astros’ pitching coaches. “I expect to coach for several more years. You may never see that again. Probably four will never be seen again, for me personally. But that’s great.”
The Astros begin the second half with a nine-game lead in the American League West, which is the third-largest divisional margin in the sport, while trailing only the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers in winning percentage and run differential.
Pitching has been the key.
Verlander is putting together a Cy Young season as a 39-year-old coming off Tommy John surgery, and a collection of recent bullpen additions — Rafael Montero, Hector Neris, Ryne Stanek — have steadily shortened games. But Garcia, Javier, Urquidy and Valdez — the first two will open today’s doubleheader against the Yankees — have elevated the staff to a different level, combining to post a 3.37 ERA in 376 and 2/3 innings while racking up six wins above replacement on FanGraphs.
None of them were supposed to be here.
Latino players — excluding those from Puerto Rico and Cuba — can officially sign with major league organizations at age 16, at which point the best secure six- and seven-figure bonuses. But the international market has long been plagued by teams striking pre-arranged deals with players as young as 13, a far-reaching problem that has exacerbated Major League Baseball’s desire for an international draft.
The Astros went the other way, bolstering their pitching depth and extending their window of contention by signing international players at older ages for a very low cost. Javier signed for $10,000 a week before his 18th birthday, Garcia signed for $20,000 at age 20, Valdez signed for $10,000 at 21 and Urquidy was acquired from his Mexican League team — a trade that ultimately netted him $100,000, two months before his 20th birthday.
“We weren’t anchored to age being the determining factor in whether the player was good or not,” said Oz Ocampo, who ran the Astros’ international department for five years and has since returned to the organization as an international verifier. “The key factor was talent and ability and the player and the person.”
Of the 91 major league pitchers with at least 75 innings this season, 14 of them were plucked from the international market. In addition to Garcia, Javier, Urquidy and Valdez, only four (Sandy Alcantara, Luis Severino, Ranger Suarez and Luis Castillo) signed when they were over 16, and only four got signing bonuses of $100,000 or less (Castillo, Frankie Montas, Jose Quintana and Ranger Suarez).
The Astros are far from alone in prioritizing the international market. Teams have increasingly committed resources to baseball-rich countries like the Dominican Republic and, when politics permit, Venezuela because the acquisition cost is so low and the upside is so high. Only top prospects get seven-figure bonuses and are written about in national publications, but teams annually sign dozens of players to five- and six-figure bonuses and funnel them into their system largely to fill out their minor league affiliates. If someone becomes a trade asset, or even develops enough to earn a spot on the 40-man roster — let alone emerges to become a consistent major league contributor — it’s a big win.
But no one expects to build the bulk of a rotation that way — and yet the Astros somehow have.
