Astros sign Scott Feldman
Posted: Friday, December 6, 2013, 12:46 PM
The prospects will be here soon. In the mean time, Scott Feldman will do just fine.
Starters are being scooped up faster than any other commodity on the market. They're vastly important, even for teams that are coming of a season in which they lost 111 games. According to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, the Astros have agreed to terms with right hander Scott Feldman on a 3-year, $30 million deal.
Feldman's career numbers are far from spectacular (4.62 career ERA), but the Astros didn't target him to be an ace. He will provide Houston with a substantial amount of innings at somewhere around the league average in terms of actual results. His new team has a bright future ahead of them with many of the best prospects in the game brimming their minor league system, the Astros won't rush their young players -- especially their prized starting pitchers Mark Appel and Mike Foltynewicz.
This is where having an experienced major league pitcher like Feldman in the fold could be very useful for the 'stros. Not only will Feldman bring a veteran presence to the team, but he will be able to log a significant amount of innings while those prospects gestate on the farm. When players like Appel and Foltynewicz finally do reach the majors, the Astros can continue use veterans like Feldman regularly in order to bring their prospects along at whatever pace their development dictates.
It's not all about the prospects though. Feldman's advanced stats suggest he has been pretty effective over the last two seasons, and could very well continue to improve. His xFIP (an ERA estimator for future performance) has been encouragingly low in the past, though it was right around league average last year for the Orioles.
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This article originally appeared on SBNation.
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