MLB Roundup 3/8: The Astros have had conversations with Dallas Keuchel

Astros have restarted conversations with Dallas Keuchel

There wasn’t a whole lot in the news on Thursday, though we did get some fresh rumors about one of the best free agents remaining on the market. Dallas Keuchel isn’t coming off a great year, but the 2015 Cy Young winner was still better than average and has been an innings-eater for the majority of his career. He’s a valuable commodity, though there seems to be a significant gap between what he wants and what teams are offering. Thursday morning, Buster Olney tweeted that the two sides had discussions, though a deal wasn’t close. Later, Ken Rosenthal indicated that Houston had offered one- and two-year deals. It’s not much of a surprise the 31-year-old turned down something that short-term. He should be able to do better than that.

Houston has a solid rotation as it is, but it’s really top-heavy with Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole before they are relying on Wade Miley and some young guys like Josh James and eventually Forrest Whitley. It should also be mentioned that both Verlander and Cole are free agents at the end of the year. I’m a little surprised Boston’s other AL rival, the Yankees, aren’t more involved right now. It is looking like Luis Severino and C.C. Sabathia are going to miss the start of the year, and their depth is already being tested. Wherever Keuchel ends up, he should be able to get at least three years. He’s been good and durable enough.