Mandatory Credit: Photo by Gail Burton/AP/Shutterstock (13419365e) Houston Astros pitcher Christian Javier delivers against the Baltimore Orioles in the first inning of a baseball game, in Baltimore Astros Orioles Baseball, Baltimore, United States – 25 Sep 2022
Astros extend Cristian Javier for five years
New Astros GM, Dana Brown, made no qualms about it. He wanted to extend the players currently with the team. He mentioned that extensions are discussed during the arbitration process to bypass the arbitration years and potentially any possible free agency years. Kyle Tucker and Cristian Javier were names that he mentioned during Thursday’s media day, but the one that he felt the best about was Javier. That came to fruition on Friday afternoon.
In a tweet, the Astros announced that Javier’s reign continues. Brown was able to get the 25-year-old righty to agree to a five-year extension, buying out three years of arbitration and two years of free agency for $64 million. Some people predict that Javier will take the next step in 2023, but he’s already been a part of two combined no-hitters, including one in the World Series.
Last year, he was 11-9 with a 2.54 ERA in 30 games while striking out 11.74 batters per nine innings pitched. He partially earned the extension with how he threw in the playoffs with a 2-0 record and a 0.71 ERA. He will be a free agent after the 2027 season.
The $64 million includes a signing bonus of $2 million, bringing the AAV to $12.8 million per season. Brown said in a statement, “Cristian is an outstanding pitcher, so we are excited about signing him to a long-term deal.” We discussed this possibly happening in last night’s Locked On Astros podcast. For how he pitched for the Astros and how much pitchers are being paid, that’s a deal.
