Astros Extend Utility Pitcher Cristian Javier to a Five-Year Deal in Dana Brown's First Move as GM

By: Gordon Liang

Utility isn’t a word often used to describe pitchers. Typically it’s reserved for position players who simply don’t care where they perform, they just do. However the same can be said for Cristian Javier except it isn’t a matter of where but when. In three seasons with the Astros, Javier has started just over half of the games he’s pitched in (56.41%).

It’s a versatility that, as shown in the histogram above, not many have been able to provide their teams with.The lower end is likely filled with relievers who’ve played the role of opener a few times and on the high end, are the typical starters. Javier, depicted by the orange line, is right in the middle.

Javier started his career as a starter on the biggest stage possible in the biggest matchup in modern-day baseball: a matchup between the Astros and the Dodgers. In fact it was the second matchup between the two since the 2017 sign-stealing scandal broke out. The matchup the night before was already ugly with Joe Kelly making his biggest headline to date. Javier was unmoved though. He started the night with strikeouts of Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger: two of whom won an MVP within the two years prior. Talk about an introduction.

Working his way backwards on the list of Astros rivals, Javier made another mark last season against the New York Yankees. The Yankees were on a magical run and as hard as the Astros tried, they couldn’t hold off the magic two nights prior when Aaron Hicks hit an improbable three-run homerun off star closer Ryan Pressly to lead the Yankees to a comeback victory in the Bronx. Did anyone have an answer to this freight train?

Turns out Javier did. Javier pitched masterfully in his first start in Yankee Stadium hurling seven no-hit innings and retiring 13 Yankees along the way. The Astros needed a statement against the league’s Goliath and Javier not only put them ahead in the series, he did so by outdueling their ace– Gerrit Cole– and starting their first combined no-hitter of the season.

The second one wasn’t any less special. Sure the Phillies lineup– which was advertised before the season as baseball’s best– didn’t really live up to the hype during the regular season. But everyone not named Nick Castellanos stepped up when it was October. Pulling off upsets against the Cardinals and Braves en route to the Fall Classic and hitting a record-high five homeruns off Lance McCullers Jr the night before, this Phillies lineup, with all the stakes on the line, showed remnants of the Yankees magic the Astros saw earlier in the season. So Javier did what any gentleman would do and returned the favor, showing the Phillies exactly what he showed the Yankees: a masterpiece like no other. Nobody had a solution for him. Nobody– except Kyle Schwarber– was close. The Phillies gave McCullers Jr a recurring nightmare of homeruns and Javier returned with recurring nightmares of his “Invisiball.” After six masterful innings, manager Dusty Baker decided to save his arm in the case of a potential Game Seven but it didn’t matter. The ball was rolling. The bullpen was generational. The Phillies at that moment were cooked. It didn’t matter who Baker put out there, the no-hitter was inevitable.

After a chaotic offseason with reports of front-office unrest within the Astros and a relatively underwhelming free agency performance, one man stood tall as the dust settled. Coming over from the Braves was their new general manager: Dana Brown. Brown didn’t have much to work with as the free agent market was essentially empty with the exception of a blacklisted former Cy Young winner. There was no splash to make there and the Astros are in too good of a position in the majors and too weak of a position in the farm to be making any significant trades until the trade deadline. His only route to kickstart his reign was through extending guys the way his former team did. It’s becoming a trend nowadays to forgo arbitration years and simply use it as leverage for a long-term lower-AAV contract. The Braves did it best but the best example of these are the extensions of Fernando Tatis Jr and Julio Rodriguez. Both the Padres and Mariners have locked up the face of their franchise for over a decade at a more-than-reasonable price. Brown’s predecessor James Click also did this with Yordan Alvarez to buy out three free agent years. It’s a trend that’s not going away anytime soon because it’s the perfect symbiosis between the front office and the players. Hopefully this is also a sign of good things to come in regards to the potential extensions of Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez.