Houston Astros Seemingly Not Interested in Reunion With Former Star Reliever
The Houston Astros are searching for bullpen pieces on the market to make their final additions of the offseason.
This largely comes after three of their relievers hitting free agency following last year.
With financial limitations hamstringing what the front office has been able to do this winter, bringing back all of those high-profile players was off the table.
However, some thought the 30-year-old Phil Maton would be a target of the Astros after he had his best stretch of his career during his three years with the organization.
But Chandler Rome of The Athletic is reporting that they seemingly are not interested in re-signing him.
"The Astros have not shown much interest in Maton, a person familiar with his market said this week, but that shouldn’t entirely dismiss a reunion," he writes.
That last piece of information is very interesting.
Maton hasn't quite had the offseason he likely was expecting coming off a season where he had an ERA of 3.00 across 68 appearances.
With not much public market interest currently surrounding the right-hander, that could push him back to Houston based on his familiarity with the franchise.
After all, his 3.67 ERA since joining the Astros has helped turned him into being viewed as a solid bullpen option.
Perhaps this nudges him in the direction of Houston once again and they're able to get back one of their relievers for a much more cost effective type of deal.
Rome isn't ruling that out.
So, while the Astros don't seem interested in a reunion with the right-hander as of yet, that doesn't mean Maton won't wind up back in their bullpen before the start of the 2024 season.
