The Astros were already facing the lo s of relievers , and via free agency, and theyll now also be without righty for the 2024 season after he . The team announced Gravemans operation earlier today, declining to delve into specifics, but subtracting him from the pen equation leaves , and rebound hopeful as the only Houston relievers with even three years of MLB service. The vast majority of Houstons bullpen options have under one year of MLB service time. Weve been focused on the (bullpen) anyway, this doesnt intensify it, general manager Dana Brown . We just may have to get one more body or one of our guys internally will step up. Brown made similar comments , telling him that the Astros have some in-house relief options that we really feel good about, though the GM also conceded that hes still in the market to bring in an additional bullpen arm from outside the organization. The free agent market for relievers has dried up over the past couple months. , there have been 34 relief pitchers signed to Major League contracts this winter. None have signed with Houston. Brown acknowledged to Rome that hed had talks with the representatives for all of Neris, Maton and Stanek but Nicolas Batum Jersey wouldnt specify much beyond the fact that hes more in the ballpark with one of Neris/Maton than the other. Rome reported last week that the Astros havent pursued Maton aggre sively, and he doubled down on that in todays report. While many of the top relievers are already off the board, there are still plenty of experienced names from which to choose if Houston is intent on adding a free agent. The Stros almost certainly arent going to spend at the nece sary levels to add top-tier names like and , but more affordable options still on the market include , , , , and to name just a few. If we can go get one more [reliever] and use some of the candidates in-house, we feel like well be good, Brown replied when asked by McTaggart about adding another bullpen arm. One of the primary questions for the Stros will be one of finances. To this point, the only free agent theyve signed to a big league deal this winter is backup catcher . That signing placed Houston within $1MM of the $237MM luxury-tax threshold, . Owner Jim Crane hasnt publicly declared any mandate to remain shy of that barrier, but the Astros lack of activity this winter, coupled with trade rumblings regarding some of their more prominent but expensive players (e.g. ) have combined to fuel speculation about a desire to avoid paying the tax. Houston has cro sed the tax threshold only once under Cranes ownership. Paul George Jersey