He's having a down year; in fact, since 2016 he's been pretty average. His slash over that span is 22-36/4.10 (3.61 FIP) with a 1.276 WHIP and ERA+ of 99. Archer is 3-5/4.31 this season, tho he still has swing 'n' miss stuff with 102 whiffs in 96 innings. Chris works with a fastball-slider-change tool box and a durable rubber arm, having started at least 32 games and working 200+ innings from 2014-17. The Bucs are betting on a change of scenery and escape from the AL East will return him to the ace of 2013-15. A plus for the usually tone-deaf Pirate PR efforts is that he's an all-around good guy and should become a fan fave in Pittsburgh.
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| Chris Archer (photo Joesph Garnett Jr/Getty) |
The two-time All Star is controllable through 2021. His contract calls for $7.6M in 2019 and two team options for $9M in 2020 and $11M.
Meadows was the Bucs top prospect and won the Rookie-of-the-Month in May, but the outfield went from threadbare to packed in a heartbeat this season. Corey Dickerson took command in left, while Jordan Luplow & Adam Frazier are on the MLB roster. Chris Bostick (called up today), Bryan Reynolds and Jason Martin are all having strong years at the upper levels. Austin may bloom into the stud he was predicted to be (he is hitting .292 w/five HR) but the positional depth worked against him. He was the key to the deal; the Pirates made P Mitch Keller's an untouchable, and the Rays countered by making AM their centerpiece.
Glasnow was the number one prospect for two years running before Meadows. He dominated in the minors but his command was sorely lacking; the 6'8" guy couldn't settle into a repeatable motion. Ty's MO continued in the bigs - a lot of K's, a lot of walks and a lot of pitches. Ty apparently didn't win the confidence of Clint and the FO as he was demoted from starting and worked virtually all low-leverage, mop up outings this year. He's a lotto ticket for the Rays; a change of scenery and a different set of voices may unlock his potential.
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