Los Angeles, California– Astros Cristian Javier, of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, was signed by Houston as an 18-year-old non-drafted free agent out of La Victoria, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2015 by Astros scouts Oz Ocampo, Roman Ocumarez and Leocadio Guevara for $10,000.
On Friday he was signed to a five-year contract extension estimated to be worth $64 million. The extension keeps him locked up with Houston through his next three arbitration years and his first two years of free agency.
New general manager Dana Brown said in a statement, “Cristian is an outstanding pitcher, so we are really excited about signing him to a long-term deal. As a core piece of our rotation, we felt that he is the perfect candidate for this type of deal. This is in line with our vision to try to lock players up to sustain our success both now and in the future.”
PHILADELPHIA, PA – NOVEMBER 02: (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The 2022 breakout star began the season in the bullpen. He was moved to the rotation when when the Astros decided to go to a six-man rotation. Joining a pitching staff that would dominate the western division of the American League where he went 11-9 with a 2.54 ERA and striking out 11.74 batters per nine innings, proving he was a legitimate big league starter and then some. His post season was nothing short of spectacular. Culminating in six no-hit innings in front of Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly in a combined no-hitter by Houston in Game Four of last years World Series.
Along with my boss, super scout and senior advisor to the GM in Atlanta, Tom “Tbone” Giordano, I remember seeing Javier pitching in the Gulf Coast League in 2016 as a 19 year old. He impressed every scout there that day. Of the 36 pitchers who played for the Astros on that team, 29 were Latinos. As well as 22 of the 26 position players.
2016 Gulf Coast League Astros – Photo credit William Coppola, Latino Sports
Tom would always tell me that if you want to win a World Series today, you need to have Latino players. Ten players from that team are in the big leagues now, mostly with the Astros. Wonder why the Astros have dominated baseball for the past eight years? Go look at that 2016 minor league roster!
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