The Houston Astros and Dallas Keuchel agreed to a record-setting first-year arbitration salary this offseason when the left-hander signed a one-year, $7.25 million contract for the 2016 MLB season. However, that's not going to affect their negotiations regarding a bigger contract extension.
Both Keuchel and general manager Jeff Luhnow weighed in on the issue on Tuesday, and both expressed a willingness to further those talks at some point, but they also acknowledged that there's no rush to make it happen.
The AL Cy Young winner is under contract for two more seasons and will likely enjoy hefty pay raises, so he isn't too concerned about getting a long-term deal done at this very moment, but he's stated time and time again that he wants to be in Houston.
"I've got to take care of myself and do what's right for my family, and I'd like to get something done," Keuchel told Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. "But at the same time, I don't want to go back and forth 20 times and exchange numbers. I think we know where we both are, and if something happens, that'd be nice."
"I think we've had constructive dialogue and there is no firm [declaration this] has to be done by ex-date or nothing's going to happen," Luhnow added. "I think we'll continue to have the dialogue, and we haven't matched up yet, and it doesn't mean that we won't match up down the road."
Keuchel, 28, is from Oklahoma, so it's clear that it plays a big role in his wanting to remain with the Astros. Additionally, after struggling in his first two MLB seasons, the organization helped cultivate him into one of the best starters in the league [he's 32-17 with a 2.69 ERA in 62 starts over the past two seasons].
And who wouldn't want to be a part of the Astros' bright future? With so many promising young players such as Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, George Springer, Lance McCullers, Ken Giles and others, there's likely little reason for why Keuchel would want to be elsewhere.
Then again, the contract would have to be reasonable for the small-market Astros. The team will likely need to take care a number of their other players - Correa, Springer, McCullers, Collin McHugh, Jake Marisnick, Preston Tucker and others - sooner rather than later. All of them obviously won't be a priority, but franchise players such as Correa and Springer might be.
The good news is that Houston has at least $50.5 million coming off the books next season, so the window of opportunity to extend Keuchel is currently wide open.
Luhnow will probably make it a priority to take care of such business if the team is contending again in 2016.
