Houston Astros GM Emphatically States He's Not Looking For Additional Starting Pitching

It seems like the Houston Astros won't be pursuing some of the remaining starting pitchers available before the upcoming season begins.

There is a lot of excitement surrounding the Houston Astros for this upcoming season as they attempt to win their third World Series title.

After it looked like they would stand pat throughout the winter, owner Jim Crane gave general manager Dana Brown the green light to pursue one of the biggest names on the market.

With Josh Hader, the Astros should have one of the best back-end bullpen units in the MLB.

But, they are now facing some concerns in their starting rotation following the injury announcement to Justin Verlander.

He came into camp behind schedule with a shoulder issue and it's been officially announced he's going on the injured list to start the year and won't be available for Opening Day.

Despite that, Brown stated he's not interested in adding another pitcher.

"... he’s not in the market for starting pitching. He envisions a rotation of Valdez, Javier, Urquidy, Brown and France to start the season," reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

On the surface, this makes sense.

Verlander isn't missing the entire year with an injury, he's only expected to miss the opening series as of now.

Plus, they get back Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia at some point during the summer, which will be a boost to their rotation.

Brown also mentioned that top pitching prospect Spencer Arrighetti could be used as a depth piece, alongside Ronel Blanco.

With all these options available for Houston, it doesn't make sense for them to hand out a contract to some of the top guys remaining like Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery. Spending money on back-end guys when they already have some wouldn't be financially smart either.

Of course, that could change if Verlander has a major step back, or if J.P. France is also expected to miss time at the beginning of the season, but for now, Brown is trusting the pieces they currently have.