I'd rather see what White, Reed, or Preston Tucker can do at DH than to actively go out and sign/trade for one. I don't think Cespedes will get, nor should he receive the 6 year $130+ million contract he's asking for. The reality is he's two years older than Upton and 4 years older than Heyward. I think the template for Cespedes should be a mid-point between Upton and Gordon. Upton is 28 y/o and got 6 years $133 million ($22 per), while Gordon is almost 32 y/o got 4 years $72 million ($18 per). That would put Cespedes at 5 years $100 million. We know the Orioles offered about 5 years $90 million and it appears he almost took it....so we are in the ballpark.
While I mostly agree - check that: I 100% agree - you know what I can't shake? Jose Bautista. Middling career until he turned 29 - just like Cespedes this year - and then BOOM. There's no way to correlate/predict, of course - but I wonder (assuming the Astros' interest is legitimate) if they see a potential late-blooming beast in the same mold? That's the only way I can wrap my head around why they'd be interested. Makes no sense to me.
Also, Gattis is no slouch. Throw out that first anomaly of a month and he has a good season for a DH.
Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Too bad the Astros can’t get out of St. Pete. Then maybe they could spend. <a href="https://t.co/ll68gW0Kbd">https://t.co/ll68gW0Kbd</a></p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/689294076978434048">January 19, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/cselzer22">@cselzer22</a> As though a mid-market team can’t pursue free agents and also keep some core players? Astros payroll is very, very bottom.</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/689294563047944193">January 19, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Perhaps this is all leading up to the 2016-17 offseason, when <a href="https://t.co/rxSgQ3jIYS">https://t.co/rxSgQ3jIYS</a> <a href="https://t.co/JRuzqGq4dS">https://t.co/JRuzqGq4dS</a></p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/689296633889030144">January 19, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Source w knowledge of Astros talks with Justin Upton noted they never got "serious.” Astros not believed to have talked much more than 3 yrs</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/689494626479112192">January 19, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">But, the fact that Astros did have talks with Justin Upton at all beyond prelim — something to kind of sift through and take in, I suppose.</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/689495840579149824">January 19, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Talk is… cheap? <a href="https://t.co/OvUq4eAw1k">https://t.co/OvUq4eAw1k</a></p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/689496743650557956">January 19, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Question in my mind: will the Jed Lowrie trade have some tangible gain for the Astros heading into this season? Have we already seen it?</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/689497808311742464">January 19, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Maybe. But the Astros say every single person invited to camp might be near contributing. The deal was a salary dump <a href="https://t.co/Wr9ZBWG3NX">https://t.co/Wr9ZBWG3NX</a></p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/689499044188524545">January 19, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Talk is cheap. So much for "spend when the time is right." I guess since they were "a year ahead of schedule", maybe they'll spend next year? Why did they salary dump Jed Lowrie? No problem "spending" in terms of sending out prospects, just don't ask to spend big bucks & long term deals. Signed P Cesar Valdez P Carlos Perdomo IF Alfredo Angarita OF Eury Perez Re-signed P Tony Sipp OF Colby Rasmus Traded C Hank Conger for cash OF L.J. Hoes for cash IF Jed Lowrie P Brett Oberholtzer P Harold Arauz P Mark Appel P Thomas Eshelman P Vincent Velasquez IF Jonathan Villar Acquired P Ken Giles P Danny Reynolds P Cy Sneed P Brendan McCurry IF Jonathan Arauz Dumped P Chad Qualls P Oliver Perez P Joe Thatcher P Scott Kazmir P Luis Cruz 1B Chris Carter OF Robbie Grossman
I don't think money is the issue as much as flexibility. They spent money on free agent relievers last season, and had best offer to Andrew Miller. They traded Lowrie because he is injury-prone, and was kind of without a spot on the roster. Didn't hurt that he made more money and is older than Marwin. Alternatively, they could have moved Valbuena. I don't know if they will ever spend the big bucks on long-term deals. I definitely think we will pick our spots (Heyward is the one guy I look at and think, I wish we had made a run at him).
Anybody else starting to feel the off season is slipping away? We have made one, yes 1, serious addition to our roster, Giles. Thats it. What are we waiting for? Feldman as our #5? Does that bother anyone?
Yep... 3 games back in the off-season loss column with only 1 month left. Will be tough and will require help from others to make the off-season playoffs. (TBH, there's not a single majorly impactful target that I think they should have gone after... and missed out on.... unless you wanted them to give the market share rate/crazy money to David Price). Also, their serious addition (Giles) has a chance to be more impactful than any of these 2nd-rate OF'ers that are still being discussed (Upton, Ces)
I can't imagine too many teams in the league would be bothered at ALL by having a guy of Feldman's quality in their 5th rotation spot.
I don't. We filled our most glaring needs (bringing back Sipp and acquiring Giles). I'm perfectly happy with Feldman as a #5 starter. If we sign anyone, I'd prefer Lee/Fister or try and sign someone to a minor league deal for depth.
I'd be fine with Feldman as our no. 5, aside from his propensity for injuries. I assume they're planning on plugging in one of our AAAA pitchers (Wojo, Straily, etc.) to see if they can hold their own once Feldman gets injured. I also wouldn't mind taking a flyer on a vet, like Cliff Lee, Buehrle or Fister. So long as it's a one year deal. But, I'm not expecting any major deals. Next year should be more interesting, as we'll need to replace Castro, Rasmus and Gomez, at a minimum.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Terms of the MLB settlement in the Garber case are out. And they look pretty good at first glance. <a href="https://t.co/tkxfUP81bG">pic.twitter.com/tkxfUP81bG</a></p>— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/689510323435343874">January 19, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I think there can be something to be said for not overreacting to minor holes on the roster. We may not have added much outside of house help, there is always the chance we can get some help in house. The model we are following, I think it's always wise to allow some room for prospect growth. We very well may have added an awesome 1B and solid SP simply by allowing young players to have a chance. I don't think it's wise to allocate big spending on back of the rotation starters. I would feel more concerned if we had more holes left unfilled, but I don't think we had many to address. Feldman is a league average starter, so you could do a lot worse at #5.
Had a noticeable improvement in contact rate, walk rate, and batting average while maintaining a semblance of power as the season went on. Not a elite DH by any means, but at his favorable contract they're not just going to dump him.
After an abysmal first 14 games, Gattis was more in line with his career numbers. One can't simply ignore those first 14 games, they counted all the same, but one could afford for the possibility that the struggles were the result of a guy forcing the issue in a new situation, something he may not do this season. I think many have been a little too negative on Gattis, I say this as one of the negative ones. Often times we get too hung up on the metrics and % numbers we tend to ignore outright productivity. Gattis posted 27 HR/88 RBI after only having 1 of each after 14 games. He had the best RBI% on the team (tied with Correa) I think there is a realistic chance if given 600 PA Gattis could post a 30/100 season with close to an .800 OPS. He of course may not, and we could always try somebody else at DH, but I don't think it's at all unrealistic to think he could have an extremely productive year.
This summarizes it. He costs relatively little, with some upside and is under long term club control.
I don't see it that way, we re sign Sipp (for me it was a must move) and Rasmus, a much needed left handed bat in the OF. Giles is a big move for us. Now, our starting pitching is not as good as we lost Kazmir.
