Yulieski Gurriel agrees to 5/$47M deal with the Astros

Interestingly, the Astros rank 13th in MLB in runs scored; 9th in team ERA (which I would imagine is bullpen-fueled; still....).

Their line-up is not good.

 

I know. The "add all the bats you want" was juuust a bit of hyperbole.

Full seasons from Bregman and Yuli should help that. Correa should theoretically get better. They have to fix the black holes that were DH/LF/1B (it's funny to type that, the 3 all-stick, no-glove positions). OPS by:

1B, 28th in MLB
LF, 29th in MLB (would love for Teo H to have a strong winter and win that job in ST)
DH, 14th in the AL

God, I hope Reed makes the jump next year, if he's still here. They are desperate for a LH bat or 2.

But, to my point, if you don't think the Stros need a 200IP starter who you would gladly hand the ball to in a 1-game playoff, you be crazy.

This is a huge offseason for Luhnow.

 

17th in starter's ERA, 5th in bullpen. They are 15th in IP by starting pitchers, which is better than I expected.

Sorry, I know this is the wrong thread for this conversation.

 

I don't see Astros having the balls/finances to trade for one of those guys. Going to have to either hope on internal options, pray on bats, give up, or pray some dumb team trades Astros one. Frankly, I think odds are much likelier that McCullers is healthy than Astros acquire someone I'd rather have in a 1-game playoff than him.

 

I think the odds are much liklier that he has pretty major arm surgery in the next 12 months.

 

Yep; and a tricky one. There's so much uncertainty - how will Bregman and Gurriel respond to a full season? Can McCullers stay healthy? Will Keuchel bounce back? How much stock do we put into Gattis' and/or Valbuena's seasons?

And that doesn't include reconciling the youngsters (Reed, Musgrove, etc.) - how do they fit into/alter plans.

I think he *has* to add a bat - preferably a left-handed one - and a 200 IP, + SP. Has to.

 

That would be a supreme waste of killer home-grown talent already here and very cheap for the time being. You're basing the overall chances of success for this regime on hope, pray, and pray... and odds are that this front office won't be given carte blanche to blow it all up and rebuild again for another 5 years if they can't make some headway in this current window.

Huh?

If you meant to say that if healthy, McCullers is your guy... then I could buy that. But he's absolutely not healthy... and he doesn't necessarily have great mechanics that would have made him unlikely to be an injury risk even if he was healthy.

When the original plan is not working out, or has ultimately failed... you have to come up with a new one. Banking on everybody staying healthy and playing up to their minor league projections is a utopian viewpoint that rarely works out.

 

Maybe they can McCullers a closer, and then try to trade for a starter?

 

They can try to trade for a starter regardless. McCullers just needs to get healthy, regardless. No guarantees that he wouldn't get hurt as a closer either... was only able to pitch 81 innings this year and suffered 2 different injuries.

 

which is why I'm fine with McCullers being added into a trade for a frontline starter - ala Sale

 

Sale or Kershaw would be th only two I would consider McCullers in a deal for

Youngest starter in the AL this season

We need to add a front line starter, but not at the cost of Lance

 

I would trade McCullers for:

Synergaard
Sale
Kluber
Quintana
Bumgarner
DeGrom
Archer
Teheran
Hamels

 

Astros are not the only baseball team that "needs" starting pitching. I'm not banking on everybody staying healthy or everyone from minors hitting. I just see other teams that have better financial resources (i.e. they can trade as many prospects/young MLB players as they want because they can just sign veteran hitters) being able to outbid the Astros. I don't see Crane telling Luhnow, "Go get an ace and I'll use my wallet to get a catcher, a left fielder, a center fielder, a 1st baseman, and a DH".

I choose to hope for the best than assume Astros are done until 2018 at the earliest.

 

But you agree it would be a waste to not maximize resources now while they have by far the best bargain of a 1-5 in the lineup. Springer starts getting more expensive as soon as next season.

Most other teams don't have that pre-set young and CHEAP foundation in place already. Withholding extra spending now will only get more and more constricting in the future as the rest of the team starts to get very expensive.

 

Kershaw?

 

That's a pretty good return. Will those teams share McCullers?

 

No thanks on Teheran

 

This is the offseason they have to stop building around "what if..." They need hammers they can drop every night in their line-up and every fifth day in their rotation. If Lance McCullers, one of their bigger "what if"s... can facilitate that, I think they'd be fools not to pursue it.

 

Agree we need to "drop the hammer"

But I don't see us moving up to say a $160 million payroll

So best chance to really go for it has us moving out best "prospects" right now, but the really young guys who have proven they can succeed (Lance, Bregman) need to be added to, not swapped for more reliable studs

Musgrove, Feliz, Martes, Paulino, Tucker, Reed...all on the table, will that bring back Chris Sale? No not likely, but would bring back a front of rotation type for sure and if we were then willing to spend on a guy like Desmond in addition to adding a front rotation guy, we are legitimate contenders

 

Kershaw can void the rest of his contract (following the end of season if during midseason and after next season if during offseason). I guess he took that into consideration? Would Kershaw be okay with the Astros?