Castro is what happens when you draft for need in baseball. He’s a bad memory that I’d prefer to not ever rehash.
Nationals went to three years and that is what got the deal done. As for Castro and some of the other names out there........ there reaches a point where it is smarter to give internal options a chance to fail or succeed rather than taking on a known quantity that isn't very good. It saves a lot of money and has a lot higher upside. There are still some solid relief arms available that I am sure the Astros will explore at a lower cost. However, when it comes to position players and even most starting pitching, the Astros are better staying internal. My understanding is that the Astros will spend money and going into the luxury tax more deeply for the right player, but that isn't a reliever or mediocre catcher.
Do you think they will add a cheap starting pitcher like Wood in FA? They need depth in the starting rotation. IMHO
Possibly. I think it will depend on the associated cost and also on whether they can shed salary somewhere else. They want to make changes and additions through trade but so far nothing has happened. If I were to make a guess, I think they are more likely to add a reliever than starter through free agency.
My belief is that if the internal option (Stubbs) was that highly thought-of, Garneau wouldn’t have been signed. I am not a big fan of Stubbs; he is unlikely to ever post an iso over .100 and I expect his size to eventually limit his durability. He’s fine as a 3rd catcher (especially if he could play another position) because he’s a decent defender and doesn’t strike out a lot. But I don’t see him as a viable backup much less an everyday player. And Maldonado isn’t the caliber of hitter that makes it ok to have a crummy backup. So it’s not just that I think Castro is a solid everyday caliber catcher, it’s that the internal option is a pretty low ceiling low floor guy.
I understand that and I am not saying you are wrong. It all comes down to the scouting and evaluation of the coaches and front office. Also, the cost of these types of signings start to add up. That is seven million dollars that can possibly be used later on someone else. The Astros can always trade for another catcher at a small number.
I tend to agree with this. Harris was gassed and was put in a tough situation for game 6 & 7, which was his job. He just didn't get it done and I wish him the best...
I predict at least 1 of Bryan Abreu, Frances Martes, or Josh James will be a more valuable RP than Will Harris in 2020.
I'll agree over the life of his 3 year contract. But wouldn't make that bet for next year (though it's easily possible)
One thing (understandably I guess) not getting any media attention is that if Houston wins 100+ games in 2020 they will be the only franchise to ever win 100+ games in 4 consecutive seasons. I’m pretty stoked about that possibility.
And Boston fans, how can you forget. Actually rooted for Philly against NYY in 09, and against the Pats in both Super Bowls, lesser evil IMO. That was nice as an ad for the paper, and its true, they're no Yankees fans, but I dislike DC for personal reasons (not turning this political) and have a natural bias for the South/Midwest/West over CA and the Northeast.
We are so blessed to have Hinch on this team as our manager. We have the most capable coach by a mile in this city. No matter what happens with the investigation as long as they dont ban Hinch I think were good.
4 moves I’d like: Bring in Matt Wieters on a minor league deal. Reddick and Cionel Perez to San Fran for Samardzija and $5M. Correa to Cincy or NYM for 5 of their top 10 prospects. Sign Todd Frazier to a 2 year deal.
You can wish Correa away all you want But there is zero chance we move him for prospects Not saying he won't be traded (although I doubt he will) but if he is, it will be for a pitcher who has the potential to throw in the front of a rotation this year
Im not dead set on wanting Correa gone, but now that one World Series is in the bag, id rather average 95 wins over the next 10 seasons than have 2 more 100+ win seasons followed by 5 seasons of rebuilding. Assuming a team would be willing to give up enough value, trading Correa presents a unique opportunity to extend the window without dramatically reducing their chances of winning another ws in the next couple of years. All that said, I agree that the chances of Correa being traded for prospects are incredibly remote.
I don't agree with that assumption. While I'm generally in the more chances group over all-in, I don't think the Astros will be able to trade Correa with back being an issue and increase their chances in future years enough to make up for reduced odds in the next 2 years. If the Astros can get a ton of value, they should consider it.
IF they do want to move him, this offseason would be a bad time in my opinion. Yes, right now he comes with 2 years of control and next offseason only 1. But, if he somehow made it through this year healthy and we were in a situation next offseason where we wanted to move him, coming off a healthy year he would likely have just as much value at that point as he does now, if not more I think a lot of people (not saying you are one of these) are underrating the Astros right now. Yes, we lost Cole, Miley, Harris, Chirinos...but we lost them off of a team that won 107 games We are getting McCullers back, even if just for 100-120 innings. We have some high upside arms in Whitley, James, Urquidy, none of whom are proven, but all of whom could easily outperform Miley/Harris. We have Alvarez for a full season, which is a huge upgrade to what we were running out there at DH the first third of the season We have the potential of Tucker being a big upgrade, offensively, over what we got from Reddick/Jake. While i'm certainly not one who expects a full season of Correa, we got less than half of a season from him last year. If he can just play another 25-30 games that's a big upgrade And the biggest thing is people seem to forget we are still one of the few teams who have two legit aces to front our rotation. Cole was so dominant it makes some people look at Greinke as something less than a front line starter. I know ERA is predictive and all of that, but he had a 3.02 with us last year. Including the playoffs we won 10 of his 15 starts. That's a .667 winning percentage, the 107 wins we had last year is a .660 winning percentage. He had a 2.90 era with Arizona, so his combined ERA last year was under 3, in over 200 innings. He is a stud, but because he pitched behind JV and Cole last year he isn't necessarily viewed that way by Astros fans I would love to add a veteran starter, mid rotation type. We will need someone to eat up the other half of McCullers "starter" innings. We have high upside but unproven options for the 4th and 5th spots. One more solid mid rotation starter means all of those guys compete for one spot instead of two, and they are options for the rest of McCullers innings. But, even if we don't do that to start the year, the talk that I hear about we might not win the division, or even "Astros miss the playoffs" is comical Bregman, Springer, Altuve, Alvarez, Correa, Brantley, Yuli....Verlander, Greinke, McCullers....Pressly, Osuna Bring it on MLB
