Season's not over yet, blah, blah - it isn't but I sure as hell don't feel like talking about another lost series to the Rangers, so... Pick two players - who could realistically be made available - you want the Astros to pursue in the offseason, and try and put together a deal that might interest the other team. I've said for a while I hope exactly one second after the season ends, the Astros call Atlanta and ask what, if anything, they'd want for Freddie Freeman. My guess, given his age and bounce-back season, that the answer will be something along the lines of, "A lot." As long as Bregman isn't involved, I'd talk. Short of that - and others have mentioned this guy and I'm starting to come around on it - I'd next call Cincinnati and ask about Joey Votto. He's owed a lot of money - but that might make him a tad easier to obtain (likely easier than Freeman, who's also owed money but is 6 years younger). I would offer AJ Reed, Musgrove or Paulino, and lower level prospects, hoping our swallowing a large chunk of his remaining bill will lessen the haul. Next... I call the White Sox and ask them if they'd like to unload the final $15MM owed Melky Cabrera. Oh, and while we have you on the line - we'll take Jose Quintana off your hands, too. And to do it, I'd open my system up, placing an untouchable button only on Alex Bregman. Anyone else? Let's talk. Kyle Tucker? Sure. Francis Martes? Yes. Lance (gulp) McCullers............... I think..... I think I would - assuming I had an handle on Keuchel's down year/recovery. I would prefer not to - I would distract and confuse them as much as possible. But if they offered me Quintana for McCullers, Martes and Tucker... do we do that?
Loudres Gurriel, Jr. and Ian Desmond. Cold hard cash needed for both. Desmond fills in the gap in CF. Gurriel gives Astros another up and coming bat. No prospects lost for position players. I expect Astros will go for a starting pitcher as well, but hard to tell who's realistically available at this point for a decent price. Expect this is where Astros use prospects in a deal for someone if the Astros make a big trade. Thinking more likely a MoR SP as expect ToR SPs to be more costly than normal this offseason.
Chris Archer and Charlie Blackmon. Astros get: RHP Chris Archer Rays get: OF Kyle Tucker RHP Francis Martes RHP David Paulino RHP Mike Fiers OF Preston Tucker 1B Jon Singleton Astros get: OF Charlie Blackmon Rockies get: 1B Tyler White RHP Franklin Perez RHP Will Harris Then I'd go sign Aroldis Chapman and Alex Avila. Opening day 40 man roster: RF Springer 3B Bregman 2B Altuve SS Correa 1B Gurriel LF Blackmon C Gattis DH Reed CF Teoscar Bench: Marwin, Avila, Marisnick Rotation: Archer, Keuchel, McCullers, McHugh, Musgrove Bullpen: Devenski, Feliz, Sipp, Hoyt, Gustave, Gregerson, Giles, Chapman AAA: Stassi, Kemp, Moran, Aplin, Fontana, Hauschild, Rodgers, Frias, Emanuel, Grills, Holmes, Guduan, West, Jankowski, E. Hernandez
Wilson Ramos and Julio Teheran. Ramos is a FA, so it'll take heavy $$ to pry him from going back to the Nats. I'd pony up...I believe in the LASIK improvement. The downside is, he's actually caught more ML innings than Castro. If we're seeing some decline in Castro's abilities due to wear and tear, I wonder if that's around the corner with Ramos. Then again, Lucroy has caught 40% more innings and everyone was fine with that potential acquisition. Teheran might be available at a hefty price, as always. The Braves will want to keep him as the vet anchor, but given the market and what he could be I'd be open to moving a package centered around K Tucker, Musgrove, and one of the younger pitchers. 2 early conclusions based on the posts so far: 1) K Tucker seems fairly likely to be moved this offseason 2) the guy we all want but aren't mentioning b/c it's unpossible: Spoiler Dan Straily
Reed for 2 magic beans, Drywall, a table, and a mirror. I have Marisnick look in the mirror to see what he saw. I take the saw and cut the table in halves. I put the two halves together and make a hole. I shove the entire starting pitching staff into the hole and then seal it up with them still inside, feeding them nothing but the two magic beans.
I love Votto (and have called for his acquisition for 2 years now), but we're at the point where offense isn't really the issue. Don't get me wrong, Votto, Blackmon, or other offensive studs would be nice. But it seems more economical, (considering the price of pitching and our dire need for it), to allocate such prospect costs solely to pitching as opposed to offense. Given the trade market, I'd try my hands at 1 underperforming stud, a la Archer or Gray (preferably the earlier), and a solid cost-controlled player like Tyson Ross. I just don't think we have what it takes to get a TOR guy like Sale without giving up untouchable pieces.
Last offseason, most Astros fans would say that the Astros top of the rotation was set. Even at the mid point of the season, most fans were still cautiously optimistic. We were wrong. WRT the Astros offense, most fans thought the Astros needed help at 1B, LF, DH and maybe C. The Astros did have a wave of prospects that were ready and near ready, so they were willing to stay pat. By mid season, GoGo and Rasmus were slumping so bad that they could not start and Valbuena who is playing well got injured. Now at the end of the season, the bats have rebounded the arrival of Bregman and El Yuli and the resurgence of Rasmus. The starting pitching has become an unexpected dumpster fire, where any outing of 5 IPs is an unexpected relief. The way things sit now, the Astros have to be major players in acquiring more pitching this offseason. Paulino 22 years old McCullers 22 years old Musgrove 23 years old Keuchel 28 years old McHugh 29 years old Fiers 31 years old Fister 32 years old Can Paulino and Musgrove take the next step? Can McCullers and Keuchel rebound from injuries? McCullers moreso than Keuchel. Fister is likely gone in FA. Fiers is a SP5 on a good day. Going into next year: 1. 2. Keuchel 3. Musgrove 4. McHugh 5. Fiers I want McCullers to be healthy, but feel the Astros can not plan on it. One could argue that Musgrove, McHugh and Fiers are really SP5s and maybe even argue that Fiers is not even a starting pitcher for a playoff team. I think that the Astros need to acquire a SP1 and a SP3 this offseason.
Lourdes Gurriel and Chris Archer. Gurriel can join the ranks with his older brother, add another solid bat to the lineup, and give us an everyday left fielder without having to give up any prospects at all. It'll take serious money, but with Yuli already being here, I hope we can seal the deal. For Archer, the Rays might ask for a package centered around Martes and Musgrove/Paulino, but I think you have to pull the trigger. Right now, we have a glut of above average arms, but nobody that we can definitively say shores up the rotation.
I'm in for ramos too, altuve and marwin should recruit. The second addition would be an arm, Archer even Hill. gurriel is a sure thing right? Might as well pencil him in to our lineup. watch the rangers grab him. I'd also bring back Valbuena for a fair deal. can't be last in the salary pay roll. not acceptable.
Loudres Gurriel, Jr. is ready for AA ball not MLB. In my mind, Loudres is just another Cuban minor leaguer that the Astros have their sights on.
I remember last offseason differently than you. I wanted a ToR SP last year and I thought there were many others of same opinion. I want one again this year. However, I just don't see it happening much less acquiring both a ToR SP and a MoR SP in an offseason that likely has limited options.
I thought consensus was that he would move up ranks fairly quickly, and be ready by the middle of next summer?? Am I way off base on that?
To me, the difference is, last year the lineup needed to be addressed much moreso, and the rotation needed at least someone solid, with ToR as a "nice to have". This year, ToR is much more of a necessity--because (1) the lineup is more solidified with Altuve's ascension, Bregman, and Gurriel (2) Keuchel decline + LMJ questionable injury prognosis now and long-term (3) With 1 & 2 occurring at the same time as this point in the timeline (key pieces still cheap), the window is more clearly defined as now vs. "potentially now".
Last season, there were TOR SPs available in FA. This year, there are none. As such, teams like the Dodgers and Yankees are going to be fighting Astros for ToR SPs on trade market. When push comes to shove, my money is on the teams that have money to being able to trade for ToR SPs. These teams can trade a ton of prospects knowing that the owner can pony up 200k at a snap of his fingers to replace the lost prospects with major leaguers. While I think Crane is going to increase the budget...I'm thinking baby steps and that he isn't close to being as willing as others to trade cheap labor.
I understand, but the timing didn't make *as much* sense last year to make it an absolute priority, and they couldn't have predicted Keuchel or even LMJ to this degree, as he was just started his growth trajectory. I think given the team's position and priority, the Astros will absolutely be among the top 2-3 contenders if a ToR SP is traded. As we've seen with Hamels, the rest can come down to a myriad of factors.
If I had to choose pitcher or offense, I'd go pitcher - but the offense is going to need to be addressed. If assume Bregman, Correa, Altuve and Gurriel is our infield, we'll still have holes in LF, CF, C and DH (I'm not buying any stock in Evan Gattis, in terms of being an everyday player). They're going to have to address offense.
Gattis has a wRC+ of 111 in 1822 career PA and can capably play a premium defensive position. He's an everyday player.
He can't play catcher every day. And he's less effective against RHP. If he's your RH platoon C/DH, cool. But... while he's been very good these past 45 games (.292/.364/.597/.962), he was virtually useless for the first 61 (.215/.279/.426/.705). And frankly, that's why I don't have much use for him - the Astros need to steer away from guys who are consistently inconsistent. It's nice to see Gattis finish the year productive - but he was a black hole for too much of it. Same for Rasmus, Valbuena... they need greater consistency - especially because their best players are still very young, developing, and prone to their own prolonged struggles.
