He’s unlikely to be a star player but there’s no major flaw in his skillset. He can hit, hit for power, walk, enough speed, and his defensive ceiling is very high. I comped him to Travis Shaw last week and I like that as a realistic best case for him. Shaw has been worth 9.2 fWAR in 543 games, including back to back 3.5 win seasons. Not a star, but a guy even contending teams would be fine with in the middle of their everyday lineup. In terms of relative experience he’s a very young 22.
Agree, I think at this point Alvarez, Whitley, and Tucker are all essentially off limits. I expect any major trade to be built around the non-Whitley pitchers (James, Martin, Bukauskas, Abreu, Perez, Ivey) with secondary position players (Fisher, Straw, Toro, Beer) thrown in. Comparing to the past, a package of James, Perez, Fisher, and Toro seems like it would be in line with what they gave up for Cole.
I'd remove Martin, James, and probably Straw. In Straw, another team could get him if they really wanted him specifically, but doubt a non-contender wants him more than the Astros want the option of having him as a baserunner in the playoffs.
I don't think there's going to be an urgent need this year but they should be focusing on getting a few of those top pitching prospects integrated into the rotation later this year or next. Even if that comes at the cost of a few wins. Getting some minimum salary guys into the back of the rotation completely changes the roster management moving forward.
Yes, to clarify, I was referring to general media reports that had Alvarez as the default asset in every possible trade since the Astros had Whitley and Tucker mostly hands off. That's probably more reversed now, though I assume they're all hands off.
Very concerning. At least we have Corbin Martin in our farm. ATM, he's the most untouchable of the pitching prospects. James, Perez, and JBB are trade bait for an established MLB arm IMO.
None of our starting rotation is farm grown. I also can't immediately recall any playoff-caliber #3 starters who are now playing on other teams that we wish we had back... yet. Folty isn't having a good start, and Hader isn't a starter, and if Hader was here perhaps we wouldn't have traded for Osuna/Pressly. Injury aside, we need more home-grown starters like McCullers that are with the team for six years. We're already at the luxury tax. It's in our best long-term interest to keep and develop high-ceiling prospects like James, Martin, Whitley, Tucker, Alvarez, Straw and yes, sadly, trade Reddick while he's hot, allowing us more room to keep Springer, Correa, Osuna, Pressly. Plan A was for McCullers to be that #3, and Plan B I'm sure was for Whitley to be the #3. I'm hoping Whitley has an Alvarez-like month in July so the Astros don't feel desperate to trade the farm for that #3, which could result in losing Springer, Correa, Pressly, Osuna.
They’re not yet at the luxury tax. Their payroll is high enough that it’s a consideration when talking potential trades, but they still have some room. For all intents and purposes you can consider McHugh and Peacock homegrown. They just called Corbin Martin up. McCullers will be back next year. Whitley is still the #1 pitching prospect in baseball. So next year’s rotation is all set up to be 80% homegrown (Whitley, Martin, Peacock, McCullers), with the other guy being a hall of famer.
Yeah Martin is being called up. Hinch said he’s anticipating Martin to start tomorrow and McHugh will go back to the bullpen for the time being.
Way to ruin my dreams. Although Martin will be fun to watch, I graduated from A&M so I keep up with their team so I’ve seen him pitch live many times.
The winning pitcher against Fayetteville today was none other than former Astros farmhand Diogenes Almengo.
Jonathan Arauz just hit a two-run homer in the second game of Fayetteville's doubleheader. It's his second of the year.
Pretty excited. Like the other poster who bought some Alvarez baseball cards, I started a collection of Martin. I don't plan on selling it but it would be nice if the money I spent was worth it. Time will tell.
