Add Russell Martin to the list of potential catchers. Would likely be a better fit in Houston as a backup or platoon option. Pairing him with Grandal, Castro, or even Avila would be fine with me.
I expect the Astros to sign at least one catcher pretty soon. That is really the biggest hole on the team with no real options at AAA.
So...can’t not share this: I was kicking myself for not getting a WS Jersey (only $75), so I went back today. Got an orange Yuli jersey. Saw Luhnow on the way in. He just got off the phone, chatted with him for a second and got a selfie. Also, 2020 WS confirmed.
Outfield Springer Brantley Tucker Straw Alvarez Marisnick Infield Gurriel Altuve Correa Bregman Diaz Toro Catcher ? ? Starting Pitcher Verlander Grienke McCullers Urquidy ? Bullpen Devenski James Peacock Pressly Osuna ? ? trades: Reddick Needs: 2 catchers, 1 starting pitcher, 2 relievers Predictions: 1) Resign BOTH Maldonado and Chirinos. Unless we are going for Grandal, there aren’t better catchers on the market. 1 year deals for each. 2) Harris is resigned. 2 years $14 million 3) We don’t sign a top 5 free agent starting pitcher. We sign an under the radar guy to a 2 year deal...see Morton and Miley. 4) Springer agrees to a 4 year, $90 million deal. This is the year of reckoning with the cap. Salary will go up, but the team won’t be better (not a huge deal). We don’t have the spending power to pay big money on the market, and unfortunately, we won’t be getting major league reinforcements from the minors at pitcher or catcher. When we made the Grienke trade, that was our major “free agent” acquisition.
I've seen him driving downtown during rush hour (so was next time for a few minutes grinding through traffic) he was driving an Astros themed sports car (Audi R8 maybe?) like with orange rims... obviously color coded around the Astros and an Astros license plate of some kind... thought that was interesting he didn't just have a regular nondescript fancy car.
Fwiw, here is Brian MacTaggert’s current opening day roster prediction: C Chirinos, Stubbs/Castro 1B Gurriel 2B Altuve SS Correa 3B Bregman OF Tucker, Springer, Brantley, Straw/Marisnick DH Alvarez UT Diaz SP Verlander, Greinke, McCullers, Urquidy, Wheeler/Odorizzi/Whitley RP Osuna, Pressly, James, Peacock, Abreu, Devenski/Biagini/Harris/J.Smith/W.Smith An offseason haul of Will Smith, Robinson Chirinos, Zack Wheeler, Will Harris, and Jason Castro would be pretty awesome. https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/predicting-astros-2020-opening-day-roster one thing that caught my eye is that he notes Gurriel is under control for 3 more seasons. Not sure how it works since he came over on a free agent contract that expires after 2020, but will enter next season with only 3 years of service time (which means he wouldn’t accrue the 6 years necessary for free agency until after the 2022 season).
I don't see the Astros spending that much on a reliever in Will Smith. He's going to command 3-4 years at over 13 million per season. As far as Gurriel... it depends on his contract. I saw an article either this week or last week on another player where the team gave up the control beyond the contract years and made him a free agent.
Comrade Amlo aka presidente of Mexico shows of his collection, Urquidy and an autograph baseball of pope Francis! Balla. I would invade Mexico for that pope Francis baseball! For the compadres: "I had the Astros winning the world series. But Baseball, like in politics, you don't always get to win. You learn to try harder and never give up."
How bout some hypothetical offseason trades? Astros get: SP Jon Gray RP Jake McGee Rockies get: SP Jose Urquidy 3B Abraham Toro OF Ronnie Dawson RP Dean Deetz OF Josh Reddick Houston gets a ToR SP and a lefty reliever. They also get out from all of Josh Reddick’s contract. Colorado gets a package similar to what Pittsburgh got for Gerrit Cole. They also get out from under Jake McGee’s contract. Reddick could be a decent deadline trade chip or allow them to trade one of their other OF. Astros get: C Omar Narvaez Mariners get: SP Cionel Perez SP Cristian Javier SP Framber Valdez Houston gets its starting catcher for 3 years. Seattle gets a solid trio of mlb ready pitching prospects.
Cant understand if this is what Reid wanted or forced upon. Reid has been crucial to this franchises turnaround.
