He provides that valuable veteran presense/leadership, and the pitchers absolutely love pitching to him.
I've felt like this before the season started, and nothing has developed to change my mind; this almost has to be his last season as an Astro. There are two main ways for the season to play out: Scenario 1: he pitches amazing, has a tremendous year, that also prices us out of re-signing him. A team like the Yanks would gladly overpay for his services. Scenario 2: he pitches ok, or even subpar. At this point, the front office probably sees him as too risky, and not worth the still large contract some team will likely overpay him with. Not quite sure which Keuchel we'd be signing for another 3-4 years, the option of Whitley or Cionel Perez at the minimum would be way more appealing for the front office. So far, he's shown flashes of both Keuchel's; some from his Cy Young days, and some where he has been flat out bad. I hope he finishes strong, not just because it benefits us, but it also means he'll get a nice pay day in the offseason. Win-win, everybody is happy.
I am not expecting us to be big spenders this off season and I certainly don't expect to retain McCann.
I understand this, but he can't play forever, and has already said he wants to be a Brave again (he's from Atlanta, and that's where he played most of his career). My dream is a catching duo of Realmuto and Maldonado. Also, I see Perez was used in Fresno last night as a reliever? I hope they still intend to groom him as a starter, especially if Keuchel leaves, since our rotation should definitely have a lefty. I also hope Boshers at least gets a chance with us at the MLB level, he's been doing really well in AAA as of late.
Which is why I’m guessing there will be a good chance Maldanado ends up here long term. If he is as good on defense as we’ve heard the pitchers will love him
I’m sure they still look at Perez as a potential starter. But for this year if he is needed it will be in the pen. So let him throw in relief in AAA, also reduces his innings for the year which is probably something they are considering
He is performing well enough to deserve a qualifying offer which is win, win, win for the Astros. 1: that means he pitched well and helped the team win 2: if we re-sign him it should be for slightly less since teams will factor in the 1st round pick loss in their bids 3: if he doesn't re-sign Astros get a comp pick. Also I'd be fine if he took the QO and played on a 1 year deal.
I agree, and in a few posts above, actually think he will go back to the Braves this offseason. I just asked the question why we would want him, not necessarily that I think he will sign with us, or that I want to sign him.
You are right, as I was writing my post, the little light bulb went off, and I could definitely see why the front office targeted him at the deadline. He stands to be a much cheaper, right-handed version of McCann.
You are absolutely right, I should add that as Scenario 3. I don't see him accepting the QO, I think he wants that fat, 3-5 year deal. And I think he will be offered a contract that he'll be happy with.
Is there a better external utility option than Marwin? The versatility of the current roster could replace him in the aggregate but no other FA is likely to.
Thats a really tough question and I think it involves many factors. What is McCann's heath? How does Stassi end the year? What kind of deal is Machete looking for on the free agent market? Is Stubbs viable? Gun to my head I will say we go with Stassi and a free agent (maybe resign Machete, maybe someone like Nick Hundley or Kurt Suzuki).
You can get his production from a combination of cheap, renewable contract type guys like White/Mayfield/Davis/Kemp.
C (2) Stassi, Maldonado or McCann Astros could re-up Maldonado or McCann and be fine or pull off a Realmuto deal. Think the former is most likely. IF (6) Yuli, Altuve, Bregman, Correa, Lowrie, Davis Lowrie would be the big position player to target too DH and play over the infield. This is who I’d replace Gattis with providing more versatility. OF (4) Reddick, Springer, Tucker, Kemp, (Davis (LF) Tucker should be over the curve. No problem adding a fifth outfielder, internally. I think JD Davis is turning into a good player and he would be my first choice (his versatility to play LF and all over the infield), Myles Straw looks close to being at the worst another Tony Kemp type quality bench option. Marisnick & Fisher still provide D, base running, moderate power and know the clubhouse. SP (5) Verlander, Cole, Keuchel or Morton, McCullers, Whitley Both Keuchel and Morton are pitching well and both have expressed desire in returning. Morton would be on a shorter deal that could be beneficial to create a window for a prospect but Keuchel probably still has better numbers moving forward. One is going to walk and it will be a sad day. Astros keep an open window that Whitley probably crawls through and slams shut for 6+ years but Armenteros, C Perez, Bukauskas, Martes should be enough to keep pushing him to keep improving. RP (8) Osuna, Rondon, Devo, McHugh, Peacock, Smith, Pressly, Sipp Rewarding Sipp on a 1-2 yr deal is all I’d mess with. Bullpen is staked and at some point guys like Armenteros, C Perez, Bukauskas, etc will be converted to reliever roles
I was reading that the Royals don't really seem to trust Mondesi to play every day for whatever reason, making him a backup to Escobar. They also seem to like Nicky Lopez coming up through their system. Mondesi fits the position versatile switch hitting role that Marwin fills, with better upside at minimum salary. I wonder if a trade for a similarly talented but frustrating pitcher (Martes?) might be a good match for both teams? I suspect the Astros aren't going to sit back and just fill internally on the starting pitching side. Last season they weren't going to sit back and have Peacock and McHugh battle for the 5th spot. I imagine they'll want a TORish guy controlled past 2019 to help soften the blow of Cole and Verlander being FA. Gausman or Archer would have been good targets, but they seem unlikely now. You'll probably see them connected to deGrom and Syndergaard, but those guys will probably be too overvalued. If they go with the blueprint of years past, it'll be a guy with some established level of success but issues with injuries and inconsistencies that would make the acquisition cost palatable. Free agent names I'm keeping an eye on: Pomeranz, Eovaldi, Harvey, Rosenthal (wants to start again) Patrick Corbin has probably played himself into too big of a contract this offseason. Richards might have been nice but the Injury will keep him out of 2019. Trade targets off the top of my head: Danny Duffy, Luis Castillo, Steven Matz, Dylan Bundy, Julio Teheran if they think he can get his FB back.
Jed Lowrie has been putting up great numbers and finally staying healthy. Could be a possible replacement for Marwin as he can play all the infield spots. We could use him as our primary DH to take the toll off his body and have him play the field every now and then to give the infielders a break. Start Tucker in LF. We'd lose a little of the in-game positional flexibility, but let's be honest, nobody can really match Marwin's versatility. Kemp and Jake as our backups. He'll probably be on a short term deal at around $8-10M/yr.
If Kemp can get on at 380+ clip he should be an every day starter. Not sure why tucker was getting ABs over him.
I don't think they'd bring him back for a 3rd time. Saw an article that guessed if the Nats fall further, Daniel Murphy might be available in August. He had an injury delayed start but could fill in at a few positions and he plays big in the postseason.
