Astros have a deal in place with free agent catcher Robinson Chirinos

Barf.

 

Splash.

Just the way we wanted to start the off-season... picking up the Rangers terrible catcher.

 

$5.75M for a starting caliber catcher? Hell yes, I'll take it. The Royals just gave Chris Owings, a utility man, $3M.

If he doesn't sh*t the bed defensively like Maldonado, he is going to be a solid signing.

And this frees up payroll to address other spots of the roster. Looks like I'm the most bullish on the signing here.

 

I think most are plenty bullish if the first sentence above is in fact true. But there is no evidence of that yet.

It's about the package, not the move itself - if the package of [cheaper catcher + splash hitter/SP] > [expensive catcher + cheaper hitter/SP] we'll be happy. It's hard to judge this move until we see the whole offseason.

 

Wow....we paid more then the option the Rangers declined.

Downgraded bat, framing and defense.....I can't support Luhnow here. Threw out only 10% of base stealres last year.

 

Downgraded bat, in what sense?

It's ok to not be thrilled about this signing, but at least don't like it for the right reasons.

 

The Rangers are tanking...why would they really want him? His salary is right in line with what a vet with his cv would get, so it's not egregious or anything.

Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe he is in fact the 66% catcher next year? I care less about the bat behind the plate than I do about the glove.

 

Glove and a pitching staff's comfort with the catcher far more important... but that being said, it doesn't absolve the catcher from being able to hit consistently.

An all glove/black hole bat catcher isn't what it once used to be.

 

Let these guys know that, 162 games in '18: Bos/Hou/NYY/Oak/Cle

.194 .246 .288 .533
.223 .298 .375 .673
.212 .292 .415 .706
.230 .279 .327 .606
.229 .288 .384 .672

The MLB average was a .677 OPS (232 .304 .373) Brad Ausmus's career OPS over 18 years was .669.

 

Did Morey take over the Astros offseason as well?

 

Yes, its a different era... Averages and OPS down across the board. My point was its rarer now to have the solid hitting catcher, regardless of defense. When all teams do it, doesn't really add much separation.

Maybe having a catcher that can hit (Luhnow's new strategy) can help stabilize a lineup further. I know McCann's signing was universally disliked around here, with many longing for Castro... but you just can't have complete ineptitude at the plate anymore.

 

I do not understand what you are saying here, at all.

 

Hitting is subpar across the board. There aren't just bad hitting catchers. You now have bad hitting OFers, IFers, and on some teams... bad hitting DH's (which should never happen).

The rarer commodity is not the all glove/poor hitting catcher... its the catcher that may actually be able to hit some.

But yes, the guy needs to actually be able to catch... something Maldonado thought was an option in last year's playoffs.

ETA: The running game is a dying aspect of the game. One day, somebody may build a team of speedsters to exploit that... but for now, its really not a priority for any team trying to assemble a consistent offense.

 

"Hitting is subpar across the board" Huh?

MLB OPS by year:

728 18
750 17
739 16
721 15
700 14
714 13
724 12
720 11
728 10
751 09
749 08

This has always happened, how do people not realize it?

The average AL DH put up a .780 OPS, it's not like there's mashers all over the place and we've been stuck with crap.

 

Yes. Go back even further when Ausmus and Matheney were your prototypical bad hitting catcher that a lineup could withstand. OPS has been trending downwards since that time.

You’re basically agreeing with me that offense, anywhere on the field, is at a premium right now. Doesn’t create much separation amongst the teams that all field catchers who don’t hit.

Likewise, Astros front office doesn’t need a pitching guru catcher. This isn’t projected to be a young staff.

 

Except at least with Asmus and othesr they could at least throw people out and frame pitches.....this guy can't even do that. Could have stuck with Herrmann who would have been the exact same except cost 4m less.

 

Goes back to my point about how the running game is dying... and when you have a catcher that cares more about framing than actually catching the ball, worse things tend to happen.

It’s not like they just got locked into a 7 year deal. It’s also likely they make another move if it doesn’t work out.

 

Kurt Suzuki (not good behind the plate) got 2/10 with the Nats to be a part-time catcher, just for reference.

I think we're talking past each other. Catcher should be defense first, especially with the position players the Astros roll out.

 

If Correa, Reddick, Gurriel, Altuve, Marwin replacement and Springer have seasons closer to 2017 than 2018 we should be ok on offense. They all pretty much regressed last year , unlikely that will be the case again where each has an avg to below avg season (for themselves).

Pitching ... we need to sign another ace/#2 to keep pace with the Spankees and Tube Sox. While I agree we should easily repeat in the West, Luhnow needs to build his lineup with the playoffs in mind. Next year is their best year to repeat. After 2019 there are just too many unknowns that will have to be resolved.

 

Sure. We all know your affection for the catcher position and what’s truly important.

But other than the god given ability to throw a runner out (which, again we are talking about a part of them game that really isn’t utilized as much, esp in the playoffs)... the metrics behind catcher defense, and their ability to block balls, are almost nonexistent, and I’m optimistic this front office has watched enough of Chirinos to know he has the ability to do that consistently enough to make the improved bat worth it.