If this were still 2015, sure- bring him on; he'd fit in perfectly. But the Astros do not need to waste limited resources on an average 31-year old who doesn't get on base and strike out a lot. Jay Bruce has produced 3.0 WAR since 2014 - ~ 0.8/year. Derek Fisher, in 54 games, produced 0.4 last season. - would much rather see what he has. I literally wouldn't take Jay Bruce if he agreed to play for free. I'm not kidding. They need to find out what they have with some of their "older" prospects. Zero interest in Jay Bruce.
Not that it changes things, but 2015-2017, fWAR and rWAR both have him averaging around 1.2-1.5 WAR per season. 2014, Bruce was playing though injury, and 2014 is probably close to as representative of his current talent level as much as 2013 was (i.e., not very). That said, I don't see Astros spending money on a LF that wouldn't be an upgrade over a Marisnick/Gonzalez platoon.
I think a huge determinant in how they approach this offseason is how good they feel about the prospects who spent most of this season in AAA: Moran, White, Reed, Fisher, Davis, Stassi, Kemp, etc. Those first 5 guys especially have everyday player upside and all need major league ABs in order to find out for sure how good they are. If they feel Moran and Fisher will be above average everyday players at DH and LF then they need to stand pat on the position player side. If they don’t have confidence in that group then bringing in a lefty bat makes some sense. I agree with everyone that winning it all has largely taken the pressure off and gives Luhnow some leeway to give ABs to cheap young talent.
I see Astros are betting on the other teams' inability to throw to and catch the ball at home plate once again.
So what is the big deal about the tweet? I understand that Scott boras is a douchebag, however that was with the old ownership. Maybe the new ownership, and general manager can get along with the dude. I would hate to lose Marwin. He's not a superstar by any means, but he's pretty damn good. Speaking of, I actually saw a woman wearing a Marwin Gonzalez jersey the other day, it tripped me out, I had never seen anyone sporting one. Thing is though, every time I see number 9 on an Astros jersey, I still think of Hunter Pence for some reason.
It has nothing to do with (or at least is not limited to) Boras being a douchebag. Boras is very good at his job and bypasses the front office of some teams by going straight to the owner. Owner is swayed by Boras's view of reality and agrees to a deal. Front office then has to make room in budget for a player that makes more than market rate. Frankly, I think Crane is too cheap to deal directly with Boras. Very little chance that what Luhnow wants to offer is competitive with what Boras can sweet talk out of another team's owner.
I encourage all players to get theirs while they can. I wouldn't blame the Astros if they cut bait with Marwin after next year knowing which massive contracts are coming, but it will still sting.
Luhnow and Boras actually have a good relationship. All this means is that there is very little chance Marwin signs an extension as by and large Boras clients always test free agency.
I'd like to see Marwin do it for more than just 2/3'ds of a season. He's a tremendous utility guy... but he's more that than a possible MVP candidate (which his huge leap in all hitting numbers would suggest, if it trended consistently). Utility guys like him have lots of value.... but Ben Zobrist did it for more than just one season, and even then his earning potential was somewhat limited.
Astros County blog Sunday, November 12, 2017 Brian McCann is open to ending his career with the Braves. The Astros have a $15m option* following the 2018 season which could help make that happen. McCann: (Atlanta) is my home. I played close to 10 years here. This organization is really, really, really close to my heart. I love this organization. McCann's 2019 option vests if he: *Gets 601 PAs in 2018 AND *Catches 90 games in 2018 AND *Is not on the DL at the end of the 2018 season Before that quote, McCann had really nice things to say about the 2017 Astros.
