Jay Bruce only getting $39M/3yr from the Mets. Would have been good with Houston giving him that deal. Should mean CarGo would take a 1yr deal <$10M imho.
No thanks on that deal. Marwin-level defense at best in the OF, and the offense has risk of looking like he did in '14 and '15. I give much more weight to recent years of course, but 3/39 is too much for that risk with this team
Only offensive position I’d hand out a contract beyond this year is at catcher. Since there’s no prospects and McCann and maybe Gattis both walk after this year
I would love Lucroy on a similar deal. $13M works out to like 1.5 war/year, Lucroy is almost guaranteed to put up that much and he’s got a chance to do a lot better.
Lucroy makes more sense than anyone on the free agent market for the Astros. Hinch can platoon McCann and Gattis at DH (LH/RH)
McCann is not a useful DH. His strength is handling pitchers. If he's not doing that, he probably shouldn't be in the lineup. But he can platoon with Lucroy.
It’ll be interesting to see if they keep Gattis if they sign Lucroy. Hard for all 3 of McCann, Gattis, and Lucroy to get 120+ games (where they won’t feel they’re not playing enough). I suppose ~300 games between C and DH gets them close. Either way I think 9 everyday positions between 12 guys means they should be able to keep everybody happy, and that assumes everybody stays 100% healthy. C Lucroy 90, McCann 70 1B Gurriel 120, Marwin 10, McCann 30 2B Altuve 130, Marwin 30 SS Correa 130, Marwin 30 3B Bregman 130, Marwin 30 RF Reddick 120, Springer 40 CF Springer 90, Marisnick 70 LF CarGo 120, Marisnick 30, Gattis 10 DH/PH/Defensive sub/etc. Gattis 110, McCann 20, Lucroy 30, Marwin 20, Marisnick 20 In that situation if everybody stayed healthy, Gattis probably isnt playing enough to maximize his value, but it’s still probably worthwhile to keep him as insurance as he could play C, 1B, or LF in a pinch.
Some good pub ... http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/...-ever-the-2018-astros-could-be-one-piece-away
First, McCann has played 29 more games at first base in the major leagues than I have. Second, I certainly hope (as you say assuming everyone is 100% healthy), that the Astros play Correa and Altuve and Springer and Bregman more than 130 games this season. Third, a lot of weird things will have to happen for Gattis to get 1 game in LF much less 10.
Gattis only played 84 games last year. Altuve, Bregman, Correa, & Springer will all get 150+ games if healthy. Gurriel should probably get close to 150. The backup catcher will be a backup catcher, almost never DHing, which is why Lucroy doesn't make a lot of sense.
We are about to witness a flurry of free agent signings the likes we have never seen. There are roughly 30 days to spring training and about 40 guys easily worthy of major league deals: C Lucroy, Avila 1B Hosmer, Duda, Morrison 2B Walker SS A Escobar, Reyes 3B Moustakas, Frazier, Y Escobar, Nunez OF Martinez, Cain, Gonzalez, Granderson, Cabrera, Cain, Dyson, Gomez, Maybin, Jay, Holliday SP Darvish, Arrieta, Cobb, Garcia, Lynn, Vargas, Cashner, Tillman RP Holland, Watson, Reed, Norris, Albert, Duensing, Hernandez, Uehara, Romo
The scenario I laid out assumes every single player stays healthy for all 162 games, which would never happen, but in the event that it did, Hinch would be looking for ways to get guys on the field enough to justify their roster spot and keep them happy; that’s why you’d see weird **** like McCann getting an occasional start at 1B during platoon advantage or Gattis out in LF just to keep him engaged and confident he can still play the field. Sitting the star players ~30 games in a season would ensure they’d be fresh for the playoffs. But as I said, injuries would almost certainly resolve any of these issues and all 12 guys would be playing enough when healthy without sitting stars or playing guys out of position.
One thing that hasn’t been talked about much is that Gurriel is an aging player. I think we’d be wise to temper expectations of him and Hinch would be smart to get him regular rest. Lucroy makes more sense as the starting catcher from 2019 and possibly longer since McCann is old and a free agent and no prospects appear poised to take over. But since Lucroy is available now, if the price is right it makes sense to sign him and figure it out for a year.
Sorry, but Hinch will not sit Correa, Springer, Altuve and Bregman for 30 games to help keep Marisnick, Gonzalez and Gattis happy. The core will get their rest by sitting out the occasional game before an off day and DHing.
Its hilarious to see the NBA and NFL mentality start to creep towards baseball. These guys have been playing the game for most of their lives, and in a lot of cases year-round... other than the pitchers, they are trained to be able to play everyday. Yes, wear/tear can build up and guys need a breather here/there. The mental grind also induces funks and bad mechanics, that sometimes need extra coaching time to straighten out. Seems like game 7 was just yesterday... yet we're less than a month away from them reporting to the ST facility to begin workouts. Seems fast, doesn't it? Oh wait, this is what they do...
Cain is gonna go to the Rangers. I can feel it. He’s gonna be a good signing wherever he lands. I’d rather try to trade for Salvador Perez midway through the season than sign LuCroy. We can afford to roll out with what we’ve got. I’ve never seen an off-season this stagnant. Did the luxury tax rules change *that* drastically? Or is the league *that* polarized? I agree with Snakes earlier post...there are only a few teams on the hinge of competing that can really justify big signings. There’s the real competitors: LAD, HOU, NYY, CLE, CHC, WAS...then SEA, LAA, COL, ARI...then complete hope or despair. Methinks like 60% of the league is just tossing in the towel in hopes of 2020 and beyond.
Then you sign a FA catcher next year or trade for one then. That of course assuming Stassi or Stubbs don't show growth.
Stassi won’t be with the Astros if he doesn’t make the club out of spring training, he’s out of options. Signing Lucroy now is the way to go. Get a worthy starter for 2019 and less to address heading into next years free agency with McCann finishing his career in Atlanta (as he expressed) There’s nothing close to Lucroy in next years group of FA catchers
