I was discussing this with some friends the other day. He signed for four years $52 in 2017. One year for $13m left on his deal. 2017 OPS .847 2018 OPS .718 2019 OPS .728 His playoff numbers in Houston were mostly awful. Was it worth it?
Reddick has been a consummate professional since he’s been here. He’s been an above average defender for his entire stint here, and his bat has been better than most would give him credit for. He’s been an above average, or average, hitter his entire stint in HOU. Plus, we don’t win the WS without him. Lets not forget his oppo game-winning or game-tying hit at BOS against Kimbrel in 2017 playoffs. OPS is not the only stat to judge a player. He had over 4 WAR in 2017, 1.8 in 2018 and 1.2 in 2019. Slightly underwhelming if anything but definitely worth it IMO.
Easy to say no, but you also have to consider the market and replacement options. There really isn't anyone better who could have been taking that spot -- Tony Kemp is perhaps the most arguable and while he's a good contact hitter, his OPS numbers aren't much better and his fielding is far worse. It also hasn't hampered our ability to sign our own guys or others, though of course the Cole situation lingers. Ian Desmond was also a FA at the time with an OPS of .721/.729/.789 that last 3 seasons. Received a comparable contract with one additional year. In Colorado no less. Reddick was also an upgrade over Colby Rasmus.
The name that came up was Ramon Laureano. 2017 may have been sketchy but he's outplayed Reddick since then.
Great question; difficult answer, and that's because 2017 is such a game-changer. Without a championship, I think the answer is pretty clearly no. But he was SO GOOD in 2017 *and* had a series clinching RBI - against Kimbrel! - in the ALDS that year, rendering almost anything after that season gravy. I wouldn't go so far as to say they don't win without him - but he was certainly a key contributor. This year, his contract (and, to his credit, glove) kept a likely more productive player out of the everyday line-up. And he was flat-out awful in the postseason (though he had some terrific defensive moments). He wasn't very good last year, either - and was, again, flat-out awful in the ALCS. I think it's going to come down to what they do with him this offseason. If they can unload him and *not* eat the rest of his contract... he was probably a break-even addition. But if they have to eat his full contract in '20 - and, worse, keep him on the roster - then I think that tilts the answer to no.
He’s put up 5.5 fWAR in 3 seasons with 1 season (and $13M) remaining. Given 1 war costs $8M-12M on the free agent market, he’s been well worth it even without considering the ring he helped win. Do I wish they’d have signed him for $39M/3yr instead? Sure. But his deal has been fine and if Tucker wasn’t around nobody would be calling for him to be traded. He’s still a very good defender who doesn’t strike out much and hits for enough power to keep pitchers honest. Plus he’s likeable. There are probably 20 teams who would love to have him hitting at the bottom of their order, and if he were a free agent he’d probably be looking at a 1 year deal between $6M and $10M. So he’s probably only underwater by about $5M. I expect a rebuilding team to acquire him and put him in CF then try to sell him at the deadline.
This. He's easily been worth his contract even though Astros may currently be upside down on his contract compared to the league as a whole. Being on the Astros makes things look worse for him considering he's probably their worse bang for the buck player when every other significant contract has positive value when compared to other teams.
The Astros had a young group of talented players in 2017 and they wanted to bring in some veteran leadership in Beltran, McCann, and Reddick. They won the WS that year so it was definitely worth it. However, if they signed him to one year less on his contract it would have been a lot better.
We never know what happens in 2017 if even the slightest difference occurs. I'll take the real life results 11 times out of 10, knowing we came away with a ring. You never know. After the go-ahead clutch hit off Kimbrel, he was never consistently productive, but the title alone makes him worth it IMO. But, definitely time to trade him this offseason. Of course, his contract is NOTHING compared to Desmond, let alone even bigger ones (like Chris Davis).
Yeah, I think so. Of course now we’d probably all love to be out of it, but he’s been a major part of the team during some very good years.
At least on defense Ramon several times a year screws up a routine play, I assume to not concentrating, can't remember Reddick doing the same.
The correct answer is absolutely yes. You don’t change any roster move that led to the 2017 championship.
Reddick out, Tucker in. Just like they planned it. eta: I'll always love Josh, just like McHugh/Peacock/Harris/Marwin/etc....
