Fair trade but Mets say no. They will either keep JV or pay down his salary a bunch to get a huge prospect return.
Probably so, but that savings isn’t 15M for the Mets it’s what- more like 30M with the luxury tax? If they pay a bunch of his salary they also have to pay the tax on it, right? Is JV with 40M tacked on worth 2 top 100 types? 3? That seems high to me for a 40 year old guy that’s been ok this year that you still have to pay likely 20M next year. I’d give up a really good prospect for that but. It likely super elite. Unless he was just blocked.
Why in the world would the Astros want JV? Don't we have enough hurt pitchers, and can't we do better than that?
If we could nab Verdugo who can play both LF CF and RF this would be ideal for an addition. McCormick still looks like the odd man out but I wonder if the tides are turning on Meyers? Or Julks? We need a SP a RP a Infielder and a OFer. If we could move Maldy to the Mets for Nate Lavender. Call up Lee. Trade for Verdugo, Meyers and a couple of prospects added to that deal. We would still need to add the Infielder and pitchers. Do we have the prospects to do so? Well it's all on Dana Brown
They should be able to keep things together. I would make an exception for Tucker and give him a long term deal. Dubon can help fill he need at SS/2B/OF if need be, he's very valuable in case Altuve walks or they trade Pena (Blasphemy.) I'm looking at keeping Arrighetti and Gilbert. Although I would make Gilbert the headliner in a trade for TOR Gilbert (4 years of Control) Gilbert on Gilbert crime. They're going to have to pay Framber and trade for a TOR guy, along with hopefully being able to draft, develop a TOR guy from within the org. Given Brown's track record I think he can draft and develop pitching. Garcia is the wildcard and hopefully Javier can develop more Stamina. They also need to find a 3B because Bregs probably walks. In 3 yrs the team may look something like this 1B. Trade or Develop 2B. Dubon SS Pena 3B Draft, trade or Develop C Diaz LF Yordan CF Gomez RF Tucker Trade Gilbert for TOR guy Framber Javier France Develop a guy or Arrighetti Bullpen is too volatile to predict. The Stros should have prospects and money to spend to fill in the 2 holes in the everyday lineup.
Heard from someone that would know that Astros have no written off Diaz as the Astros catcher next year. Diaz has been more involved in game planning. His effort at it has been solid but he doesn’t have the knowledge the Astros pitchers want because he is a rookie. Astros have simplified Diaz’ approach at the plate, but he is still working with multiple people on taking pitches.
I'd rather target Scherzer + any lefty batting depth / OF-utility. Mets need a restocked farm system... it seems we have plenty of AAA/AAAA & starting talent to consider as viable trade pieces. Plus throw in some combination of Maldonado / Montero / L Garcia / Kessinger / Gage / Hensley / Bannon / Salazar I'm not willing to do all the math & analysis at the moment. But damn, that'd be crazy if Scherzer were able to be acquired (especially at the trade deadline). He's willing to waive NTC, but would Houston be a destination of preference?
Good to see Diaz working hard on the mental, defensive side of the game. I bet pitchers will mind less about pitching to Diaz if he continues to hit the ball like he has over the last month and they continue to have a lower ERA with Diaz behind the plate. The future is bright.
Need a #2 or #3 starter A relief guy who can come in when we’re up 4+ and throw 2 near shutdown innings. Possibly another utility bat, depending on Altuves health. I’m writing off Brantley, but I’m guessing they’ll DH Diaz when Yordan is in left, and catch Diaz when Yordan DHs. Will probably bring up Lee for the stretch run.
Like you wouldn’t take 2 years $86M at 40 years old. They guy was unreal for us outside of a couple WS games. Something tells me you’d hop right back on if he returned, too.
The faxt that they’d even consider writing off Diaz as catcher next year is so disturbing to me it makes me sad.
I don’t think they ever wrote him off - as much as they were very aware that he did not really have a fondness for catching and really was only interested in hitting. Any player, at that important a position, with that attitude is going to be concerning. They had to be aware there was a real possibility he would never put in the work needed. FWIW his success is what the Astros player development people projected as a hitter - he has hit, with power but he also has struggled to work walks or avoid hitting pitcher pitches. I have zero concern with the Astros player development group - it is arguably the best in baseball. As for Dusty Baker- he does some peculiar things, some workout and some don’t. After a rough start last year and early this year - Diaz had increased his effort and focus. He is a rookie and a catcher and also is working out and meeting with more coaches than anyone else on the team - on top of working with Maldonado for game pitching prep and Jose Abreu on hitting. Some catchers mature. AJ Pyrzinski knew he could hit, so he put forth little effort working with pitchers early in his career. He got his ass kicked by a Twins pitcher after he refused to leave a card game to go over the game prep - two organizations dumped him before he matured in Chicago and handled a staff well.
How do the Astros explain that this year pitchers are demonstrably better when Diaz is catching? It could be coincidence for sure, but the sample size is getting larger. At the very least it indicates he isn’t a liability. If it is happening because Maldy or someone else is helping game prep - great, make Maldy a coach or emergency backup. The combination of Maldy helping game prep and Diaz actually catching would seem preferable so you have someone who can throw runners out, avoid passed balls, and - most importantly - willing to call curveballs that might require blocking in the dirt. Something Maldy doesn’t seem to want to do anymore, which might explain Hunter Brown’s dramatic drop off since he moved from Diaz to Maldy catching. Oh, then there is the hitting.
I'm thinking Gravemen and Brooks Raley would be good targets and relatively cheap. We still need a starter and I have no idea who would be available that would cost an arm and a leg. Stroman would be my choice just for the name.
(Much) worse hitting, more passed balls, lower CS%... those stats I can get on board with making arguments against Maldy. But catcher ERA? Really? Googling a bit shows most studies on the topic say there's either no effect or there needs to be a massive sample size to draw conclusions. I think we would all be happy if within this season Maldy is able to transfer his game-planning skills to Diaz, but it's not a light switch. Diaz has to want to do to it. The lingering question seems to be can Diaz learn every off-the-field lesson, integrate them, and stay motivated to continue putting in the hard work in the future. He's a rookie catcher without a ton of reps at the position and persistent questions of desire to stay at catcher; by no means has he settled questions about anything yet.
"Really?" No, not really. I didn't say catcher ERA is the reason to switch. I said that there is no - none, nada, nil, nulla, niente, non - evidence that the pitchers perform better with Maldy than Diaz, because factually they have been performing better with Diaz. That means one of three things: 1) They really do perform better with Maldonado, or would over the long term, but we don't have the statistics or sample size to see it. Doubtful, but that has been the position of every Maldy defender ... an easy position to take because it relies on evidence we do not and cannot have 2) There is no impact on pitcher performance, or a positive impact for Diaz. Either way, it negates the ONLY reason to start Maldy 3) Maldy is doing the prep and Diaz is benefiting from his position on the staff. Fine, let it stay that way and make Maldy a coach You can point to lingering issues, long-term desire, etc. But those are hypothetical possibilities for next year - nothing he has done or said in the major leagues supports this. Regardless, I would like to start winning more games this year. If he cannot handle it long-term, we can promote Lee or find another competent catcher. Or bring back Maldy and see if he is willing to call curveballs again. Of course, your throwaway first line does kind of matter also -- on every possible tangible metric on both sides of the ball, Diaz outperforms Maldonado. It is only on qualitative measures or by negating quantitative ones that his defenders can argue for him.
