One of the reasons I'm so optimistic about this team long term, is because of how good the Luhnow regime seems to be at identifying, and developing talent in all avenues, not just high picks. Even without the top picks, I have every reason to believe the talent will keep flowing. Likewise, it seems Luhnow has a good balance on trading for the now, without selling out the future. Because of that, I've never bought into the talk about this being our window, so we need to go above and beyond to make things happen now. Sure you have a chance to win now, so you have to field a great MLB team. However if managed properly, there's now reason we can't win now, and keep this going even once our current crop of young studs start hitting FA.
I think for everyone calling for Tyler White to replace Singleton, you guys will be disappointed. I only say that because he's not even on the 40 man roster. The real guy to keep an eye on is Matt Duffy as he plays 3B, has AAA experience, and he's on the 40 man. I think we go with mainly the same guys we did last year at the start, unless Duffy mashes and opens eyes. I think White and Reed get at least 1/4 of a season in the minors and then reassess. I think our strength is that we have a lot of guys chomping at the bit who are right on the cusp and may be ready to contribute at some point in 2016. I think 2017 we will see quite a bit of turnover. I think these guys make an appearance at some point in 2016: 3B Matt Duffy (40) SP Joe Musgrove (40) SP Michael Feliz (40) 1B Tyler White OF Jon Kemmer 3B Colin Moran 1B AJ Reed Starting 25: C- Castro 1B- Singleton 2B- Altuve 3B- Valbuena SS- Correa LF- Rasmus CF-Gomez RF- Springer DH- Gattis C- Stassi UT- Gonzalez OF- Marisnick OF- Tucker SP- Dallas SP- McCugh SP- McCullers SP- Fiers SP- Fister RP- Feldman RP- Fields RP- Sipp RP- Harris RP- Neshak SE-Gregerson CL- Giles
I don't think that Luhnow gets even credit for how well the Astros organization has developed prospects. Martes and Musgrove come to mind. Both prospects just popped into the top 10.
Not being on the 40 man really isn't an issue for guys that will be on the 40 man at some point this year anyhow. Finding a spot won't be hard by the end of ST. The fact is that if Singleton plays poorly in the spring, and White plays well, there's no purpose for keeping Singleton around. I've said all along that he will get the benefit of the doubt, but he has to show something results wise. I do agree that Duffy will have a chance to claim the job to if he outplays both of them, but he would probably be the organizations 3rd choice entering spring, so he will have to really mash.
I think Duffy makes the 40 men roster over Tucker. Against a lefty they can have Duffy at 1b and Marwin at SS. Other possible option is White.
I frankly think that having Tucker on the 65 man over Ashby and @bobbydynomite is questionable too. Neither can hit a corner kick of free throw better than Kyle. #DELGADO
Why i think Duffy plays before Tucker? Last year Gattis was the FULL DH hitter the whole year, so Tucker will not get many at bats there. Vs right handed pitchers the OF is going to be Springer, Gomez and Rasmus. So Tucker does not have a spot right now. On the other hand, Valbuena struggles vs lefties, and Singleton probably will have some platoon at 1b until he can prove he can hit lefties, actually, he has a lot to prove because he has not hit righties either so far in his career in the majors. The 2 platoon players would be Valbuena and Singleton. With Duffy already been on the 40 men roster, if he has a GOOD ST, he should be the 25th player on the roster. Now, if White kills the ball, then we have to make room for him on that 25 men roster. So i see the battle between White and Duffy with Tucker going to triple A.
Some of MLB.com fantasy projections just came out: Dallas Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dallas Keuchel MLB fantasy projection: 17-8, 2.88 ERA, 225 IP, 200 K <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696715860811972608">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Gattis Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Evan Gattis MLB fantasy projection: .253 BA/.764 OPS, 29 HR, 82 RBI <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696715159314632704">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Gogo Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Carlos Gomez MLB fantasy projection: .271 BA/.786 OPS, 80 R, 21 HR, 72 RBI, 30 SB <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696714988698730496">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Altuve Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jose Altuve MLB fantasy projection: .310 BA/.797 OPS, 93 R, 13 HR, 66 RBI, 35 SB <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696714615758032896">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Correa Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Carlos Correa MLB fantasy projection: .285 BA/.851 OPS, 87 R, 28 HR, 93 RBI, 21 SB <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696714420542529537">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Springer Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">George Springer MLB fantasy projection: .275 BA/.852 OPS, 85 R, 28 HR, 85 RBI, 23 SB <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696714810734440448">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> ColbyJack Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">Colby Rasmus MLB fantasy projection: .233 BA/.748 OPS, 23 HR, 61 RBI, 3 SB <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696715386633396224">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Lance Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lance McCullers MLB fantasy projection: 11-9, 3.60 ERA, 175 IP, 180 K <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696715983633813504">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Giles Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ken Giles MLB fantasy projection: 3-3, 2.42 ERA, 40 SV, 67 IP, 85 K <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696716147282960384">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> ValB Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Luis Valbuena MLB fantasy projection: .238 BA/.752 OPS, 20 HR, 56 RBI <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696715555093385216">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> McHugh Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Collin McHugh MLB fantasy projection: 13-11, 3.69 ERA, 200 IP, 175 K <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696716293412491264">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Fiers Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mike Fiers MLB fantasy projection: 7-6, 3.74 ERA, 125 IP, 121 K <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696716446567522304">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Fister Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Doug Fister MLB fantasy projection: 9-10, 4.09 ERA, 165 IP, 102 K <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/696716660569288705">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I keep hoping that Tucker has been practicing 1st base in the offseason, and proves to be serviceable at 1st base in spring training. I think that's his most logical path to being an every day player on this team or any other team. Luhnow did say that they plan to try Tucker at 1st in spring training (although he mentioned about 10 other guys that they plan to try at 1st along with him, including Gattis).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Salary arbitration hearings have started, check out the updated visual.<a href="https://t.co/QglrypfcZx">https://t.co/QglrypfcZx</a> <a href="https://t.co/2S1eGtMyE5">pic.twitter.com/2S1eGtMyE5</a></p>— FanGraphs Baseball (@fangraphs) <a href="https://twitter.com/fangraphs/status/696760167703060481">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
