Astros starting line-up and areas of greatest needs

His last two or three throws where he had a real shot at somebody have been consistent.

But no outfielder, no matter how strong of an arm or how polished they are, is going to make every single throw on the money.

 

Not every one, but for a while this year he struggled to get close to the dugout. Cutoff man was a foreign term.

I really don't know why, he was great last year.

 

Oakland wouldn't trade Donaldson within the division

 

Based on what?

 

Maybe was trying to do too much to try and "prove" that he should indeed be an everyday player and an all-world defensive CF?

It wasn't that many throws.... And he's been more than adequate in that department since (I believe he's thrown out or made a close play on his last 3-4 makeable throws).

His arm is still a big plus out there. They won't be trading for an upgrade at that spot.

 

I went back and checked, and it was Anthony Gose of all people.

 

Yep, they have traded with us since we became division foes.

 

They traded him within the league.

I was initially luke-ish warm to Donaldson from a compensation standpoint: I didn't want to give up too much. In hindsight - man, oh man... if we had that guy on this team hitting 3/4 every night....

 

Oakland is rebuilding. The Astros might have to play slightly more than Toronto would, but they would make the trade if it benefited Oakland more.

 

Houston 39-28
RS - 295
RA - 258
Diff - 37

Oakland 29-39
RS - 304
RA - 266
Diff - 38

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

 

They have such a terrible record in 1-run games. Their expected win/loss (ESPN's method) is 39-29.

 

Regardless of their results, they are rebuilding. Since last season, they let go 2 of their top SPs and their 2 best hitters. They've been a terrible team since midseason last year when they made the Cespedes-Lester trade. Last year was their "all-in" year, and I don't think there's any question that they went into this season with an eye towards rebuilding - otherwise, you don't make either the Donaldson or Samardjzia trades.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11951977/oakland-athletics-trade-josh-donaldson-toronto-blue-jays


Oakland, which won the AL West in 2012 and '13, lost by 10 games this past season to the big-spending Angels. The A's then were eliminated 9-8 in 12 innings in the wild-card game at eventual AL champion Kansas City.

Beane wasn't sure Oakland could contend for the division again without some key additions, especially after losing left-hander Jon Lester following his short stint since being traded from Boston at the All-Star break.

"When we went into this winter, we had to take a look where we are and where we're headed," Beane said.

A's left fielder Josh Reddick told the Chronicle it is apparent the team is in a rebuilding phase.

"This doesn't make sense to me. We just traded our best player the last two years," he told the newspaper.

...

"We addressed a lot of areas we thought we needed filled from our organizational standpoint," Beane said.

 

Keep in mind, when I say rebuilding, I don't mean an Astros-like rebuild. They have tons of great players there, so a rebuild for them is more about replenishing talent. So they can continue to be decent throughout it, but if you asked Billy Beane if he honestly was aiming to contend for the division this year, I think he'd have said "hell no".

 

In a sense, the Astros are also rebuilding. Entering this season, no one expected this. Of course, now we do

 

Absolutely - the Astros are still in their rebuilding process. They aren't going to make any type of win-now moves at the expense of their future at this point. That's where I think Donaldson would have been a good move - he'd have been here for several years in the core of our upcoming window of contending. If he'd have just been a short term rental, I don't think the Astros would or should have even considered it.