Lol basically you cannot get fair value for a player as good as Trout. If I were the Angels GM I would never in a million years trade Trout, but if I had to, I would demand: Tucker Alvarez Davis Fisher Whitley Martes C Martin C Perez
The point was that he's not the type of DH that can only DH.... which plenty of AL teams have had a version of those over the years, or ever since the DH was implemented. As it is, him getting back to his career numbers was always the expectations.... which is surprising why so many were down on him for a bad month to start the season, many who should have realized that a course correction was due.
His career numbers are not good for a DH (not just counting his DH ABs). Any slight downtick in ability will turn Gattis into a very bad DH or unplayable. There is nothing wrong with thinking he is having a downtick in performance after what he did in first 4-5 weeks. He's 31 with a body type that demands excellence from the bat as he ages. Granted, wanting to make a move after every game for the first 4-5 weeks without waiting to deadline to see how things work themselves out was annoying. I see no difference in people freaking out after 4-5 weeks from people making too much of last 6. He's still likely: 1. an okay DH with no room for error with the bat going forward, 2. don't want to play him in the field. I hope he stays hitting well even if he regresses to his season averages.
I'm at the point where I'm almost completely sold on Tony Kemp. We still have to wait for the league to make their adjustments to him, but what he's doing at the plate looks as legit as someone can possibly look. He hits line drives, fights off good pitches, takes bad pitches. He likes to work walks, but he doesn't go up looking to do so, he see's a good pitch he swings. He is not a good outfielder right now, but he's not dear god my eyes Preston Tucker bad, I think he can still improve in that regard. I want to see him everyday, even if his power isn't ideal for a LF. Kyle Tucker is also starting to come on really strong in Fresno, so I don't see a real pressing need for OF help.
Kemp and Gattis are obviously super encouraging, but I am worried they are inflating their numbers against poor pitching. It's all fine and good, but when we are facing Severino or Chris Sale in a game 7 I think I'd trust an Abreu or Realmuto more than a Kemp, Gattis, or Stassi.
Tony Kemp was hitting .300 with a .390 OBP when we finished our brutal stretch against the contenders. His OPS has come up only .15 points since we started playing scrubs.
If I was the angels and going to trade trout to the Astros my deal would be trout and pujols for Correa. I’d do that if I were Anaheim. That’s it.
Barring injury, Mike Trout will go down as one of the top 10 position players in MLB history. No way the Angels make that trade.
Whatever... people were going apoplectic during a slump based on some likely pre-concieved bias' that they didn't like Gattis (and in some cases, it was fully admitted). Sure, he was awful... anybody who honestly expected that to be who he is either was secretly rooting for it (so they can get somebody else), or just doesn't really watch enough regular season games. Nobody is saying he's the best DH in the league... but he's productive enough to play everyday for the best offense in baseball. He's also 31... not 35. To expect his best offensive days are behind him is quite presumptuous.
Not minimizing trout at all. But it’d clear 60 million from their books and bring back one of the top 10 talents in today’s game. It gets them out of the stars and scrubs mode that hasn’t been particularly successful for them. I’m not saying They’d do it, I’m saying we’re I them I’d do it. Or, looked at another way, Trout has been on GOAT path for 6 years and they’ve gotten nothing teamwise out of it, and that was before he got really expensive. It’s be worth considering, to me, for sure, if I were them.
This line of thinking: "Astros may not be that good vs good teams" , is a bunch of NBA-centric BS. Unless you play in a division with a true contender, you're going to play the majority of your games against inferior competition. Good teams are largely going to split series or one team is 1-2 games better. Very rarely will you get a good team that utterly dominates all good teams in baseball.
They're not worried about payroll... if they were, they wouldn't be adding more every year, signing big players every year, for a team that isn't likely to contend. They also draw 3 million+ fans every year.... largely to watch guys like Trout or stars in the making like Ohtani.
Of course, but we shouldn't even be thinking about the regular season. We should be thinking repeat. I'm willing to sacrifice prospects for a better shot at a repeat, and I think Abreu gives us a better shot at it than does Gattis/Kemp/Davis/White/Tucker/whoever. At least this year.
Astros trade: Frankie Martes David Paulino Stephen Wrenn Jonathan Arauz Padres trade: Brad Hand Kirby Yates Who says no? Stros bullpen: Sipp McHugh Peacock Harris Yates Giles Rondon Hand Devenksi I know it's 9 guys - assuming DL stints start happening for the pitching staff with McHugh rotating between the pen and the rotation. That's a pretty formidable bullpen.
