Make terrible trade, hardly miss a beat in the lineup & now insurance will kick in on the remaining 4 years, $96 million (Texas was due to pay only $70-2M of that; rest by Detroit). <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Rangers are believed to have insurance on Prince Fielder's contract. Not the entirety, but enough it won't significantly affect future.</p>— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/763083173760827392">August 9, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
2017 Astros RIGHT NOW RF Springer LF Bregman 2B Altuve SS Correa 1B Encarnacion * Reed, White have time too earn it DH Gurriel 3B Valbuena * C Castro * CF Desmond * Kemp has time too earn it Bench: Gattis, MarGo, Kemp, Marisnick Rotation: Keuchel, McCullers, McHugh, Musgrove, Fiers Devenski, Feliz, Martes, Rodgers get strong opportunity in Spring Training. Would like Fister back but Astros have to spend on filling in the holes on offense. Pen: Giles, Gregerson, Feliz, Devenski, Hoyt, Harris, LHRP
Desmond owns a career .316 OB%; paying him for an outlier of a good (not great) age-30 season would be the kind of move that would make me question the wisdom of this FO.
You could just as easily say that last year's .290 OBP year was the outlier... he has two other recent seasons of +.330 OBP's, coinciding around the time (3rd year) where players start to "get it".
Alex Rodriguez said to be in play for the remainder of the season for the Astros. Or could be an option next year. El. Oh. El. What a joke of a season. This would be the cherry on top. So glad we made playoffs last year. Nothing is given nor guaranteed when it comes to baseball.
lol @ rodriguez's wisdom. kiss right side of the mirror, wear your sunglasses when you tan on a rock. why not go back to the texas rangers finish the legacy he began when he signed there ? =/
I'm all for team going out and getting Encarnacion next year. I think he's the type of veteran power bat this team needs. Slot him in behind Correa and watch Carlos take off again in the power department. Another guy I wouldn't mind targeting is Reddick. Catchers spot is thin in FA, but given our lack of prospects at that position we may have to sign one through FA. Trade Gattis for whatever unless he's going to be our full-time backup.
Really all of the top free agents would be a pretty good fit in Houston: Any one of Cespedes, Reddick, Desmond, Fowler, and Bautista would represent a significant upgrade in the outfield over Rasmus/Gomez and the remaining internal options. Encarnacion or Trumbo would be an upgrade at DH over Gattis or whatever young bat they plan on using (Tucker/White?). Jansen and Chapman would improve an already good bullpen and give them an unquestioned closer instead of the Giles/Gregerson/Harris carousel. Ramos would probably be an upgrade over Castro and definitely would be over Gattis/Stassi/Heineman.
I'll still pound the table for Wilson Ramos. The talent has always been there, and since he had lasik eye surgery in the offseason, he's been great, and has been performing in the top tier of catchers this year. He'll be an overpay, but we have no everyday catcher currently for next year, and actually are pretty thin in our farm system at the catcher position. So either overpay for Castro (not very interested, even with his elite framing skills), or overpay a lot for Wilson Ramos. He'll provide an instant upgrade for us next year, and hopefully provide stability in a great area of need for the next 3-4 years. He turns 29 today coincidentally. It makes a ton of sense to me. And although I've been against signing a free agent attached with a QO, I think losing the pick in order to stabilize our catching situation is worth it.
Reddick and Chapman would be the 2 free agents I would try hardest to sign if I were Houston. I would try to bring back Castro for 2-3 years. If he wanted a 4th year or if his total contract demand crested $40M, I'd be out.
By all accounts, Castro will ask for much more than that. I simply don't think he's worth it, which is why I feel we need to explore our other options. Remember, the front office and his representation went to arbitration over a relatively small amount, so I'm guessing there isn't a ton of love there. Again, if my choice is to overpay for Castro or overpay a lot for a guy like Wilson Ramos, give me Ramos every single time.
Arod away numbers are not that bad. Based on his away numbers, he would be the third or fourth best hitter after Altuve and Correa and maybe slightly worse than springer, but springer has been pretty terrible the last few month.
