It has taken this long for Brett Wallace. He was always talented, but he always got figured out. His adjustments were lacking, maybe he is better now. But even with the Astros he'd have hot streaks that would be in the realm of 80-100 at bats. Makes you wonder why he didn't get more at bats! Singleton might be another that will be in make or break mode for the Astros. Though, I would suppose he will have a productive MLB career for someone if not the Astros. Astros can be only so patient.
He's not good at it. I know it's not a "pull out of ass" kinda idea. He’s an outfielder, not a first baseman. I realize he’s played there in the past briefly, but we’re going to keep him on both corners (in the outfield) and have him focus his attention there. -- AJ Hinch, 7 months ago I have no idea if Tucker has played 1B in winter ball.
I did see one report where he was expected to move to OF because of concerns about his defense, which is extremely uncommon (frequently it is the other way around). They also said Tucker would be limited to LF due to a weak arm and obvious lack of speed. He's not a good OF either.
Good thread as we have a couple of gaps here. Part of me wants to go all in on Davis. But part of me thinks investing $200 mil for a 30 year old player is a bad idea (Carlos Lee over again? We just finished paying the man!). It sucks that the 1B / 3B market is so low for FAs this year. This is where Rasmus accepting our offer actually hurts us as there were a LOT more outfield positions out there to go after.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich">@EvanDrellich</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Rocketsbia">@Rocketsbia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ChronBrianSmith">@ChronBrianSmith</a> BOOM <a href="https://t.co/pYFrCvZ3M2">pic.twitter.com/pYFrCvZ3M2</a></p>— Preston Tucker (@PrestonTucker20) <a href="https://twitter.com/PrestonTucker20/status/687328116268789761">January 13, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Wow, not smart IF he can play 1b and we don't give him an opportunity to battle for that spot. And last year, …...
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tucker can play any position on the field if asked to. The Houston Astros LLC don’t plan to use him beyond OF, DH <a href="https://t.co/yzMM6HKB6Q">https://t.co/yzMM6HKB6Q</a></p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/687295799814836225">January 13, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> What a stupid tweet. I too *can* play any position on the field for the Astros, doesn't mean I wouldn't suck at all of them.
He pissed me off the other day with his "Let's not forget, the Astros are at fault, too" tweet the day Correa pleaded guilty to hacking their system. I went round with him on Twitter.
I can't imagine there's a newspaper in the country that more actively seeks to troll its sports readers than the Chronicle. They all do it through twitter.
Levine (sp?) was great once he got through his growing pains. Where did he go? Footer is still the gold standard.
Baseball Prospectus I believe? He is still a good follow and gives the Astros more love than current hometown writers.
Gattis loses weight, gains versatility Slugger works with personal trainer in effort to shed DH-only label By Brian McTaggart / MLB.com | @brianmctaggart | January 26th, 2016 HOUSTON -- Astros designated hitter Evan Gattis worked with a personal trainer this offseason in an effort to lose weight while keeping his strength, and he subsequently dropped 18 pounds. It had nothing to do with him wanting to hit more triples, either. Gattis, who had 11 triples last year, was urged by the club to become more versatile, and he took it upon himself to hire a personal trainer for the first time to get in better shape. The goal for Gattis is to be able to play the field more and shed the label as a player who can only swing the bat. "I don't want to be some guy allergic to leather, you know?" he said. Gattis hit .246 last year and led the team in homers (27), RBIs (88) and, yes, triples (11). He made 136 starts at designated hitter in 2015 and began 11 games in left field, but he never saw action at catcher, the position he spent two years playing with the Braves prior to being traded to Houston. "Last year, I stuck to strength workouts, and I really kind of took it easy last offseason and didn't do as much," Gattis said. "I got with a personal trainer this year and lost a little weight and maintained strength. That's always been kind of the goal. Every year is a little different." Gattis played in Venezuela following the 2012 season to get ready for his first taste of the big leagues and admits he was worn out coming into the year. "I knew it was going to be a long season catching in the big leagues for the first time, and after that, I got lax on some stuff and needed to get back into it," he said. "This has been my first year to get with a personal trainer." The Astros would like Gattis to be a viable option behind the plate, which meant losing weight to take some of the strain off his knees. Having Gattis be able to play some left field and get in the mix at first base could keep his bat in the lineup more. Astros manager A.J. Hinch opted to hold Gattis out of the starting lineup in the crucial final three games of last season in Arizona because there was no DH. "I was able to meet with Evan a couple of weeks ago, and he looks great," Hinch said. "I know he wants to be a factor potentially playing in the field somewhere. He always wants to build on the season he had last season. I love when I see players take ownership of their situation, and Evan seems to be taking it very seriously." Don't be surprised to see Gattis catching some during the spring and taking ground balls at first. The Astros will have Gattis in the lineup somewhere but just want to have more options. "I don't know what the team wants to do with me 100 percent or what's going to happen," Gattis said. "You never know. Catching's an option, playing a little left is an option, maybe taking ground balls is an option. I'm not really sure yet. I think being mobile, lighter and maintaining strength and kind of working on some unbalances will help me be a little more versatile."
05/21/15 <iframe src='http://m.astros.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=124849883&topic_id=69622576&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> 05/24/15 <iframe src='http://m.astros.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=129101983&topic_id=69622576&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> 06/28/15 <iframe src='http://m.astros.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=206749083&topic_id=69622576&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> 06/30/15 <iframe src='http://m.astros.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=213718083&topic_id=69622576&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> 07/17/15 <iframe src='http://m.astros.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=263933983&topic_id=8879000&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> 07/28/15 <iframe src='http://m.astros.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=306055283&topic_id=8879000&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> 08/11/15 <iframe src='http://m.astros.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=358806483&topic_id=8879000&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> 08/14/15 <iframe src='http://m.astros.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=369173983&topic_id=8879000&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> 09/26/15 <iframe src='http://m.astros.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=502499083&topic_id=73497276&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> 09/30/15 <iframe src='http://m.astros.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=511686983&topic_id=8879000&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> Redux <iframe src='http://m.astros.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=502499083&topic_id=73497276&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>
That could be the biggest news of the offseason. If Gattis could even be a non-horrible defensive catcher, his value to this team goes up dramatically. He goes from being a middle-tier DH to a top-3 offensive catcher. It also eliminates the need to keep another backup C on the roster for the rare injury and gives the team late inning flexibility if they need more offense or defense.
