there's still a DH spot. and a possibility that neither gattis nor carter will return. i'd still be shocked if it's us, but i'm already pretty shocked that we aren't an eliminated team.
I don't get it? Anyway...Tyler White is batting cleanup behind Miguel Sanó for Las Estrellas and doing pretty well. We will see in the spring. As far as Park goes, it wouldn't be a bad signing at all. The way Kang's #'s translated to mlb gives good reason to think Park could put up some really good #'s too as they were teammates in 2014. Park hit 52 and 53 homers in '14 and '15. I expect Rasmus to accept his offer by the Astros this week. That makes Tucker expendable which could make a trade for Lucroy possible along with Duffy or Villar. They may ask for Appel but he could also be the piece that nets Kimbrel or Chapman. Who would be majorly upset if it takes Reed to make a trade for Kimbrel to work out? Could the Astros land Park, Lucroy and Kimbrel or Chapman?
Mark Wik, one of our farmhands, is playing some winter ball down in Austrailia. Apparently they play with some sketchy fences. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dqdux61NERo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Davis is certainly better than Carter. Davis's 2014 season is indeed worrisome. Hoping that Davis won't have a 2014 repeat over a five year contract may not be the smart move.
Lots of players have a bad year for one reason or other. If you remove anyone who's ever had one from the equation, you probably won't have many options left.
Jeff Passan @JeffPassan 20m20 minutes ago Source: Minnesota Twins won rights to Byung-Ho Park with $12.85 million posting bid.
There is a difference between an "off" season and a "bad" season. Davis definitely had a bad season in 2014. I guess also reluctant for the Astros to sign Davis, given the plethora of in house options of first basemen: Valbuena, Lowrie, Marwin, Duffy, White, Singleton and Reed. None of which screams all star, albeit, like Davis did in 2013 and 2015. Reed also be the long term solution at first, though he may never put up Davis's 2015 numbers. Still this is a position that the farm has produced inexpensive options going forward. Now left field is another story. Not seeing the farm help on the horizon. Maybe Tony Kemp and Jon Kemmer in 2017? I could see the Astros investing in LF FA like Alex Gordon, that is if Rasmus does not return. I guess if the Astros had one big bullet in their FA gun, I would rather see them spend the money on LF and not first base.
Yeah, I'd rather wait to see what we get from Reed before we outsource our 1B need, especially via a nine-figure FA signing. That said, I wouldn't mind putting Davis in a DH/backup OF/1B slot, but 130MM seems like a hefty sum for that role.
Nice, Crane. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Crane says there's money available for Astros to spend. No specificity.</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/663754072030388224">November 9, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Crane says there's money available for Astros to spend. No specificity.</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/663754072030388224">November 9, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Astros did not bid on Park.</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/663755501235265536">November 9, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Yankees GM Cashman willing to listen to offers for closer Andrew Miller
I can see that - my view is that we do have 2 spots for a Davis type - DH and 1B. And what you get in Davis is a superstar hitter - one of the best in the game that can be your cleanup hitter. Gordon is a good player - great defense, OK offensively but nothing special. If you want a true MVP-level impact bat, there's not many out there like Davis. Davis is also 2 years younger and it more likely to remain in his prime for a bit - and isn't as reliant on his athleticism at 1B/DH. Gordon's defense is his strength and that likely suffers as he gets towards the end of his next contract.
I don't know that I'm keen on either but Gordon offers - if this is even important (or such a thing) - line-up diversity. He's a count-working, OB-guy, which, I think, the team desperately needs. Davis, while very good, is still another high-k/HR guy. His OB% in '15 and '13 are encouraging - but also potentially prime outliers.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">According to <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS">@JonHeymanCBS</a>, the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Yankees?src=hash">#Yankees</a> will listen to offers for closer Andrew Miller. | <a href="https://t.co/oV6LSCFwff">https://t.co/oV6LSCFwff</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NYY?src=hash">#NYY</a></p>— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) <a href="https://twitter.com/WFAN660/status/663765492495028224">November 9, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Agree - and I do think we need players like that. But I also think they are easier to find than MVP-caliber hitters, and you grab the latter whenever you have that opportunity. This is like Josh Donaldson last year - there are maybe 1 or 2 guys available each year that can completely alter an offense, and Davis is that guy this year. It's pretty rare that you get a chance to acquire a guy with that kind of power. In the last 5 years, there's only been two 45+ HR seasons, and both were Davis. Despite being similar to a lot of our other hitters, he's much scarier - think about how good we were with the "good" Chris Carter, and imagine that guy in the lineup all the time. Davis changes the way you pitch to everyone in front of him and puts a lot of pressure on the pitcher - Gordon doesn't do anything like that. I would also be concerned that Gordon is part of the KC system. All their guys work counts and all that stuff - is it just good management that got them a whole bunch of hitters like that, or is it an organizational approach / coaching style that emphasizes it? If the latter, does that continue when he enters a lineup of free swinging players that approaches hitting differently?
