Because of Cespedes' contract, the Mets can't extend him a qualifying offer, and therefore don't gain draft pick compensation for losing him, and the signing team wouldn't lose a pick.
Starting to think Rasmus won't be getting a QO by the time 4:00 rolls around. The opportunity cost of Luhnow being cash strapped if Colby accepts going into free agency might not be worth it.
Yeah, we'll see. Luhnow may roll the dice. Interesting stat: since the QO has been introduced, (34) have been extended, and (0) have been accepted.
I say roll the dice and hope he rejects it, as the odds would imply. That way we get the draft choice (clearly a forte of the Astros organization. If this were the Texans, I would say F the draft pick) and still can go big in FA. Even if he accepts, its a one year deal and Rasmus was a good player for the Astros. I wouldn't hate it if he came back to play LF. He obviously thrives in a playoff atmosphere and that shouldn't be discounted either.
Well Rasmus got the QO (which I suspected that #1 was too good a carrot for Luhnow to pass)....... we will see.
Keith Law's Top 50 Free Agents Spoiler SI's Top 50 Free Agents MLBTR Top 50 Free Agents & Predictions
[rquoter]Houston is looking for a starting pitcher, bullpen help (especially on the back end), possibly first base help, some catching depth and maybe a left fielder who's an on-base type. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer...search-ozuna-trade-market-plus-more-mlb-notes[/rquoter] [rquoter]9. Alex Gordon, OF - $100M, 5 years The Royals probably won't give him more than three or four years, as they hope to capitalize on a possible hometown discount (Gordon is from Lincoln, Neb.) but he probably can get five elsewhere. The best left fielder in the game. The Orioles, Astros, Cubs and White Sox were heard as four of many possibilities. 19. Colby Rasmus, OF - $50M, 4 years His big postseason should serve him well. The Astros may look for more of an on-base guy for left field, though. Quirkiness hurt him last time, but the big finish supersedes that. 24. Scott Kazmir, SP - $39M, 3 years He's still young but he's been through a lot, and also a lot of ups and downs. Didn't quite do it later after a nice beginning for his hometown team. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer...free-agents-ranked-by-dollars-and-projections[/rquoter]
These are the needs: 1. corner infielder 2. One starting pitcher 3. LF 4. Power arm(s) in the bullpen We have options and all 3 spots in the minors At corner IF, we have Moran at 3b and Reed at 1b. Pitching, we have VV and Appel ready At LF we could use a platoon of Marisnick and Tucker Now, Moran and Reed could need 1 more year, so we could sign a guy like Morneau for 1 year. Problem with Morneau is that he is injury prone, but last 2 years he has hit over .300 (last year .310 in only 168 at bats). He kills right handed hitters, he CAN hit lefties, but you can platoon him with Marwin Gonzalez at 1b, or use Carter if not traded before. He would be sign for only 1 year, and moving Reed to play 1b next year. He is a career .285 hitter with RISP, so he can hit fourth in our lineup. He will hit 15-20 homers with a .280 hitter in our lineup, not bad at all. He is a career .302 hitter in the playoffs, and does not make many errors at 1b, last year only 1, in 2004 he made 4 errors. Third base, we are stucked with Lowrie, so we should platoon Lowrie/Valbuena at 3b, with Marwin been our UTILITY guy. (I think Villar is ready to be a full major leaguer) Next year, Moran should be ready. Pitching, if we want to go big, we have Greinke and Price to go after, but i think Kazmir should be the one, we should go with the 6 men rotation for awhile, just like we did this year and worked so well with Feldman. I think Kazmir should be the pitcher to sign, as we need a power arm (right now our only power guy in the rotation is McCullers) and with him we have a great 1 to 5 rotation: K, McCullers, Kazmir, McHugh and Fiers). If we don't go after any free agent, then McHugh moves to 3, Fiers to 4 and Feldman battling VV for the 5th spot. I believe Appel is almost ready, i would give him 1 more year in the minors, and in the majors next year. I think we should go after Kazmir to make the rotation best in the AL, as we don't have best bullpen. Now, talking about bullpen, I would re sign Sipp, sign Madsen and have VV in the bullpen for next year, same way Toronto did with Osuna (they already said Osuna will go to the rotation in the future). A bullpen of Fields, Sipp, Harris, Neshek, Madson, VV and Gregerson is a good one. LF, i hope RAsmus accepts the 15 millions, and we have him at LF with Marisnick been the great number 4 OF. Cespedes, we don't need ANOTHER right handed OF, we already have 3 like that in our team, and Gordon help more on defense at LF, but in Minute Maid, that is not as important as playing in a big ball park like KC or NY. I prefer to have Rasmus for 1 more year or give the chance to Marisnick/Tucker duo, with Tucker ALSO getting a chance to DH a lot more in 2016. This would be our lineup: 1. Springer rf 2. Altuve 2b 3. Correa SS 4. Morneau 1b 5. Gomez CF 6. Rasmus LF 7. Gattis DH (he needs to play better to keep this job) 8. Valbuena 3b 9. Castro C Bench Marwin Gonzalez, Conger, Marisnick Rotation: 1. K 2. McCullers 3. Kazmir 4. McHugh 5. Fiers Bullpen: Gregerson (9) Madson (8) VV (7) Sipp (7-8) Harris (6-8) Neshek (6-8) Fields (long reliever) That is 24 guys, meaning, if we can trade Lowrie, Carter, Feldman, then my number 25 man would be Villar or Singleton All depends on who we can move. So FA acquisitions (Sipp, Madson, Kazmir, Morneau) We would not be spending that much, and with those guys we can keep the spots for Reed and Moran for 2017. We can trade Fiers in the future to open a spot to Appel or VV.
Can't believe you of all people are in favor of incremental upgrades. And the way you b****ed about the bullpen and Hinch's management of it all year, it's hard to believe that you think only adding Madson to pitch the 8th cleans up everything.
Madson, Morneau, VV in late games, that is 12 percent of the team, in crucial positions. Morneau, hitting 4th, Madson, pitching the 8th and VV pitching the 7th or 8th. Also, i don't like Gattis, i would like an improvement there, but i don't think is going to happen, we are stuck with him for one more year, hopefully his OPS next year is .800 or better. Also, i think Hinch needs to make better decision in close games. If we move Gattis, that is 16 percent of the team. We need to re sign Sipp also.
dont take what carj says as what we all think. dude is a troll. Appel is ready to pitch in the majors? dude had a 4.5+ era in the minors and hes ready for the majors. gtfo and stop trolling this thread srsly. its time to spend some money
Sorry, but your lack of knowledge about baseball is EVIDENT. If we take your word seriously, then McCullers should not be in the majors. You know what was the ERA of McCullers LAST YEAR? The year BEFORE making the majors??? 5.47. Yes, 5.47. You know what was the ERA for his career in the minors? 4.19 with a 1.42 whip. Yes, those are the numbers. But you know what? EVERYONE that knew a little bit about baseball SAW the guy had talent. Apple, before last year, played in 4 cities, struggling in only 1, Lancaster, others his ERA was under 4, and highest whip was 1.23. Last year he had an inconsistent year, but he was young for the league and much better numbers than what McCullers gave us the year before he made the majors. EVERYONE that knows baseball knows Appel has better stuff than McCullers, and let me tell you one thing, the guy with best stuff in our staff is McCullers right now, ok???? I can see Appel having a great year in the minors in 2016 and making an opening for the rotation in 2017 because we have a great 5 if we sign a guy like Kazmir. If we don't sign a pitcher (I hope we do, but one that is really good, no Fister or something like that) then the 5th spot is going to be a battle between VV, Appel, Feldman and Straily. If Feldman is not traded, he should win the spot. If you think Appel is 5 years from the majors, YOU ARE CRAZY. He is ALMOST READY, and it could be as early as 2016. If for you that is a troll, then you should take some time and start reading about baseball, and LEARN this beautiful game.
I'm not necessarily saying I want the Astros to sign Doug Fister, but if you're talking stats, Fister's career ERA is 3.42 (a half run better than Kazmir's 3.96). In 2014, he was 16-6 with a 2.42 ERA. And he has pitched most of his 7 year career in the American League.
Yes, but last year his fastball was 86, last 2 years he has pitched in only 25 games, pitching in the NL with the pitcher hitting, and his K per 9 innings in last 2 years is 5.5 or lower. Right now i don't see much difference from Feldman and Fister. My position is, if we are going to sign a guy like Fister, we are better off spending that money on a 1b and bullpen. Now, if we are going to sign a guy it should be to be a dominant number 3 pitcher, and i think Kazmir can be that guy. I see Fister more like a nice number 5 pitcher, and we have enough of that with Feldman, VV, Appel, ect.
FYI kind of confusing how you stated that. In the last 2 years he has pitched in 50 games. He started 25 games in '14. He pitched in 25 games this year, starting 15.
Correct, his velocity is down, and last 2 years he has not given many games, maybe injuries in that arm?
lance pitched well at AA and at low a , while appel has been dog **** everywhere hes been. gtfo out of this thread with appel is ready for the majors. you're a damn troll
