I think we would have covered that already by trading Lowrie and getting rid of Carter. Also Conger's contract would have been like 1.8 million, so it's not much (at least significant enough for a player; say Fowler --> Rasmus)
Yep... lets see where the money goes. I also felt there was a realistic chance that if they don't get the players they're targeting, that payroll will end up being less this year than it was last year.... which gives a helluva lot of flexibility come the trade deadline.
Stassi is out of options as well. Due to Conger's arm likely not regressing to career averages, Astros likely view Stassi as better or basically the same as 1.3 million isn't some big cash savings.
Thanks for: 1. Congerbot 2. Telling Odor to get in the damn box 3. The HR later in that same game Stassi is a pretty light-hearted guy as well. Glad to see him get his chance.
I know that trades become easier to assess in retrospect, but this was a bad trade. Even the catcher (Perez) we traded for Conger seems to be a better catcher than Conger. That being said, maybe it was worth it for Conger's dugout dancing.
I wouldn't have minded Conger as a DH against right-handed hitting (numbers better than Tucker)... but I understand the team wanting players with more overall versatility. And its still saving money, regardless of it not being a lot of money.
I thought he had one more option year, no? Even if he's out of options, I guess they can still put him on waivers and outright him to the minors if they want to try out another one of their minor league catchers during the season (or if they make another trade for a catcher).
Conger's career OPS against RHP is only .685. Doubtful he could have sustained an OPS of nearly .900 with more PAs.
Sorry for the first-grade question, but does this trade mean that we get to protect one more prospect ahead of the rule V draft? Wouldn't, or shouldn't we measure that into the equation - the prospect that we're now not going to lose, because of the roster slot created by this move. that said, I will miss "WHAT ARE THOOOOOOOOOOOOSE" The Conger is the Man! Wish him all the best!!!
It may save a little money, but I doubt that was the motivating factor in the move as you have strongly implied. Astros choose Stassi because they see him as providing more value (i.e. on field performance, not pocket book performance) over 4 years than Conger would in 3. At worst, costs was a tie breaker. This was not a move designed to line Crane's pockets.
I said it saves money AND they felt his issues were insurmountable, and he couldn't be positioned elsewhere. Conger is a far more accomplished hitter, and would be the better option (and a very high value player) if he wasn't a complete disaster at catcher last year... for reasons again we are not 100% sure of (injury?). And, there's nothing wrong with saving money... as long as it gets appropriately re-allocated. Some of you are way too hyper-sensitive when it comes to discussing the payroll. Its not your money... unless you're the ones paying for $12 beers at the ballpark on a regular basis (will probably be $15-20 dollars/beer by the end of the decade).
I dunno... he had a pretty sound approach, and nothing about his plate appearances last year suggested it was a total "fluke" vs. a young hitter making adjustments. Had a good 2013, bad 2014, great 2015.... I'd say its still more TBD than doubtful, but would require somebody to give him a shot at DH or elsewhere to get more PA's.
That's a pretty fuzzy concept in an era when ballparks are publicly funded. When every Harris County taxpayer is still paying for the stadium (while the team gets the money from naming rights), I don't think you can say that they have no right to complain about greedy owners.
I don't think trading a guy who barely cleared $1 million qualifies as a cost cutting move in today's MLB. That's barely a blip. Again, the Rasmus deal was already figured in to their plans for this coming season. They're not needing to remove cost because they didn't expect it. Conger was an ok catcher and not really worth making a big effort to keep. Stassi is a very capable backup and will at least be a threat to throw out more than 1 runner over the course of the season.
Has no effect. 40-man rosters were due a couple weeks ago with the players that are protected. This did open up a spot in case we decide to select someone in the Rule 5. There's currently 37 on the 40-man.
This. And I think Luhnow's eye is on Gonzalez, the catcher they added to the 40 man roster before the Rule 5 cutoff. Here's his slash line from 2015, quite impressive for a catcher. I think he's the reason that they felt comfortable letting Nottingham go in the Kazmir trade. So I wouldn't be surprised to see him up after the Super 2 deadline, with Stassi clearing waivers and being sent back down to Corpus. Quad Cities (11 g) – .326/.482/.877 (avg/obp/ops) Lancaster (27 g) – .340/.388/.812 Corpus (32 g) – .300/.395/715
Good to see Luhnow cut his losses. Conger was a great clubhouse guy, but so was Corporan, and so are countless other players.
And thus closes the book on the worst move in Luhnow's Astros tenure. Can't win 'em all. Bring on the Winter Meetings!
I think I was wrong. It looks like he was only optioned in 2014 and 2015. I thought he was called up as an injury replacement in 2013 and sent back down.
