Yeah, that's why I think a deal for Lucroy is unlikely. But this is Castro's last year of arbitration, and he turned down a deal last year that would have kept him here through 2018. So it looks like he wants to be a free agent, and I suspect he may not be back in 2017. Knowing that he might be gone after this year, Luhnow might decide to bring in a catcher that will be around this team for the next few years as they make their run. Or, he could try to re-sign Castro when he becomes a free agent, but there's a lot of uncertainty there.
I agree with this. I think his bat plays fine if we have a decent-to-good hitter at first. I think Carter being so bad for 80% of the season last year made Valbuena's play magnified that much more. If he gets somewhere near his career averages and we have better play from first, then having Valbuena in the lineup isn't as detrimental as it was last year. That said, if Todd Frazier can be had....
Over the last year's he has posted an OPS over .800 against RHP. He should start every game against them, which would be the majority.
So let's talk potential solutions then. As to 1B, I would not want Chris Davis at his likely high price tag. I'd like to see AJ reed get his shot now (with of course the customary delay of starting the arb/FA clock). We don't have the luxury or need to wait on Singleton. If Reed struggles, White and trades remain options. Can anyone spot a good trade option here? As to 3B, I can't identify a readily available upgrade from Valbuena in FA. This is also where a trade could make sense, any suggestions? As to DH, I hope we will see Gattis/Tucker platoon. I suspect that could yield fairly productive results. Again, we could stand to upgrade here, but what's an available clear upgrade that's worth spending money. In one of these threads, someone made the good point that we should spend, but spend wisely. Here, it looks like perhaps the most impactful spend is on SP. I suspect that's exactly how Luhnow sees the market right now. I'm not sold on Kasmir, but maybe spending on him allows Luhnow to deal Feldman (a bargain w just one year left), Feirs (young bargain under club control), or even McHugh and McCullers, who could be centerpiece a to a trade that nets a real upgrade to 3B, 1B or DH. I'd be willing to move Gomez (who I think will have a good year) to upgrade 3B, DH or 1B, because I love Marisnik. That guy is heads and shoulders our best defensive outfielder among some pretty good outfielders, and if he can just provide average offense, I'd want him starting. Getting back end bullpen help was absolutely critical and will have a huge ripple effect on the rest of the pen. I'm pleased with getting Giles and the price paid in the trad.
I hate mobile posting A productive 1B can always be had if you really want one. I suspect we give Singleton a chance, but with a short leash. Reed and possibly White come up after the service time deadlines. If all 3 of them are unproductive and its killing us, then Luhnow hits the trade market
At the end Valbuena was good for us, I don't think 3b is a problem for us. Right now I think our proble. Is DH, we don't know what to expect at 1b, and we have a weak hitting catcher but is good defensively. I still think Morneau would be a good move for us, and Kazmir and let's start the season, but I also agree we have to give Singleton a real chance. Unless we trade Singleton I don't think we go after a 1b through free agency. We need Kazmir, that should be our next move. Now, it is important to notice that free agents from our team want to come back, and others are seeing that, we don't have players like last year that did not want to come to Houston example Miller. I like our off season so far, I wanted a hard throwing reliever, if not give the chance to VV, for me Sipp was a must, I wanted Colby back, and now I want Kazmir. My last move would be Moranuau but I don't know if is going to happen as we did not go after Lind and Seattle did not give much to get him, let's see.
You think paying for a 35 year old (May, 2016) player, who is one slide or dive away from missing the season due to his history of concussions, a good move?
Jed Lowrie is available, I hear (had to do it) I like this too--but I'm not sure the 25 man roster can stomach spending 2 spots on non-position players all season. Even if you go with a 7 man bullpen, that still leaves you with a 4 man OF permanently. The team would be severely limited on substitutions and maneuverability. Obviously both DHs could play OF, maybe 1B, Gattis C.. but none of us want those things. I'm worried about the flexibility personally. Please no. I'd much rather have 4 solid OFs than 3 and then Marwin or whatever. I think you can get Jake ABs in a 4 man OF. If you only played 4 OFs all season, that's more than enough ABs for all of them...and all 3 can play all 3 positions.
For his career he has around a 700 OPS against righties. Personally I hope they upgrade the position.... it looks like they have good long term solutions at 1st, they appear locked in at catcher for this season and the outfield is set.... that leaves 3rd.... the problem is that there are limited options at 3rd.
I agree with your take here. I would even advocate taking it further to include a every day DH that CAN play a position. Platooning two non-position DH's would only be worth it if the production was astronomical :grin:
It's got about a 0.5% chance of happening, but ponying up for Heyward and then trading GoGo to the Cubs would be my dream scenario.
This topic was discussed a few weeks back. Doubt Tucker is a DH platoon, as Hinch/Luhnow liked to have 13 pitchers on the roster. We'll already have Marisnick, Marwin and Stassi as the position backups. If you include Tucker, then that takes away one pitcher (either the long reliever or a middle reliever), and we'd be down to 12 pitchers on the roster. This can cause havoc during the year (remember last year when they released Fausto and had no long reliever; Fiers had to step in on one of his first days as an Astro to pitch long relief when McCullers had a meltdown in the first inning against the Rangers). I see it as more likely that they have Tucker gets reps at 1B during spring training and see if he sticks there; otherwise, Tucker still has options, so he may be up and down from the minors all year to spell guys as they get injured or are in slumps.
Hayward to Cubs. Just looking at his stats, and I don't get why everyone is in love with the guy. Solid player, sure. But worth 200MM? Granted he hit the market at age 26, but he hasn't been consistently impressive during his career so far.
He potentially signed for less than $200M. We'll have to wait for the real numbers, but he could be a steal for the Cubs. They will be WS favorites.
Young, plays elite defense, great baserunner, on base skills, etc. Just an all-around good player. Also versatile, can play all 3 OF positions.
Weren't the Cubs already the favorites before the offseason began? Lackey and Heyward. It's almost unfair.
