Assuming he has no significant struggles in AAA, I doubt it would even be that long. He only needs to stay down there for about 2 weeks to get the extra year of team control. I expect he could be up here as soon as late April-Early May, depending on how well whoever is playing 1B for us is performing, and just how much he is forcing the issue.
And we are now officially "in the window of opportunity". If they think Reed wins us more games, I think the Super 2 will be thrown out of consideration.
We have a pretty good team. Adding mediocre players still on the market at this point is only removing the opportunity for similarly talented players with many years of club control to get their chance. I would have loved signing a top of the market pitcher like Greinke or Cueto, but barring that now I'm in favor of rolling with the youth we have. The payroll will be rising sufficiently no matter what we do from this point on, since our own guys turned out to be good and deserving of the money that we'll be able to spend. Just don't pull a Drayton and let young guys (Gonzo, Finley, Kile, Hampton, Wagner, etc) go away because you're cheap, and I'll be happy.
absolutely how I feel. I think Reed will be up as seal said--by late April or early May unless Singleton and/or whoever our 1B and DH options are happen to be demolishing the ball. Of course, in that case, I'd still expect Reed to come up after they can trade one of those guys..or they might trade Reed I suppose, but I sure hope not in that scenario.
I would agree, but with it only being a couple of weeks, I can't see them giving up a year of control for only a couple of weeks at the beginning of the season.
Agreed, Orioles way overpaid for an inconsistent bat that will likely fall off after the big contract.
Turns out the deal is not as big as reported. It's only $17MM per year plus deferred money until 2037. But the deferred money is not interest-bearing, so the money they are paying in 2037 is worth much less than money today due to inflation. But beyond that, he's not really inconsistent - he had 1 bad year out of 4, which is not uncommon amongst players. And there is zero reason to think he'd fall more after his contract than any other player. By that standard, the Astros should never pay any free agents.
He's had two great years, one solid year, and the rest were bad. Heard it has been since Jim Thome that someone like him has performed well consistently after 30. Not saying he can't....but I would prefer Cespedes going forward. Granted, he has his own issues.
If age is the concern, Cespedes is older than Davis. And pretty much any big free agent signed is going to get a contract into their mid-30's. I'm not sure that's avoidable unless you never sign a major free agent.
Well Rasmus taking the QO shocked the Astros and limited their ability to get Cespedes or Upton (who they wanted)... Still supposedly looking for a deal to trade Gomez if they get solid return.
There is absolutely no way the Astros were shocked by him accepting When the decision was being made I posted in the Rasmus thread that i'd be shocked if he didn't take the offer. He has already said earlier in the year he wasn't planning on playing this game for a long time. He likely wants to retire to a ranch somewhere out of the hustle and bustle that so many athletes look for. He has always been a bit unhappy while playing, and never has really seemed to enjoy and be a big part of the clubhouse... Then this year he became such a force with his teammates, it was so clear just watching him that he was finally enjoying playing the game. I think the only way he would have left Houston was if the team didn't make the qualifying offer, and then turned around and didn't make any offer at all for him. He loves it here, for the first time in his career he is truly enjoying playing baseball. The only thing that pointed to him turning down the offer, was if you considered him to be like 99% of athletes, which he simply is not. Now i've never met Rasmus and that was my clear thought on the situation. So we are supposed to think that Luhnow, who has known Rasmus his entire career, probably knows him better than any other executive in baseball...and we are supposed to think that Luhnow was "shocked" at him accepting?
No they were surprised. No one had ever accepted the QO before and believed he would want a longer deal at his age and coming off his post season performance. They gambled and have to live with it, and it is only one season. Rasmus is also not the same person he was years ago in St. Louis. In fairness to Rasmus, my understanding is that he has become quite religious the last couple years, and desires stability.
Well, if they truly were surprised, they aren't very smart This was a slam dunk. The ONLY real reason for everyone to think he would turn it down, is because as you said, no one had ever accepted before. He just isn't like everyone else, and i'd be really surprised if Luhnow didn't know that
Yea I don't think they ever considered going after any of the FA outfielders. Our outfield is 4 deep right now, with 3 really good minor league OF's on the way. Tying up money in the OF long term just wouldn't have been a smart decision. Signing a top FA will always come with risk though, because very few become free agents at an age that their contract won't take them into their 30's at least. Taking a chance on a mid to top rotation starter, or 3B would have made sense. The top starters got outrageous contracts though, and there were really no options at 3B. With a system that is still as stacked as ours is (yes, even after the trades) we are in a great position to make moves during the season to fill whatever need comes up.
Why would a 1 year $15 million contract "discourage" the Astros from doing anything?? That seems ridiculous.
It hasn't, not in any way. There really hasn't been many of the top FA that fit our needs this year, other than the top pitchers who as I mentioned earlier, got outrageous contracts (which is going to be the norm moving forward i'm sure) Spending big money to fill a major need is great, spending it just to spend it is what causes teams to get into long term bad situations Where do we really have needs going into 2016? 1B is a concern, but our top prospect who is on the verge of being ready is a 1B. So is spending big money at that spot, right now, really smart? 2B/SS certainly isn't a concern 3B is a concern, but there were NO 3B free agents who would have significantly improved us, if any would have improved us at all Catcher . .many on here would like to see an upgrade, but it seems like the pitchers like Castro, and the organizational leaders seem to like him too. Personally I like the idea of going after Lucroy, but I don't think they are interested in bringing in someone to supplant Castro OF is set with not only an outstanding starting 3 of Springer, Gomez and Rasmus, but also one of the best 4th OF's in the game in Jake Starting pitching is probably as good as any overall, but little to no depth. Bringing in a mid to top rotation starter would have been awesome, but just didn't happen. I'm still lukewarm on a giving up a pick for a guy like Gallardo, although in the end it is very likely worth it. If we wanted to try to trade for a guy like him, the prospect cost would likely be more than one mid 1st round guy anyway. I don't think us not going after a big money guy has anything to do with being "limited" by the Rasmus deal, or limited by anything. I think it's just that we were not going to give out one of the crazy deals for the top starters, and there really wasn't much else that fit our needs
