I'm actually not all that surprised. Giles will be the closer sooner rather than later. But from a clubhouse cohesion standpoint, it might've been a disaster to just hand this role over to a young buck who hasn't exactly earned it. Additionally, it's not like Gregerson did anything to lose the job. And he was just told he was the "primary closer", which kind of insinuates that it may change in the future.
Highly ranked prospects. Pretty big haul if you're just trading for a bullpen arm who isn't a closer.
I'm fine with this. It's a good problem to have, and it's not like the trade is looking as lopsided as some people are making it out to be. Giles can be the Kelvin Herrera of the bullpen.
Highly ranked prospects that may or may not doing anything at the big league level. A good bullpen arm is a good bullpen arm (this is assuming Giles continues to pitch like he did last year and not like he did during Spring Training). I'd venture to guess that the Royals value more than just Wade Davis in their bullpen. Talent is talent, and the formality of pitching a good 8th inning as compared to the 9th is a minor detail (hell, I rather Giles come in to face the heart of the order in the 8th versus him coming into the 9th to face the 6,7,8 hitters).
You guys put way too much value in closing vs pitching in the 8th, you've bought into the national media brainwashing. A game blown in the 8th is just as bad as a game blown in the 9th. To act like his value to the team suddenly plummeted is just preposterous. And he very well could be the closer at some point this year anyhow A little surprising, but it really isn't a big deal.
We gave up Velasquez (who had an incredible spring). The rest? Eh. The Gomez/Fiers trade arguably cost more with Phillips, Hader, and Santana (who performed extremely well since the trade). That doesn't factor in Houser.
Nope. I was told that was not possible. It'll be Giles and the Astros will win the World Series with a beast-mode bullpen. Guaranteed!
I wonder if this decision was at all based on spring training results. Giles didn't put up great numbers but as others pointed out that is not unusual for him. At any rate, I feel like the "closer" designation has too much importance put on it. If Giles is blowing people away in the 8th inning as opposed to the 9th, I'm still good with the trade. I imagine if he pitches like we've seen he will be the closer by season's end anyway.
Kind of sucks since I spent a relatively high pick on Giles, but I still think he will be closing sooner rather than later.
Funny to see this sentiment. Some of you Astros fans chest thump when you have these prospects. But when they're traded its "oh they may or may not pan out". Just comes off as homerish. You guys gave up quite a bit for Giles. That's not a narrative, it's an opinion shared my most baseball fans. Giles will likely be the closer at some point, he'll just have to earn it back which he can obviously do. Long season.
It had something to do with ST, but ST wasn't exclusively the reason. Had Giles blown everyone away in ST, yeah, the job is probably his. I really think Hinch is looking at the clubhouse when making this decision. He doesn't want to give the role to Giles without him having "earned" it. Make him earn the position, I'm cool with that. Gregerson will be on a shorter leash than he was on last year. This will be exciting to watch develop, but it will be Giles' position sooner rather than later.
Yea, I guess what I am saying is that we'll have to see how all players involved do at the big league level. I can be proven wrong by VV and Appel having solid-to-great MLB careers, but until then, I just don't get the whole "but we gave up so much for Giles" talk. It is possible, but the general consensus is that it has already been determined, and I just question it. I agree that the Gomez/Fiers deal has a potentially steeper price tag, but hopefully Gomez performs like he can, and we get several more years of solid production from Fiers. Also, assuming Gomez walks after we offer him the QO, we should include the additional draft pick as part of the equation. I also never understood why Domingo Santana didn't get a chance to prove himself. He was always younger than the competition, and always produced in the minors. Sure he had swing-and-miss tendencies, but most of our lineup does! I think he'll be a solid contributor at the major league level.
It's homerish to question "an opinion shared by most baseball fans?" If that's what you want to believe, that's fine. I'm certainly glad we bucked that trend and didn't draft Byron Buxton first overall, because that was "an opinion shared by most baseball fans."
Not a big deal. The team has 2 very good late-inning options. I don't see it as a failure that Giles isn't the closer. Even if Gregerson closes the entire season, I'm not going to look at the trade any differently. It's most definitely not time for: "Darn, Giles is the closer for the next 3 years + his next contract instead of 4 years + next contract. We lost the trade!"
All well and good...you're absolutely right. Regardless, teams put their best bullpen arm in to close games more times than not. These guys were competing for THIS coveted job. Gregerson made it very clear that's the role he wanted. It's a higher paid position for a reason.
