Yulieski Gurriel agrees to 5/$47M deal with the Astros

This is why clutchfans is such a pain in the ass. Nobody bothers to read or understand, just looking for straw men to decry.

I said Gourrieal should be working on 1st. The guy who is a corner infielder and who has time to work on it. Someone else asserted that he's been promised 3rd base, which means Bregman is Dh or doesn't play (like moving a stud SS to LF is any more ridiculous than moving another to 1B, nice hypocritical reasoning there).

These guys aren't here because Valbuena is getting it done. They didn't draft Bregman or sign Gourrieal for 4 more years because Valbuena is awesome. I don't think Bregman is here to be an everyday DH, nor an outfielder.

I said moving correa was stupid, so I don't get the reaction like I didn't. But if Altuve can only play 2nd and Gourrieal has been promised 3B, then the conditions to get other guys playing time become pretty straightforward and somebody is going to move somewhere they don't normally play. That's all I'm getting at, it's a good problem to have so many talented SSand 3B but you only get 1 each.

 

In addition to moving Correa to 1st, you also suggested to bench Valbuena... who's perfectly capable of playing 1B and being in the lineup everyday. You honestly believe they were all signed now because Valbuena isn't getting it done? He's been great this year at the plate... stellar as of late.

Bregman and Gurriel can share 3B and DH duties. Bregman can/will also play LF in order to get another 1B bat in the lineup (Marwin, Reed?). SS's can play the OF, which still require a semblance of athleticism as opposed to sticking them at 1st. Biggio played it in his early years. The Rangers have a SS playing CF now. Valbuena is pretty much limited to 3B and 1B... but I don't see why you don't feel he needs to stay in the lineup.

Again, not sure what the confusion is. This is really only for the second half of this season. Valbuena will likely not be retained (unless they end up trading Bregman in the off-season). Also, if Bregman is far and away a better 3B than Gurriel, then he'll get the bulk of playing time at 3B while Gurriel will DH. TBH, I would also rather see him in LF over Tucker (who should be this team's permanent DH vs. right-handed pitching).

The advantage of getting your best hitters in the everyday lineup outweighs the positional adjustments (which have yet to be proven as a negative, if at all). Luhnow has made it all but obvious that there will be players playing occasionally out of position... but this is not really new to this current team at all (Marwin playing 1b/LF is totally out of position for him, Valbuena moved to 1B when Lowrie came back last season).

Also, are you intentionally misspelling his name now? Because the player himself has preferred the current spelling over what it used to be.

 

Ideal lineup:

Springer - 9
Bregman - 7
Altuve - 4
Correa - 6
Valbuena - 3
Gurriel - 5
Tucker - DH
Gattis/Castro - 2 (platoon)
Gomez/Rasmus - 8 (platoon)

Bench:
Marwin
Castro/Gattis
Rasmus/Gomez
Jake

That's actually not a bad roster/bench at all. Plenty of flexibility for matchups, backup plans for injuries, tons of versatility, and provided Tucker never sees the field... not a bad defender/athlete amongst the bunch.

 

i must say this is probably my ideal everyday lineup. lots of versatility and decent depth. if gurriel and bregman get close to their potential that lineup has some serious offensive potential while maintaining solid defense.

 

Great potential lineup, but you may have confused some folks with the numbers next to the name. I don't see a 1B next to Correa? Does not compute. I keed I keed!

 

Marwin deserves to play everyday. He has earned it. No reason they should just give that to someone else, be it Gurriel or Bregman or whoever.

 

How about that god damn work visa?

 

No he hasnt, he is below average offensively

 

So any idea when this cat will actually play in the minors?

 

Great vs LhP and below avg vs RHP, some people just don't really get it

 

He will still basically be a regular. Plenty of the big names (Springer, Altuve, Correa) will need more days off/DH days as needed. Marwin can help fill in for any of them.

He has tremendous value to this team given his versatility and ability to still hit well despite being in/out of the lineup.

 

I love Marwin, but if he is your everyday 1B, you are getting well below average production from that position. He's good against lefties, and has spectaculat versatility, but he shouldn't be an everyday player at a corner infield spot.

Having said that, I think he could be a good everyday 2B for somebody, probably below average defensively at SS.

 

I like that roster a lot. Marisnick at that point is basically a pinch runner... I'd think about swapping him out for Tony Kemp who is a little bit more functional as a bat, or just bringing up White.

 

What's your issue with Valbuena? He's been one of our better bats for the last few months. No way he should be benched at this point of the season. Also, Bregman is more than capable of playing LF because of his athleticism. He'll rotate between LF, 3B, DH, and SS (on days Correa takes a break).

The best part about our lineup is that we are incredibly versatile and can mix and match lineups based on pitching matchups, rest days, etc...

 

Exactly right. With room for Marwin at any position if he's hot/they're cold, with a careful eye on Tucker. And room for Gattis to DH vsL if he's hot and Tucker isn't.

Which is why I don't see a huge need for a trade for a position player, unless it's a dramatic improvement over Tucker or in CF (pushing Springer to CF, which is a fairly large move to make at this point in the season given that he hasn't really played there since his time in the minors).

Gurriel was the position player trade. Let's let it play out.

 

Really reminds me of the role Billy Spiers had. Love what that guy brought to the table.

Wish Marwin was a little more consistent at the plate, but I greatly value his role.