I'd guess that CF is going to be somewhat easier to play without the hill involved. I'm fine with Marisnick out there if they improve at 1st and LF.
Rasmus could actually be a great buy low investment depending in how much this year tanked his value. Pairing him and Marisnick could provide a good CF platoon with upside potential for rasmus to have a productive year. Having said that Rasmus can't be your only addition in the OF.
Rasmus has also shown a clutch component, late innings and playoffs. We definitely an upgrade elsewhere (1B, LF) for the lineup. Gurriel seems decent enough, but Bregman should be near-All-Star. Correa needs to progress too.
Growl... **** me sideways if this team goes down the Moreland/Rasmus, etc., etc. rabbit hole of perpetual mediocrity.
Arguing Mitch Moreland is an aggressively mediocre baseball player does not require realistic alternatives. Call Atlanta and ask them about Freeman; call Arizona and ask them about Goldschmidt; call Cincinnati and ask them about Votto; call Milwaukee and ask them about Braun... there are multiple avenues for improving the team. Mitch Moreland, and his ilk, do not improve the team - thus, discussing them should constitute a giant waste of time, especially if fans are going to argue that he COULD post an .800 OPS and that'd be swell. He won't and it wouldn't be. There's more than one way to skin a cat. And Mitch Moreland is fourth or fifth tier, btw. He's status quo for this team; another mediocre, low contact/high strikeout bat, the exact kind that turned the bottom 55% of our lineup into a season-derailing albatross.
If your expectation for filling the 1B/DH hole is Votto/Freeman/Goldschmidt/Braun, you're going to be disappointed. Moreland producing an 800+ ops for Houston is FAR more likely than Luhnow/Crane ponying up for one of those guys (only 1 of whom is actually even being made available for trade). I'll grant you that Moreland is a 3rd tier option, but someone is going to pay him $4-8M to play baseball next year and there's a reason for that. I'm fine with arguing against signing Moreland if you don't think he'll be better than White/Reed/pupuplatter,but if you're not fine with it because you think the only acceptable solution is a superstar, that's a tough break for you, because it's not gonna happen.
Based on what?... Why have we all settled on this idea that the Astros are not going to spend significant money? They had a deal in place for Cole Hamels just over a year ago that would have added $23.5MM/year for three years to the payroll (plus a prorated % in '15). They handed Colby Rasmus, who not a terribly good baseball player, $15MM last year. During the season, they signed a 32-year old with no prior MLB experience to a 5/$47.5MM deal, They're smart and cautious; but I've yet to see any indication that they're overly cheap. Fans *think* they're overly cheap - but, again, where are they getting that from? The evidence suggests they can and will be aggressive.
I'm not ready to use that as an argument. He did it once, yes. He also crapped the bed once (most of last year). Note that he's had similar seasons to last year (ear issue not withstanding) before in 2011 and 2012. So there's actually way more support behind letting him go than bringing him back based on his 6 week hot stretch in 2015 No thanks on Rasmus or Moreland for me. Mediocre options, and I'd rather go with the internal choices than them if better FAs or trade options don't pan out. (With the option to trade for someone in season down the line, of course.)
Because the total MLB payroll is in the bottom third of the league with Rasmus and Gurriel. I think they should be close to league median. Which was about $145M last year.
They have gone from $51 to $93 to $117 the past 3 seasons. There is no reason to not believe they will make a similar jump if opportunities present themselves.
The Astros are very unlikely to get Votto, Freeman or Gildschmidt because it will cost the Astros dearly in prospects and finances. Ryan Braun is someone worth monitoring. He is older, and his deal is through age 36-37, but the guaranteed money is less than $100,000,000. The Brewers were trying very hard to trade him at the deadline. The Brewers will want good prospects back, but not the type of haul that the other names listed would cost. I could see the Astros trade good to very good prospects for Braun. Braun can play multiple sports, which fits the Astros philosophy and his bat is still elite. He is a middle of the order thumper that can still run. The biggest issue is that Braun has a no trade clause and the Astros ARE on his veto list.
I've stated this before but... Sign Cespedes and Trade for Sale. Get Chapman if you are really going after the title. The time is now.
The Astros don't have the finances to do that. Cespedes is likely to get $150,000,000 Chapman could push $100,000,000 That isn't feasible for the Astros.
It's not just about money. Goldschmidt, Votto, and Freeman simply aren't available. Braun has the Astros on his no-trade list. And giving Rasmus a 1 year $16M deal and shelling out $50M for Gurriel is not akin to paying $130M (and a draft pick) for Cespedes. I expect Houston to have ~$40M to spend. But I expect them spread that over 4-5 players.
Says who? The Reds, who are terrible, owe Joey Votto, who is 32, $172MM. And he's been the subject of trade rumors since at least last summer. Is paying Cole Hamels $23.5MM/year akin to paying Cespedes ~$20-25MM/year? And what Rasmus and Gurriel are indicative of is the Astros' willingness to increase payroll, which they've done each of the last several winters. Maybe the Astros are bound by a restrictive budget - but it's all fan-wanking speculation at this point.
