I'd be interested as well. Trading him opens up a spot for Josh Bell in the outfield where he belongs. Trade Gattis to be their 1B along with a prospect or two. Sign Beltran to be our new DH.
Jesus... the Astros aren't playing around. Everyone knew $100 million is where you start with Cespedes... Edwin is going to command close to the same. I love this aggression...
Not really true. He posted a .306/.420/.516 line in short season, .272/.326/.528 in A ball, .346/.449/.638 in A+, .332/.405/.571 in AA. .231/.326/385 in the Arizona Fall League .291/.368/.556 in AAA is fairly in line with those numbers. The biggest difference is that his BABIP was only .337 in AAA compared to .385 in A+ and .383 in AA. His K-rates and BB-rates were only marginally worse and not worth any real concern. If you look at player stats you'll see similar differences year to year. 10.8% BB-rate is still good (down from 11.4% in AA) and a 22.6% K-rate (up from 20.7% in AA) is still fine from a power hitter. Complaining about his weight is fair. Saying he wasn't great in AAA really isn't. It is nit-picking based on what we now know. He sucked at hitting MLB pitching.
Who's saying 240lb? The number I had in my head and that's reported on both Baseball Reference (Bref) and Fangraphs is 275lb. 240lb seems reasonable for a big-boned guy like Reed but 275lb is too big. Don't know how accurate it is but Bref also reports Big Papi is 6'3'' 230lb. Good call. I also had it in my head that his AAA numbers were underwhelming but you're right they're in-line with his prior production.
I joked (sort of) during the season that his swing got so long and slow because he had to get his elbows around his gut.
Anyone else glad that Buster isn't setting our daily lineups? Side note: Almost everyone on this board is head over heels about adding EE to our lineup. I'm a tad weary. He struck out at an alarming rate last year, and I guess I'm ultimately worried about his regression (he'll be 34 in January). EE is currently an elite power guy, and contact is not his strong suit...but how long will he be that good?
Making my call: Signing EE and Beltran. Opens up Gurriel to be moved. Gurriel, Reed, Martes, K.Tucker, Musgrove, Marisnick. The 1st 3, and some combo of the last 3 get moved for Sale.
I'm betting 240 is from MLB/Astros.com I'd guess 275 is closer to accurate. No question there is extra weight for him to lose. He may suck either way (or even be good either way, cough, Lance Berkman, cough), but I'm pretty confident the extra weight doesn't help.
I wouldn't complain about that lineup. If we have those bats we could put them in any order and I'd be very excited. He is the best hitter on the FA market. 19.7% K-rate isn't alarming. It is concerning that it is his highest rate he has posted in a full season, but that could easily be an outlier. The biggest question would be has he lost any bat speed? Fangraphs show he was still deadly against fastballs.
Getting EE is an easy decision, but it gets tricky when we start thinking about the length of the contract that it might take. 3 years would be ideal, 4 years gets iffy, and 5 years is probably a deal breaker for me, but the market might end up dictating a 5 year deal (unless it's a club option, or a team-friendly vesting option). I think EE is a offensive machine, but there are definitely some risks to consider. I still feel that Joey Bats at 2 or 3 years would provide more value. It's still really great to even have this discussion!
I havent looked at the numbers, nor would I really know how to read them correctly, but I do know that whenever we were playing Blue Jays and EE was at the plate, I was worried. Same way I feel about Odor... EDIT: that was in NO way me saying I wanted Odor, just that both of them always seemed to get a clutch hit against us. On kind of upset about Cespedes. He was my favorite FA to go for, I thought we just took Reddick instead, but now seeing that we were really going for him and were close, I'm really mad we didn't get him. That outfield, and lineup would have been INSANE. I would take EE, but I would rather trade for McCutchen and sign Beltran. But only if we could keep the main ppl to send for Sale later. I think Springer and Reddick need to stay on the corners, McCutch or Fowler should be next on our list, then a DH/1B. I know everyone like Marisnick out there in center, he is an awesome glove, but i hate him batting, even at the 9 spot. He's the Jason Castro of the outfield.
EE should be good next year. He's probably the 4th or 5th best free agent. That said, he's probably the riskiest of the top free agents considering he's going to get paid, probably have 4 years on his deal, and has the potential to regress quickly. I would normally say a pitcher, but Hill is the only one I expect to get a high yearly salary. No team is going to give him a lot of years.
Jim Bowden says we're in on Rich Hill as well. Not sure I'm too excited about that. He wouldn't cost prospects at least.
