Yea, that might be true. But he made a lateral move to manage another AAA team in las vegas, so it tells me he didn't see himself getting a chance to move up.
Is this the offseason Jake gets moved? I love Jake, but the idea of him not having options is rough as his bat can be so bad that he becomes almost non-rosterable during the slog of a 6 month regular season, especially when you have someone banged up. Does Straw move into that roster spot? Or Kemp I guess as the 4th OF (I know they are cross training Straw at SS to potentially let him carry Marwin's spot as a guy that can play OF and IF occasionally for rest or emergency situation).
Tucker making the roster out of camp, or Houston seeing an OF via trade or free agency that they really like, probably spells the end of Marisnick in Houston. But Hinch loves him so for now I think he will be on the roster to start the season, and if h doesn’t hit he will just be dfa.
Makes a perfect September and October player for us. Just doesn’t work if he doesn’t hit April-August.
"I don't talk about whether or not they were not asked to come back or they didn't want to come back or it was a mutual decision, I don't get into those details," Luhnow said. https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-part-ways-with-minor-league-managers-13238749.php When this happens and its not for professional reasons, it doesn't take too long to guess what it might be. Luhnow's response reeks of deflection and vagueness. When guys are moving on to better pastures on their own, those details are usually said with ease.
He’s the Terrence Gore of the Astros and pretty much should have gotten as many plate appearances. There are worse 25th men to have but he shouldn’t take up more than minimum payroll.
He had an 800 ops last year so that’s completely unfair to say he’s Gore. But yeah, it becomes harder to carry him when he’s out of options for sure.
Instructional league roster is out: Probably the most surprising (though hardly groundbreaking) thing is Antonio Nunez being listed as a pitcher (I remember him having a cannon in ST, and it doesn't appear as if he can hit anyways). Given the general level of prospects, i'm a little surprised that Machado, Santana, and Perry weren't on there. Good to see Robaina appears to be well regarded still, despite his rough statistical season.
I’m not sure how much stock to put in instructs rosters. There have been guys in past instructs who were released a few months later, and there have been big breakouts from guys who weren’t invited. Generally the main thing you can glean is if the org is toying with a position switch.
https://whattheheckbobby.blogspot.com/2018/09/2018-rule-5-draft-primer-and-eligible.html?m=1 Great Rule 5 primer. Interesting that Cesar is a free agent, I’m sure he’ll get a chance somewhere. I also expect Mart Ramsey to sign with another mlb club. Gotta think all 5 guys from the Top 30 will be protected (Armenteros, Stubbs, Arauz, Ferrell, Thornton). Bryan Abreu and virtually all of the AAA pitchers carry some risk of being chosen. Ferguson also has some risk, but his injury this season makes it less likely. I think Ritchie, Mayfield, and Tanielu all have a decent chance of playing in the majors but don’t carry much Rule 5 risk.
It’s certainly debatable. I think they will protect him because (even though I’m personally not that high on his upside) word is the front office loves him, and that combined with the lack of middle infield depth in the upper levels means they will make room for him. I could also see him being included in a trade. A rebuilding team could take him and use him as a defensive sub for a year. He’s also a high contact hitter so even though he would almost certainly not be a viable major league hitter next season, he could probably put the ball in play enough not to be a laughingstock.
Whitley strikes out the side on 11 pitches as the Scottsdale Scorpions open AFL play tonight. Ronnie Dawson in CF and batting cleanup.
Excerpt from BA article (free) on Whitley: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/forrest-whitley-dominates-in-first-afl-start/ His changeup, he says, spins at an average rate of 2,200-2,300 revolutions per minute. His curveball, on the other hand, has peaked at better than 3,000 rpm. Curve spin rate is very Astro-like (McHugh, Pressly, McCullers, Verlander, Cole, Valdez, and Morton are in this range). While peak is over 3,000, guessing his average is 100 or so less than that which is still very good. Spin rate for changeup seems very high as that is generally the spin rate of a very good 4S fastball. As fastballs and changeups usually have a close spin axis, a lower spin rate is generally good for a changeup as it causes the changeup to drop more as it is not creating as much of an upward force to resist gravity. I'm guessing the 2200-2300 is his 4S fastball's spin rate. Either that, or he has a huge offset spin axis that causes the changeup to act like a reverse slider/cutter.
Average spin rate of around 2,900 RPM would put him in Valdez's range, and Valdez has the second highest spin curveball on the team next to Pressly. The changeup spin rate is interesting, as that would be pretty extreme although there are pitchers out there with changes in that range (Danny Duffy being an example).