What's kind of interesting about this offseason is that even if the Astros do nothing in free agency or trade they will still be a prohibitive favorite to win the divison with Seattle in full tear down, Rangers being awful, A's won't even pay Fiers, and Angels not having much pitching. Obviously, the roster as it stands won't be as good on paper as the Red Sox or Yankees, but I wonder if our division being garbage has any impact on Luhnow's approach this off season? Maybe he only makes one or two moves, holds onto his prospects, and sees what we need at the deadline.
Luhnow and the organization aren't playing for the division any more. The moves of the rest of the division don't play into the equation nearly as much as the other power teams in the AL. It appears that the Indians are moving away from contention, leaving the Central wide open. The Yanks and Red Sox will help dictate the Astros aggressiveness as much or than any move made in the division. I still think the A's aren't as good as they played last year. The Angels aren't scary as long as Albert Pujols is eating up that much salary. The Mariners and Rangers are tanking. They have to make sure we keep up with the real challengers to keeping the Astros from another World Series.
I don't think you read the entire post. The poster said that the fact that the division was weak would make it easier to wait until the deadline to make a move.
Not a bad return for SEA. Losing Diaz hurts, and Bruce’s salary is rough, but getting rid of Cano is key for that organization. They’re clearly taking their hat out of the race for 2-3 years. They’ve got some good young players in their system, so I guess we’ll see. SEA fell apart when Cano returned from the DL, having fights in the lockerroom, and really needed to just move on. I know we’d prefer to pick up a lefty hitter, but if I’m Luhnow, I’d try to swing a deal for Haniger. My guess is Tucker would have to lead it, but Haniger would look really nice in this lineup. Great player.
www.crawfishboxes.com/platform/amp/2018/11/29/18116394/how-the-aledyms-diaz-trade-creates-a-roster-crunch Here’s the players on the cusp of making the roster currently constructed, and how many options remain: Kemp (0), White (0), Stasi (0), Marisnick (1). This reality is a construct of the MLB team be
https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-houston-astros/ And here’s further proof Jake has options for one more year. Sorry, Mr Kaplan. Your article is incorrect.
I suppose it is all in the eye of the beholder. All told the M’s paid half of Cano’s contract. He is only going to cost the Mets $12,000,000 a year. That is very reasonable for Cano. The Mets also got the top young reliever with four years of control left. The Mets didn’t give up their top 3-4 prospects. I like the one recent draft pick hitter as a good future player, but the others are meh. I really don’t like the return for Seattle.
And here is Jake Kaplan recanting his article: Hmm. I was told he was out of options but may have gotten bad info. Will correct story to reflect. Good catch. Replying to @jakemkaplan He spent less than 20 days in the minors that season. That does not burn an option. @mlbtraderumors has also now picked up on your error, Jake. Please have The Athletic take down that article. Jake Kaplan: Sorry, but you don't have editorial oversight here. My story has been updated with an editor's note acknowledging the error. Marisnick does indeed have one option left but will effectively be out of options 40 days into the season when he reaches his fifth year of service time.
I believe he has an option left that goes away by the middle of May. So he would have to clear waivers the last 80% of the season. So essentially he doesn’t have an option. I don’t really think this is something worth fighting over. The larger point remains true, the Astros are going to have their hands tied.
And I agree with that. It wasn’t what I was ‘fighting’. I simply said he had one year left and you said I was wrong. When your source even recants his mistake, it’s funny.
What if we were able/willing to include some of these (ones with no options) guys in a trade? If such a trade leads towards a #3 pitcher or catcher or OF, wouldn't we be solving two things at once?
Yes, that’s what we’ve been talking about. I think that Tony Kemp is probably the first to go, but others think that Jake is more likely. Some have suggested that White will be replaced. Personally, I think that White has grown to be one of our best hitters and it would be foolish to trade him. I also value Jakes defense has an every day tool off the bench. If we pick up somebody like Brantley, Kemp won’t have and every day role on this team, and his need as an off the bench bat would also be greatly reduced.
What we value in these players, other teams will also. It will be interesting to see what players of this lot will draw the most interest from other teams. Especially those that have assets we want.
I thought the M's were only kicking in $20M of the $120 he's owed? Not sure why they included Diaz in this deal, but I know nothing about the prospects they got in return.
They got the sixth overall pick in last year’s draft probably the equivalent of the Astros dealing K Tucker