Really hoping the brass doesn't have some sort of delusion in thinking we can go with what we got. I rather doubt it, given posted statements. But you never know.
The Marlins asked for Kyle Tucker and Forrest Whitley last offseason. They were delusional then and may still be delusional now. Time will tell. The longer they wait to trade him, the less of a return they will receive.
Heaney, Skaggs, Marco Gonzalez, and Minor are probably the 4 best non-Astro SPs. Astros will be favored to win each game in the division even when one of those guys are against a BoR starter as offense is that good.
Even as great a season as Realmuto had, Miami won't do better than what Washington supposedly and likely offered early last season. Three years of 3 expected WAR each season is worth more than 2 years of 4 expected WAR each season.
Absolutely I also know how bad our division is, and know that we have a top 3 offense, 2 legit aces and a couple of high end arms in the pen. I wouldn’t feel good about a playoff series vs the Sox or yanks with the current squad, but I’d wager largely on us getting there
Shoot for Castellanos for Abreu and Solis Trade for J.T. Realmuto and a Sp Be done with the Offseason unless you wanna push for Ottavino And you must trade Reddick
I’ll continue to dream of Cruz, Realmuto and a decent starting pitcher (and add Bumgarner at the deadline).
Despite coming off a down year, Fulmer's price will be extremely high because of his resume (just two years removed from his RoY season, and one removed from his AS season) and 4 years of control. Castellanos is a rental, and a good player but not exactly one who I think adds much to what we already have. Honestly, I can't see his market pic up enough for a trade this offseason, they'll probably have to wait for the deadline to deal him. Matt Boyd is the guy I want from the Tigers. Tigers get: LHP Cionel Perez, RHP Rogelio Armenteros, OF Derek Fisher Astros get: LHP Matt Boyd Lefty (to balance our heavily-RHP staff) with high upside for the rotation. Four years of control remaining, providing us long-term insurance. Tigers can use Fisher's speed in their large OF, Perez and Armenteros won't be blocked from our rotation. Boyd allows us to keep Peacock in the pen to alleviate the loss from Smith's injury. Gives us this pitching staff, opening day. Rotation: JV, Cole, Boyd, McHugh, James Bullpen: Osuna, Pressly, Rondon, Peacock, Harris, Valdez, Devo, Deetz/Guduan/other minor leaguer
I would rather just put Perez or Armenteros in the rotation. Boyd's lone value is that he can absorb a lot of innings while being a below average starter. The Astros should have enough options that they should focus on talent, not durability.
Agree I don’t want to see us just add a starter to eat up innings, rather go with the young guys than do that. We need to add a guy who is at least a legit #3, or else just see what all the young arms look like in ST
Agree I don’t want to see us just add a starter to eat up innings, rather go with the young guys than do that. We need to add a guy who is at least a legit #3, or else just see what all the young arms look like in ST
The issue with that is that we are down 4 pitchers. Sure, we have James and Valdez now, but we had those guys last year and needed them for the stretch run. The limited time that Perez was up last year he didn’t show the ability to go more than an inning or two. We don’t know what Armenteros will be yet. What we lack now is depth. Getting an SP 4/5 may be the difference between wearing out our pen and keeping them fresh.
We typically need 10-12 starters to get through a season. Last year we had unusually good health from our pitching staff until the last month. Here are the ones we have that should be able to help this year: 1. Verlander 2. Cole 3. McHugh 4. James 5. Valdez 6. Peacock 7. Whitley 8. Armenteros? 9. ? 10. ? 11. ? 12. ? What scares me is that we only have 6 players that have any MLB starting pitching experience on our current roster.
1. Verlander 2. Cole 3. TBD (100% chance that they add at least an old innings eater) 4. McHugh 5. James 6. Valdez 7. Perez 8. Armenteros 9. Rodgers 10. TBD (they’ll have 3 open roster spots due to 60 Day DL they can use to claim a fringy optionable SP) 11. Peacock 12. Whitley/Martin/Bukauskas/Abreu/etc. That group is very good and plenty deep even if the TBD #3 is a Doug Fister type.
I think they should and will absolutely add a starter, I just don't think it should be Boyd. Here's a list of possible starters in the system that Steamer thinks will put up a better ERA than Boyd (list is skewed some since most of them are projected as relievers) Cionel Perez Josh James Framber Valdez Kent Emmanuel Forrest Whitley Rogelio Armenteros Ryan Hartman Corbin Martin Brandon Bielak JB Bukauskas Obviously projections aren't gospel, but the odds of a couple of those guys being better than Boyd are pretty good. If they could get Boyd for like Tony Kemp or something, I'd be interested in throwing him in the pen and having him throw his slider like 60% of the time, but I'm not interested in putting him in the middle of the rotation.
We only trade Reddick if we want Tucker to have his shot. No room for Tucker on the bench unless we demote Jake and cut Kemp. Trading Reddick also frees up 13 mil per year for 2019 and 2020. You need that cash to sign big players. If you intend on signing a player like Cruz and trading for a player like Greinke, we need to cap space to do so. I don’t think Tucker would get much playing time as a 4th OF behind Brantley, Reddick and Springer. He’d likely be in AAA until an injury occurs.
.....and only three (JV, Cole, McHugh) and a half (who knows about Peacock) proven ones. To have the depth we are used to, it looks like we need 3 more starters? Or maybe two given one of James/Valdez will do well enough to help? Personally, I think its premature to pencil in Whitley in any role until we see what he brings at the ML level.
We don’t really have room for 2 starters without demoting Valdez or James—which I think is counterproductive. The only way we add 2 pitchers is if the 2nd is a RP/SP flex, and Luhnow already said the replacement for Smith will come internally. The only way I see us getting a second pitcher is through a trade package like I have proposed for Greinke and Bradley. 1. Verlander 2. Cole 3. McHugh 4. X-Factor 5. James 6. Osuna 7. Pressly 8. Devenski 9. Harris 10. Valdez 11. Peacock 12. Rondon 13. Perez/Armenteros
