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Possible Centerfield Solutions

Discussion in 'Houston Astros' started by Landry's Tooth, Jan 21, 2021.

  1. MrBear1

    MrBear1 Contributing Member

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    I know his wife's brother pretty well, plus its been reported how upset he was about his service manipulation. I guess I thought this info was more widely known.
     
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  2. King1

    King1 Contributing Member

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    I knew he was upset about the service manipulation but figured he was well over that. Always seemed like he loved it here.
     
  3. Landry's Tooth

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    I'm not worried about correa money with verlander and Greinke taking 50 million off the payroll and framber, urquidy, and others so cheap...
     
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  4. Hemingway

    Hemingway Member

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    Agree completely. CF needs to be patient with Click. Signing Brantley keeps us a WS contender this year. Extending Correa will keep us that way for many more years. We don’t need to spend money in a panic or bring in half measures just to satisfy the what have you done for me lately crowd. Luhow wanted to make us relevant for a decade. I think Click will try and do the same.
     
  5. raining threes

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    It's been two years,

    Who is the what have you done for me lately crowd?

    What gives you all of this confidence in Click? Right now he's looking more like Poops (A farm director) than a Luhnow. Click is to Luhnow what Poops was to Hunsicker.
     
  6. Mr.Pringles

    Mr.Pringles Member

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    It’s been one year since the scandal. His draft without a first and second rd pick was rated an A.

    In his first offseason working with limited payroll flexibilty he’s given the Astros one of the best international signing periods throughout the league and landed a 22 year old future star in CF.

    He’s re-signed the bat we couldn’t afford to lose beyond Springer, strengthened a middle of the pack bullpen, and found a suitable defensive reserve catcher too help bridge the gap until Korey Lee is ready.

    ALSO this offseason is far from over. There’s still the top three CF’s on the FA market behind Springer (who the Astros have all been linked too)

    Astros, Rockies and Giants seem to be the top three with a desire for a CF still left. It’ll likely be a 1yr bargain deal on Bradley Jr., Pillar or Marisnick. They aren’t blocking the window of a 22 year old, five-tool CF.

    There’s still two of the top four closers on the FA market (who the Astros have all been linked too). The only team with a clear need for a closer is the Mets but who knows how much would be left for them if they make Bauer the top free agent signing and make Lindor a $300 million dollar man.

    Plenty of quality starters left on bargain deals after Bauer signs with the Mets or Blue Jays if you wanna ignore the bullpen and use the last roster spot on a starter in the pen.
     
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  7. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    Good take.

    Comparing Click and Luhnow is tough because Luhnow came into the job with nothing but upside; he had a license to tank and virtually no expectations from anyone that the team would be good in his first 2-3 seasons. He had a pretty clean financial slate too. Click came into a contending team with a nearly-maxed out payroll and a below average farm system. Anything short of winning the World Series is a disappointment.

    The average fan just wants the best team at all costs. An offseason of resigning Springer and adding Realmuto, Ozuna, Bauer, and Treinen for a combined $700M would’ve been met with nothing but praise.

    Click can’t really be given blame for not signing Springer (or any other major free agent), because the money was mostly spent before he got here. He also can’t really be given credit for adding Leon because that deal was pretty much done before he came on board. The moves under his watch have been relatively minor: a smattering of 3rd and 4th tier bullpen moves (Baez, Stanek, Raley), a backup C (Castro), a couple of upside minor league deals (Siri, Hinojosa, Souza), losing a few upside young pitchers for pretty much nothing (Armenteros, Sanabria, Castellanos, Perez, Bailey). His one significant move was signing a 2nd tier veteran free agent to a 2 year deal (Brantley).

    There’s still time for significant moves but looking at the finances I don’t think it’s all that likely, so this offseason (Clicks first as full time GM) could be done. This team was a contender and there wasn’t a whole lot Click could do to sway it one way or another. Next offseason looms large for him, as he should have significant money to spend but will also have some major holes in the roster (SS, SP, maybe CF).
     
  8. raining threes

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    I thought he was the GM before last season started and is the GM this offseason

    Glad to see you're happy with this offseason.

    Remember the Stros finished below .500 last year and that was with Springer. You can say it was a short season but when was this group ever under .500 with as many games as they played last year and the team is obviously weaker this year.
     
  9. sealclubber1016

    Supporting Member

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    No they aren't.

    We replaced Springer with Yordan, and Reddick with Straw. Those are the only meaningful changes. The team is counting on the likes of Altuve, Correa, Bregman and Yuli returning to form.

    If a few of them don't then its time to rebuild, if they mostly do we'll right in the mix for a chip.
     
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  10. Ariza4MVP

    Ariza4MVP Member

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    At a certain point will the remaining free agents just decide to take a one year deal and come back out onto the market next year? It just does not look like anyone wants to spend.
     
  11. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    There aren't a ton of guys left who should expect major league deals, especially on the position player side:

    C: Tyler Flowers, Yadier Molina
    1B: CJ Cron, Marwin Gonzalez
    2B: Kolton Wong, Jonathan Schoop
    SS: Jonathan Villar, Asdrubal Cabrera
    3B: Justin Turner, Travis Shaw
    LF: Marcell Ozuna, Adam Duvall
    CF: Jackie Bradley, Kevin Pillar
    RF: Brett Gardner, Yasiel Puig
    DH: Nelson Cruz, Maikel Franco

    I suspect almost all of those guys will sign in the next 2 weeks. All but Ozuna and Turner probably entered the season expecting 1-2 year deals anyway, so none of them has much room to lower their price.

    I do think there will be a lot of bargains on the pitching side. There are still 15+ SP who belong in an MLB rotation and some of them will have to settle for dirt cheap contracts. I hope Click snatches one up.
     
    #71 Snake Diggit, Feb 1, 2021
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2021
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  12. juicystream

    juicystream Contributing Member

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    I think $150M would have made him feel better about it.
     
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  13. Landry's Tooth

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    Except they were missing Yordan... take the best hitter out of most lineups and they struggle...

    A lot of good teams have a rough 6 weeks. They had a lot of players playing through injuries because of the short season...

    I'm not concerned at all... it will be us and the White Sox... maybe Yankees depending how their rotation holds up after Cole...
     
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  14. raining threes

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    Yordan is their best hitter?

    Agreed, but Click has done nothing to make the team better than it was last year.

    Unless you consider Baez/ Castro championship level upgrades.
     
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  15. MrBear1

    MrBear1 Contributing Member

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    Yordan is the only regular we have who has ever put up over 1000 OPS.. So yes, i'd say hes our highest ceiling hitter.
     
  16. Mr.Pringles

    Mr.Pringles Member

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    Compared to the playoff roster. Baez & Stanek are upgrades of Devenski and Biagini. Getting an elite late inning arm back like Joe Smith is huge and was not there in depth in the ALCS. Pruitt is an upgrade of Peacock. With the emergence of Paredes, Taylor, Raley in the later innings and Javier in the rotation. There’s only one open spot and you have plenty of FA options or dependable internal oprions to choose from (Abreu 1.50 era in 12 innings, Garcia 2.92 era in 12.1 innings or Scrubb 1.90 era in 23.2 innings)

    Castro is an upgrade to the defense at a defensive position.

    Astros get back their best power hitter.

    Losing nothing defensively in CF at a defensive position. And keeping the window open for a future star CF under team control for 7 years in Leon. Too make the team.

    If they sign any FA CF beyond a year it’s unfathomably stupid.
     
  17. bobrek

    bobrek Politics belong in the D & D

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    Not to mention that they should be getting much greater offensive production at SS, 2B AND 1B
     
  18. Nook

    Nook Member

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    I personally think the 2021 team on paper will be better than the 2020 Astros because Altuve, Bregman and Gurriel all should hit better. As for Tucker, I have no idea if he improves but the potential is there. Missing Springer hurts a lot, lets hope Alvarez gets back to where he started.

    We do not know how the starting pitching will do...... Greinke looked old last year, and the younger guys played well but now they have to do it again to show it is something we can count on.

    I personally am not inspired by the Astros decision to pay Baez up to 6.5 million and Castro 3.5 million. That doesn't even get into the decision Click made to pay Raley 2.0 million. They also kept Diaz who makes 3.0 million.

    None of these are "horrible" or are going to cripple the team long term...... I just find them to mediocre signings.

    I would rather have let Raley walk, signed Avila or another back up catcher for 2 million less and have signed Brad Hand to close or one of the other similar level relievers.
     
  19. Mr.Pringles

    Mr.Pringles Member

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    Raley and Diaz’s value to what they bring is worth way more than 5 million. Fine with Castro at 3.5. Baez is a solid middle/late inning option but maybe 4 mil gets him signed.
     
  20. Nook

    Nook Member

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    Like I said, none of these moves are outrageous.

    Personally I would rather spend the money on a better reliever and go with a lesser back up catcher and let Raley walk.

    I do know that the Astros think they straightened Raley out so we will see.
     

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