Marwin Gonzalez is the poster child for having an amazing season in 2017 and then a precipitous drop off. But Jake Marisnick unfortunately also suffers from having that year be a career outlier. He's a sub-.700 OPS type guy like Straw. The Stros could use a significant upgrade, but I don't think Jake represented that.
I would say the logic is that getting Brantley was more important than getting another LF and replacing Straw (i.e., CF options either were only marginable improvements or too costly). Straw is probably going to be a crappy starter and the bottom of the order will likely be ugly. Though if Brantley hits, it will likely be the right move unless Straw plays like last year for the full season (though he probably gets yanked if it lasts over 2 more months). I think JBJ ends up in the too costly with Springer relative to acquiring Brantley.
Wonder if there will be any sort of A.J. Hinch tribute video for when the Tigers come to town the first month of the season? I'm interested to see how they handle that. He'll undoubtedly receive a very warm welcome from the fans.
All I know is that he likes to mark his wife every opportunity he gets... I have seen the pictures.... that and he butt is extremely disappointing.
Walker, Odorizzi, Rosenthal. All would be a nice final addition to the staff. Gonna be a bargain deal when it happens.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/should-good-hitters-lead-off-fangraphs-investigates/ After reading that article and looking at Houston’s projections, this is how I would construct Houstons everyday lineup: LF Brantley 3B Bregman DH Alvarez SS Correa 2B Altuve RF Tucker 1B Gurriel C Maldonado/Castro CF Straw I would have Gurriel on a fairly short leash if he wasn’t beating his projections after 200 pa, as Toro and Diaz both project to be just about as good offensively. Souza would be used only on days the other OF were hurt or needed a rest, and even then I’d try to get Toro the backup pa in LF and maybe even RF; ideally Souza would get less than 200 pa.
Marwin González also had about 160 AB’s in 2017 that were part of the sign stealing scheme. Far and away the most on the team.
An alternative to how lineups are often constructed. The Book suggests Best three hitters bat 1,2,4. 1 is for OBP and 4 is for power. 4th and 5th best bat 3 and 5. 3 is for power (A lot of 2 outs no base runner situations favor power), 5 is for the other (power here is good, but not as needed as at 3). 6-9 best hitters bat 6-9. Using FanGraphs Depth Charts for projections of hitters... Bregman Correa Tucker Alvarez Altuve Brantley Gurriel MM/Castro Straw As Astros lineup isn't typical, and I'm not as sold on Correa being a Top 3 bat all year...I'd do the following. Brantley Bregman Altuve Alvarez Correa Tucker Gurriel MM/Castro Straw I like Brantley OBP before Bregman as well as splitting him and Alvarez as far apart as possible to make it difficult to use LHPs as relievers.
Id go Altuve Brantley Bregman Alvarez Correa Tucker Gurriel Maldonado Straw or any FA’s left or McCormick
People have already been talking about it but I think depth is going to be a major major factor this season, pitching especially but also on the position player side. I think the average team will have 4 catchers catch 10+ games an have at least 15 players get 100 pa. On the pitching side I think the average team will probably have 15 different pitchers start a game and have at least 20 pitchers throw 10+ innings. Coming off a list season it’s just too much to expect guys to stay healthy and productive over 162. I think Houston is sitting better than average in this regard. They’re weak in CF but otherwise their position player roster is deep. Toro is a pretty high ceiling/floor 13th man. Jones, McCormick, and Stubbs are not big time prospects but are pretty good options for those extra pa when needed. It may be half a season but I think Pena will be a solid option in the middle infield later this year. Their pitching depth is also really good: 1. Greinke 2. Valdez 3. McCullers 4. Urquidy 5. Javier 6. Garcia 7. Pruitt 8. James 9. Bielak 10. Whitley 11. Abreu 12. Martes 13. Ivey 14. Solis 15. Solomon 16. Dubin 17. Conine I still hope they add a veteran SP but otherwise their depth should be an asset this season.
