Only three problems with Soto. 1. He's not available. 2. What it would cost to get him. 3. What it would cost to keep him.
Another player I could see, but don't expect would be Paul Goldschmidt. The Cardinals have needs in the outfield and pitching. Sliding Yuli into the utility infield role and Goldschmidt to 1B would be an upgrade worth considering, even at the cost of two or three possible starers/prospects. Cardinals strengthen SP, RP and OF. 26M + Incentives salary under contract through 2024 so not a rental. Also grew up in The Woodlands.
Fantasy BO 1. Altuve R 2B 2. Tucker L RF 3. Goldschmidt R 1B 4. Alvarez L LF 5. Pena R SS 6. Brantley L DH 7. Meyers R CF 8. Bregman R 3B 9. Maldonado R C/Lee
If you are talking about prospect starters, i'd be in If you are talking about moving some of our current rotation guys for Goldschmidt there is no way I (or the Astros thankfully) would go there. Goldschmidt is great, his combination of on base and power would be awesome in the 2 hole here. But he is owed 22 million next year in his age 35 season and 22 more in 2024 in his age 36 season. Not a crazy salary, but it would be enough of a bump to cause us some salary issues and those would be complicated even more if we are using proven mlb low cost starters to get him I know watching our team score 5-6-7-8 runs or more is a lot more fun to most fans than winning a 2-1 game, but we are on pace to win 105 games right now because of our exceptional starting pitching. It kind of baffles me how many people are willing to give up those guys for a bat.
I was thinking of groups collectively. When Odorizzi and McCullers returning, and prospects ready to move up, we have ab excess of SP. Hunter Brown, Ivey, James, etc. This is an area of strength. I'd like to keep JV if he's willing and that's another extra pitching spot unavailable. RP has been a strength and a numbers game. OF could be similar. I was just matching up our strength and their weaknesses. The particulars would of course depend on multiple factors. But certainly not the Farm for ANY player. Say Urquidy, Siri and Martinez from MLB or Brown, Mushinski and Leon as prospects. I don't want to trade anybody, but we don't have room for all of them. Adding a plus position player has a value. We just have to see if there is a mutually beneficial trade. Like I say, I don't expect it, but it at least looks like a match for a trade. Both players and cost/control are factors of course.
Odorizzi is the only starter I would consider moving, but that would be dependent on other Astros pitchers being healthy, acquiring at least one pitcher at the deadline, and Brown being called up. Edit: And MLB actually to stop delaying 13 pitcher limit.
Cardinals do have somewhat of a logjam in the infield, but I really can’t imagine Goldy being moved. To solve their OF/SP problems, I think they move mid range prospects for rentals and then hope to fill those spots internally next year. They are firmly in the drivers seat for at least a Wild Card, and the division is in sight. When you are a contender you just don’t trade core contributors like him.
You're probably right. But I think it's more likely than many teams who do not have needs where we have excess talent.
There is zero guarantee, heck it’s not even extremely likely, that Lance comes back as a dominant or even solid starting pitcher this year. I just hope that long term he will be ok, but his last few years have been riddled with injuries, of which the current one has been a lot more serious than anyone ever let on Verlander has been great, but let’s also not forget he wasn’t great at the end of the season and especially playoffs last time we had him there, we rode him hard and he isn’t 27 years old. Now he is coming off of TJ. Dude is amazing, but the last thing I want is less pitching depth and Dusty feeling like he needs to ride JV even harder. It’s also pretty amazing what a few starts do…About 95% of posters wouldn’t have given a plug nickel for Odorizzi after last year, it was all about how much of a waste of money he was…now a few great starts and an injury later, we can move two of our current starters cause we have Lance and Jake. We have too much pitching, too much pitching…no such thing by the way
The Astros pinch hitting Gurriel for Maldy the other night made me think maybe they do go for another bat like Josh Bell or Nelson Cruz, and just pinch hit for Maldy a lot. That would depend on the bat they target being very affordable because there really isn’t a ton of value in what would likely end up being <200 regular season pa and a handful of playoff ab, although those ab would be important ones. Given how productive the CF combo has been, with how important Maldy is to the pitching staff, how unlikely it seems that they displace Gurriel, how deep and effective the pitching staff has been, and how relatively thin the farm is, it’s REALLY hard to pin down an obvious trade deadline move. My guess is they target a multi-year reliever they really like (similar to Maton or Montero) and otherwise stand pat.
Doing nothing isn't always a bad move. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. No move is better than a bad move.
Contreras is an interesting target, he doesn't necessarily need to fully displace Maldy. He has hit lefties extremely well his entire career, so he would make a great platoon with Brantley as a DH to upgrade production there, and split time at catcher to upgrade offense there. See how the pitchers respond to him to judge how often he should start in October. The trade market for reasonably priced upgrades at CF or 1B is pretty much just Josh Bell, so creatively upgrading around the edges might be a reasonable option. Nelson Cruz was brought up, but I really don't love the idea of 3 pure LF's on a roster that's already pretty thin for position players.
I'd love to pay JV $10M to convert his 2023 Player option into a contract extension with a 2024 Mutual Option.
If you’re talking about “multi year reliever” I think Chris Stratton is on their list. Look at his peripherals, they scream Astros all over. Under control this season and next. Doubt he’d cost us that much prospect-wise.
I agree with this. It’ll be interesting to see how Contreras’ market develops. Padres, Giants, and Mets seem to be the contending teams in need of catcher upgrades.
That would make his 2023 salary $35M. Given what Scherzer got, I think it would take more. I’d offer him $40M (less than Scherzer, but factor in no state income tax in Texas) and see what he says.
I was thinking increase the 2024 option to $35M with a $10M buyout of 2024. But you need feedback on whether he's looking for a reason to stay or leave. I think he'd rather stay as long as we treat him right. I'm personally hoping we avoid letting him go to somebody like the Rangers like we did with Nolan Ryan.
