Until Brantley gets back acquiring Bell doesn't bench Yuli right away. Stick Yordan in LF, Bell at DH, and Yuli at 1st. When Yuli needs a rest put Bell at 1st and Yordan at DH.
I’m more concerned with, not the defense, but the picking throws.. yuli is not thanked enough for the job he does on the base. He’s basically trained our entire infield just throw it on a line and it doesn’t matter if it gets all the way to him. But then when JJ played for him at first, the infield still threw bouncers and he couldn’t handle them like yuli. Am I overstating this? Is Bell good there at all? Correa did it all the time. Peña tries to do it but he ends up making errors instead. Just don’t want a bunch of passed balls at 1st because our infield keeps throwing as hard as the can low.
It happens. Miguel Cabrera went from a near-MVP in 2016 at age 33 to replacement level in 2017 and never recovered. That’s one thing that will have my eye over the next couple seasons: there’s absolutely no guarantee Altuve won’t fall off a cliff at any time.
Two deals I want to see. Astros extend JV and Astros sign Tucker to 6 or 7 years. These would be better than any trades.
I can see this. I don't think it's in Click's personality to make JV, Greinke type trades. Therefore he's not giving his team its best opportunity to win.
Warning: I'm sure we all already know this, but it's that time of the year again where fake accounts that type made up "rumors" are popping up. I trust what McTaggart says over those unverified accounts with <100 followers that were created this month and then disappear after the deadline. I'm sure the team is doing their due diligence, but most likely, they have not submitted any formal offers yet.
I'm good with this as long as he also trades for a vet backup catcher and there needs to be a .250-.260 type inf-of add in trades.
If you could do this, would you? To Nationals: Jeremy Pena Luis Garcia Pedro Leon Enmanuel Valdez To Cardinals: Jake Odorrizi Forrest Whitley Chayce Mcdermott To Red Sox: Michael Brantley Hunter Brown To Astros: Juan Soto Xander Boagerts Zack Thompson Jordan Walker Soto replaces Brantley. Boagerts replaces Pena. Thompson as lefty in the pen. Walker is a really good 3B prospect blocked by Arenado. He has no experience at SS but we slide Bregman to SS in offseason and plug in Walker. Obviously not how Astros roll... just curious if you do it... i think i do but not sure if other teams would... Gives us rotation still of Verlander, McCullers, Valdez, Javier, Urquidy.... Swing starters become Bielak, Ivey, and Solomon...
Luhnow and Click, at Cranes instruction I believe, won't be quickly dissuaded from hurdles. Greinke did not have the Astros on his 15 team no trade clause. JV had to waive his no trade clause. Yet I was informed you couldn't even consider taking on Strasburgs contract in a package for SOTO because he has a no trade clause. That's a hurdle, not a roadblock. Take on Corbin's contract as well and suddenly Soto and Bell are in play without any impact prospects. Strictly a money deal for marquis players. OUTSIDE THE BOX folks.
McTaggert is usually the last. He is employed by the Astros so he can not report anything till the Astros have finalized it.
Abreu would be an excellent fit from a chemistry standpoint and Gurriel may not complain because he has been close to Abreu for decades. Abreu’s raw stats this year are not amazing, the power is down but his advanced stats are really stout. He would be an excellent add. Defensively you can live with Abreu, he has gotten better at making the plays he is supposed to make over the last handful of years. The problem is that I don’t think the White Sox will be sellers and they as an organization are close to him. Interestingly enough Abreu was going to be an Astro if not for the White Sox, who narrowly out bid them in a blind auction.
So I have asked about this because I have been frustrated by a lack of moves at times by Click. What I was told is that Click is not at all afraid to make a deal for a too player or afraid to move prospects. However the Astros have fairly tight financial issues and that rules out a lot of trades. For that reason a deal for someone like Soto is very unlikely. However I have also been told that the Astros are very serious about Castillo and have been for a few years. The Astros will make strong offers to get him and likely to try and extend him. Does that mean no Verlander in 2023? No idea.
