Here’s one that might be a little crazy but how about JJ to the Reds for Joey Votto and $20 million. He’s owed about 8 million between now and the end of the year and then 25 million next year. So- we have plenty of room this year- we could pay the 8 million this year and take the contract. That makes next years deal a 1 year 5 million dollar deal. Votto was great last year. This year he’s still got a 110 OPs+ against right handers. He might have one more run in him if he’s perked up by a playoff run, he’s on the record as having our back in the trash can thing, he’s a great human being who would fit well in the locker room, and the geriatric platoon with he and Yuli should have a positive OPS plus for the rest of the year and into the playoffs. And maybe next year is the dead cat bounce. If not there is probably worse stuff that could happen than Votto being an occasional starter and PH for 1 year 5 million. That’s probably getting too cute and Cincy might have enough invested in him that they would just as soon hold on to him as pay 20 million to ship him out, but… I think it would be fun. Like an offensive version of trading for Greinke.
What do you mean? Didn't you see that Dixon Machado trade earlier today? The deadline is hotter than the Texas weather right now.
I remember back in the day listening to Arnie Spanier when he announced that the Astro's had traded for Randy Johnson...best time to trade Odo is now, he had a great game, Lance is coming back and Hunter is ready...
I would not mind a trade for the ultimate professional hitter Joey Votto. And he deserves to be on a winner.
I don't think Happ is overrated. All-star switch hitting CF with another year left. I kind of modeled the package off of what KC got for Benintendi, but it had to be more because Happ has the extra year and far more doubles and homers. Besides, despite all 3 being Top 10 in our farm on MLB.com, I do not think at all highly of any of the 3 but I can also easily see another team taking that package.
There are a number of stats that can be used to determine the offensive output of a team. One of the better ones is wRC+. Avg, Runs, OBP, and even HRs are not very good. In case you were wondering, the Astros are tied for 3rd best offensive team according to wRC+. Like any team, they may have areas that can be improved, but they are absolutely not below a average hitting team
The difference is 0.5 games in the AL and 1.5 games in the NL. That should not have that great an impact in the probability of making the playoffs.
That would not improve the Astros. It would be a wash at best on the field and an unnecessary blow to the clubhouse because Gurriel is beloved there.
I'm coming around to the idea of keeping our pitchers for a World Series run. You can move Odorizzi to the bullpen once Mccullers comes back. Or vice versa depending on Mccullers comeback. The only problem is some of our pitching will probably be moved if we're gonna get a hitter back. I'm not an analytics guy so I'll trust the Astros on making the right moves. If you can get Bell then I guess I'd be okay shipping out Odorizzi/Garcia/Urquidy. I just hope pitching doesn't come back to bite us in the postseason. Anyone have a crystal ball?
For months I have heard Gurriel is turning it around. Over the last month he has an OPS barely over 700 and his OPS the last 14 days it is only like 740. He has been "good", but not great for exactly a week. Can he suddenly get red hot? Yeah, he has done it before but counting on it is foolish. There is a reason the Astros have had discussions with so many teams about addressing first base. As far as centerfield is concerned, the Astros have been very active as well. This has especially been true the last few weeks, which leads me to believe they don't believe Meyers is the solution this year at least. They have been heavily connected to Taylor, Happ and a few others that seem less realistic. Leaureano is someone that the Astros have discussed, but there is some disagreement over valuation. The Astros have had conversations with the Cubs at least 3 times about Contreras over the last year plus. However the biggest conversations have been over Murphy with the A's, The Astros are not likely to address 1st AND catcher, because of prospect cost. I am hearing they want to address one of those positions if possible. They are willing to trade high value players like Garcia or Urquidy but only for players under longer term control like Murphy. As for rentals they are waiting to see if prospect costs go down.
Good intel. While I agree with your premise on Yuli - I’d count on him in the playoffs way before I’m counting on what we have in center. I wish someone would just give yuli another stab in the butt so he can get that swing speed up. If they would fall over and get altuve at the same time I wouldn’t mind either.
IM still on The Happ and Robertson train and Bell I believe that would be the key add ad then use Odorizzi to get Burleson
