Who’s your 1B choice?

In order of preference:

1. Jose Abreu, max contract offer $36M/2yrs
2. Josh Bell, $52M/4yrs
3. Anthony Rizzo, $48M/3yrs
4. Other (Free Agents: Brandon Belt, Matt Carpenter, Trey Mancini; Trade: Yandy Diaz, Rowdy Tellez, Garrett Cooper)
5. Yuli Gurriel, $5M/1yr plus $8M vesting player option with 400 PA

Loved me some Pina over the years but the odds are too strong he’s done as a full time player. If I sign him it’s to be a bench bat and insurance against a younger guy struggling or getting hurt.

 

If we are looking for more than a 1 year solution, Rizzo or Bell would be best IMO.

 

Copying this on phone so not sure how it will come through...



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The Astros have identified Anthony Rizzo as their No. 1 free-agent target at first base, per
@Ken_Rosenthal




7:03 PM · Nov 14, 2022·Twitter Web App

 

2B Altuve
1B Rizzo (L)
SS Pena
LF Alvarez (L)
3B Bregman
RF Tucker (L)
CF McCormick
DH Brantley (L)
C Maldonado

 

What is your guys take on Abreu defensively? I've read that initially he was terrible but is now likely an average fielding 1st baseman.

 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/jose-abreu-547989?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

 

Yes I looked at that. They say that OAA is the best metric to look at for infielders.

Abreu 0
Rizzo -3
Yuli -9 (one of the worst in baseball)

So I'm not buying this metric as a good indicator for 1st.

 

He and Bell are both terribly average, Rizzo is a bit better.

If you're moving on from Yuli there's going to be a tradeoff bat vs glove, no way around it.

 

What I want actually depends on JV returning.

I voted Rizzo of the choices.

1) JV comes back and they trade Urquidy or Garcia for a young controllable 1B. Those deals should get a prospect or two back in addition to the 1B. Walker, Hoskins, Lowe, Seth Brown, I'm sure there are plenty more.

Arizona has Strom and a load of highly regarded CF prospects so there could be a match there.

2) JV comes back but Crane and the organization decides to keep all 7 starters so they sign a FA 1B.

Preference

A) Rizzo AND a RH DH batter who can hit between Tucker and him. ( Contreras would be ideal)

B) Abreu and Brantley for DH

C) Bell and Brantley for DH

All of these moves would necessitate Hensley and Dubon make the team as bench infield back ups.

 

rizzo has been equally average since he turned 30. None of them are good and no where near Yuli except for last season

 

Knowing that Brantley and Yuli want to stay, and both can be had for probably less than 16M combined for 2023, I wouldn’t care whether it is Rizzo, Bell or Abreu. We will have a bunch of lineup options to spread it around.

 

My first choice: Trade Urquidy and Maton (two Strom guys) for Christian Walker. Even though he's a righty, and I prefer a lefty, he won a Gold Glove and moves like a 2B. Defense wouldn't skip a beat. The extra lefty bat can come via signing Brantley or maybe Conforto.

Here, Tags says to watch for him as a trade candidate, though I assume this is just pure speculation as opposed to inside sources.
https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-offseason-questions-2022-23

 

Somewhat random reference: Does anyone remember the Parkland mass shooting a few years ago?

Rizzo was born in Parkland... and attended the same high school it took place

Just discovered right now through Google

Not trying to start any mess, just saying how small the world can be

 

I think the Rizzo interest was leaked to up the ante on the Yankees and also means we definitely aren’t signing him. I still think we wait to see what happens with Verlander first to determine if we go big for bats (Ie 1B, C, DH) or if we add a bat via trade of one of our pitchers vs free agency spend.

 

What the ****?

 

Exactly what I said, thanks for clarifying that.

 

I went Abreu because I think he costs the least because of his age and we only need him as a stop gap.

 

Asking if anyone remembers the Parkland shooting is akin to asking if anyone remembers the moon landing.

 

Hello again, madam/sir