I have always thought the Lefty Reliever was not necessary. It is a tried and true method for lazy managers. If a righty is more successful getting lefties out, then he is better than the lefty, plain and simple. And the Astros have more than one lefty specialist in their righty pool. But an inexpensive controllable bat makes much more sense to me. And if we can get a 2B candidate who can also field by moving Altuve to primary DH, then the improvement may come on both hitting and defense. (Altuve without the negative dWAR is an even better hitter.) The 2B would not have to be Altuve good, just better than the non-Alvarez DH. In an alternative, bringing back A Diaz or Yuli in the utility role could make for an interesting battle at 2B between Diaz/Gurriel/Hensley with a move by Altuve. Some have suggested Hensley as DH, but he might fit better as a 2B with his shortstop resume. Someone more familiar with the minors would know better, but simple logic would indicate there might be some good SS players who could switch to 2B because of all the FA SS blocking prospects at the position.
You can NEVER have too much pitching. If they can find deals that they feel are solid buys why not? Hunter isn't ready for 28 starts, Framber just pitched way more than ever before. LMC is fragile every year. Javier could have arm trouble after the uptick he has had in us have. Might lose JV and he just nailed down a ton of innings. Jake was and average starter, made average salary on a historic staff. They thought they might improve Jake but they didn't. No harm done. But if they could have improved him he would have probably stayed here or would have brought a better peace back than Will Smith (who was average here and Click cut a 2023 salary)
How many times must the Astros prove that they do not give a half a damn about catcher's offense? It would never hold back a good catcher on this team.
I think Odorizzi's primary problem was his frustration with not performing up to his expectations with more limited opportunities than he expected. It boiled out to being angry when he was removed from games he expected to work out of.
I've been pushing for Brendan Donovan from the Cards. They need starting pitching and have a slew of infielders. Goldschmidt and Arenado are obviously set in stone at the corners. Tommy Edman took over at short last year and looks to have won the job. They also have Paul DeJong who is a terrible hitter but good enough defensively to put up a positive bWAR despite a 53 OPS+ ( Maldy was 69) BUT is in the last year of a big contract and all but untradeable. Donovan played all over but settled mostly at 2B and projects to start there, but 22 year old Nolan Gorman actually played more 2B than he did and posted a 106 OPS+ with big pop (13 doubles, 14 hr in 283 ABs as a 22 yr old) but with big K issues. To top that off their top prospect is a 3B who has had to move because he is blocked by Arenado and should be ready this year. And their 2nd prospect is a true SS who is a year away. I think they could afford to move Donovan for rotation help.
Unfortunately, he is identified as a corner outfielder and probably for a reason. The was an article (Crawfish?) discussing the sparse numbers of star Centerfielders including the likelihood of Springer moving to a corner. It is possible that the best athletes are now directed toward SS rather than OF since the Arod era. He kind of broke the mold of the SS as a defense only position.This generation has seen most athletes directed to the infield.
I wouldn't be opposed. I like the 6 man rotation, and I like the idea of Urquidy as a swing man. If we don't bring back Verlander, I could see bringing in a starter even if it is unnecessary right now.
LOL wut? Just when I think I can't be surprised by anything I read in here. Some real wish fulfillment going on here.
They don't care about *Maldy's* offense. They believe he has a particular set of skills that far outweighs his offense. I don't think that can be generalized to other catchers. Lee isn't the pitcher whisperer/pseudo-coach that Maldy is. He may get there some day but absolutely offense is a consideration for him at this point in his career. Even in recent history, the Astros have made trades to get better hitting catchers. E.g. McCann and Cristian Vasquez.
Maybe urquidy has come up (again) in trade talks and they are hedging their bets in the event they trade him -- in that case, it would make sense to bring in a Kluber to fill the 6 man/journeyman role.
When thinking about who is going to replace Verlander's production, let's not forget the bullpen. The Astros pen threw nearly 100 innings less than the average team last year. With the tremendous depth of the pen after the emergence of Abreu and Montero, the Astros could probably lean on them a little more this year. I think they could potentially make Yuli as a utility player work, so long as they keep Dubon to play short. If Bregman could shift to second when they want to give Altuve a break, that would make me feel a little better.
Also, I'm not terribly shocked the Astros are interested in Kluber. They've added Verlander and Greinke as aging veteran pitchers that they were able to keep relatively healthy and productive. Shoot, one of the first notable free agent in the Crane Era was Scott Feldman to bring a veteran presence to the rotation. As much as the Astros like veteran catchers, they seem to like to bring in veteran pitchers too.
My math says Gurriel 18% (~29 games) Brantley 30% (~49 games) I am unsure if either would sign with the Astros if this was the promised PT ... and what would certainly have to be a significant pay cut. For such limited piece of the PT pie, the Astros might be better served letting their younger prospect fill this role. Now if Contreras does not sign with the Astros, a Brantley deal starts to make sense for both parties.
Dusty does not use inning eaters in the pen much. If the Astros use a 6-man rotation, I'm hoping the Astros don't lean too much more on the pen unless Dusty learns how to use a long man in the pen. I want the Astros to limit the stress on the backend of the pen in the regular season so we can have 3-5 guys lights out in the postseason.
I expect both aren't going to get starter offers. If the Astros get Contreras, I think Brantley would be a great sign. Even with playing more not at catcher, I think Contreras would still be limited to about 70-75% of the games. I think Branltey would get in about 60% of the starts with the McCormick/Meyers/Leon playing less at other positions than was suggested. There are going to be injuries. If Branltey isn't the one that gets hurt, he's likely to play even more than 60% of the time.
