JV isn’t going to do 2/84 so why bother bringing it up? It’s not going to be an option on the table. Tucker is gone. Wrap your mind around that/hope the 2 OFers they picked high can see one of them hit to replace 90% of Tucker like Peña replaced 90% of Correa more or less. if you want to keep Framber (I’m not sure you should as he’s older and profiles to have issues as he ages) or Javier now is the time to extend them for 5 years. Altuve you should probably wait until next offseason to check in on and he’s likely to take a pay cut is he wants to stay on a long term deal (he’s prioritized stability every step of the way) or you could put him on 1 year deals if he wants to make as much as possible. Bregman I have zero idea what that looks like. I’d probably lean toward letting him go as I don’t want to be the guy to pay him 30M+ in his 30’s. But I’d he wants to stay and is motivated to get a reasonable deal done ahead of time I’d certainly be open to that.
BA & OPS are rate stats. They shouldn't change unless of fatigue factors. Usually, the more numbers the better.
Contreras 162 game average: (30 years old) .256 BA .349 OBP .808 OPS 78 R 31 2B+3B 26 HR 57 XBH 81 RBI 62 BB 151 K Andrew Benintendi 162 game average: (28 years old) .273 BA .351 OBP .789 OPS 86 R 55 2B+3B 16 HR 71 XBH 84 RBI 67 BB 125 K One has hardly played left field in his career, the other is a stellar defensive left fielder. One bats right handed and the other a most needed left handed bat. One is reportedly commanding $80+ million on a 4 year deal. The other potentially half of that (3 yr $42 million). Even stating the "versatility" factor of Contreras does not tip the scales anywhere near his way in this deal. Plus he is an average or possibly even mediocre catcher, a very possible liability in left field and who knows what at first base. Unless he's catching 125+ games, hard hard pass.
There isn't much when you want to spend 20 seconds on it. Not crazy about projection numbers. Sometimes players peak at different times.
Now compare him Now compare him with Jake Meyers and Maldanado. I would have no issue with Benentendi being signed here, but there are a lot of variables with free agents. Right now it’s any free agent compared to the guys we have on our roster. Maldonado offers versatility at C that Benintendi does not.
And Benintendi does not cost a second round pick. I don't think he takes 3/42 ($14M AAV), but I think he can be signed for 3/51 ($17M AAV). Another 4 or 5 year commitment of around $20M per annum for someone on the wrong side of 30 will hurt the payroll towards the end and make it harder to extend the window.
My number one, two and three biggest variables with free agents: 1) Do they want to play for the Astros? 2) Will they accept a reasonable offer? 3) Are are they flexible enough to prioritize the team over their own personal interests? After that I consider factors like age, position, length of contract, penalties, etc. In short, if they are a good player and we are able to sign them, the answer is yes.
For backup C, I'd look for a bridge (like Barnhart, Chirinos, Alfaro, Hedges) and see if Lee or Diaz can take the next step. If not, swing a trade at the deadline.
Going from a 69 OPS+ to an OPS+ of around 130 for even is actually still a large improvement and I suspect he would end up starting 50-55 games at catcher and pinch hit as well for Maldonado. His bat is above average for LF as well, but I don’t think he will play there very often except for switches. Most of his at bats would be as a DH and C. I don’t really care which direction the Astros go (Catcher or LF), but I am noticing some not realizing how drastic the difference between Contreras and Maldy is in the line up (approximately 60-70 OPS+) and an upgrade with a standard left fielder is going to be far less, likely 20-30 points maybe).
I’m surprised Jason Bristol could find time to tweet with James Click’s **** in his mouth all the time.
