That was Paul Blackburn. Bassit pitched for the Mets last year. He was a very good starter for the A's previously. He's the dude who had to miss time in 20-21 after getting smashed in the face with a smoked liner.
It does feel like Verlander is gone, but at the same time if he comes back with a chance to match that Crane doesn't say F it and get a deal done. Jim Crane understands value beyond just the numbers.
That's true, he was good during the season but he had nothing left by the playoffs when the team needed him most and he's 40... he not going to get more durable. Look at MLB history, how many pitchers keep going after 40? Roger Clemens with some pharmaceutical assistance managed to have 2 quality seasons after 40, Randy Johnson's last quality season was at 40, Nolan Ryan was a freak laboratory experiment. That's pretty much the list in modern times. Given the arms the Astros already have, you don't give a 40 year old pitcher 40 million dollars a season, you pick up a few bats and roll with who you have.
The Dodgers are similar to the Astros in that they had/have money to spend, and have rosters that should cake walk to the postseason with a good chance of a bye once the money is spent. I would not consider what the Dodgers and Astros do to affect market value much as the market is mostly concerned with making the playoffs/winning division. The Yankees are stupid if they were seriously bidding against the Astros for Montero. They have a very good team, but they really need one of Judge, Rodon, or Verlander to avoid being the favorite for 3rd place in the AL East. They have a lot of okay players which will make it difficult for them to spend their way to 1st without getting one of those 3 guys.
Don’t get me wrong…I like him as a catcher. Less excited as a DH/LF at $20-$25 million per. Bottom line, we’re 6 deep right now (7 if you count McCormick). 1 more bat at DH/OF/C gets you to 7/8. Leon/Diaz/Lee waiting in the wings. I like the idea of an OF because presumably you’re adding speed and there’s more ways to get them in the lineup.
We have a ton of potential in the OF. Meyers, Chas, Leon all fighting for 1 and 1/2 positions. We have Melton, Barber and Gilbert in the next 2-3 years. We have a real need at C. Contreras would open a ton of options for us. He is well worth 4 years.
The Astros have had some discussions with the Orioles about Anthony Santander and the Cardinals about Tyler O'Neil. Other names the Astros have asked about include Shane Beiber, Ian Happ and Seth Brown.
The same could be said of catcher. You have Lee, Diaz, Berryhill and Correa all fighting for 1 spot, and all will likely need a shot within a year or 2. Let’s say one of those guys emerges as high quality starting catcher. Now you’ve got $20+ million tied up in a backup catcher/DH with Contreras. Just think it’s easier to justify a high quality outfielder that can play any of the 3 positions + DH.
Catcher is a much more critical position. As I've stated a couple times, the experience of the guys behind Maldanado is extremely minimal. As for the OF, you can roll out Alvarez, Chas and Tucker all season and still have Meyers fighting for a spot (with experience).
I highly doubt that they were viewing Montero as a high prices addition (Yankees), I suspect (but don't know) that they wanted to lengthen their pen and also hurt the Astros at the same time. He isn't Judge or Correa or Verlander, but he can make a difference when combined with adding a substantial player. As for Judge, it feels like the Yankees almost have no choice but to bring him back at any cost. He is a very good player, a likely Hall of Famer but he may not look so great in a few seasons and the Yankees are paying him coming off of an obvious career year. They won't do it, but I would be curious to see what their final outcome would be if they let Judge walk, signed Rodon and Verlander and a secondary bat.
Then go get a replacement level player on a 2 year deal. Someone like Vazquez. Then if someone emerges, you let Madly walk after next season and have Vazquez as your backup on a 1 year $10 million deal, as opposed to 3 years $60 million left for Contreras.
None of those seem like cheap trade options. The outfielders are interesting as there's a number of viable free agent targets that don't seem overly expensive and wouldn't require dipping into our thin farm system. I'd imagine Bieber's market would be robust -- 2 years of control left. Though I guess that's how we landed Gerritt Cole too?
@Nook I wanted to see if you can clarify something. Are you saying signing JV with the Astros and he gets hurt, the Astros wouldn't be a top team? Just wanted to understand that piece. If JV is gone, I would hate to see Houston go full in on the offense and not have another pitcher in the mix. I think too many are betting McCullers being healthy for a full year. Not only him, but the added pressure being put on Hunter Brown.
Very interesting point. I do think the trend among the best teams is to build a BP geared toward upside more than consistency. If you have 6 guys who all have elite upside, odds are by the time the playoffs come around you will have 2-3 who are “hot” or who have found a groove, and you can ride those guys thru the playoffs and it won’t matter that the other 3-4 guys busted.
If Houston paid for Beiber similar to what they paid for Cole, that might be something like Hunter Brown, Colin Barber, Joe Perez, and Enoli Paredes.
Berryhill and Correa are fringe prospects at best. Diaz may be a positional move candidate and Lee didn't show anything that Max Stassi or Garrett Stubbs did before him -- which is not much. Betting on one of them to be a "high quality" starting catcher is a bet. Do you really bank on one of those guys as being more competent at catcher than Chas McCormick is at CF? Meanwhile, the Astros top 6 prospects are Hunter Brown, Yanier Diaz, and 4 guys who project to the outfield. I'd bet on one of those 4 being able to fit on between Yordan and Tucker (not to mention some hopes for Myers or McCormick to hit consistently) than one of our catchers being WS champion starting caliber.
