Acrtually, the Astros as a team ranked 18/30 at catcher in 2022 per fangraphs. They ranked 17th in framing and had a negative rating (-2.9). They ranked 20th with a negative rating (-3) defensive runs saved. They ranked 12th in rSB (stolen base runs saved above ave) with a rating of 0. Even where we fans thing Maldanado is elite (rCERA - runs saved by affecting the pitchers’s ERA, IOW, effects on game calling) the Astros ranked 16/30 with a rating of 0. In regards to runs saved by controlling the strike zone, the Astros ranked 17th with a negative rating (-1). The Astros were a very average defense team at the catching position in 2022.
Vazquez didn't come anywhere close to hitting .280 for the Astros and sure, Lee could catch a no hitter in the WS if the pitcher or pitchers involved threw a no hitter in the WS when he happened to be catching. Vazquez's amazing .585 OPS with the Astros is certainly something I think Lee could replicate for a lot less money.
Agreed, we could even trade Contreras in a year or two if one of Lee or Diaz is ready to take over assuming the contract still holds some value.
I'm not sure why you turned this into catching as a whole. I'm going to rely more on the direct stats than the analytics. Sorry, i just think sometimes numbers get processed too much.
There was a random Kyle Tucker reference on the Jomboy Media Baseball Today podcast from yesterday. At the very end, when the two guys are talking about the winter meetings they mention seeing Kyle Tucker in San Diego. They were befuddled cuz he's not a FA but one of the guys said he thinks if Kyle Tucker were a FA today he'd be a $300m guy. High praise. More credence to the idea that Tucker is going to laughably turn down any extension offers.
Jesus christ, that Judge deal is gonna be bad on the back half, but the Yankees have the resources to eat deals like that.
Where we are 2022 R 2B ALTUVE, Jose 160 5.1 (604 PA) R SS PEÑA, Jeremy 101 4.8 (558PA) L DH(LF) ALVAREZ, Yordan 187 6.8 (561 PA) R 3B BREGMAN, Alex 133 4.5 (656 PA) L RF TUCKER, Kyle 128 5.2 (609 PA) [R 1B ABREU, Jose 133 4.2] (679 PA) R CF McCORMICK, Chas 110 1.4 (407 PA) R C MALDONADO, Martin 69 0.2 (379 PA) R Uti DUBÔN, Mauricio 60 0.0 (216 PA) R CF MEYERS, Jake 66 0.5 (160 PA) R IF HENSLEY, David 191 0.3 (34 PA) Options R 1B GURRIEL, Yuli 69 -0.3 (379 PA) L LF BRANTLEY, Michae 125 1.3 (277 PA) R C CONTRERAS, Willson 128 3.9 (487 PA) L CF NIMMO, Brandon 130 5.1 (673 PA)
Yankees are buying at the top on Judge. Huge risk in that deal for NINE YEARS. Could be crippling if he doesn't perform.
He hit .280 for the Red Sox when he got regular playing time. There's a reason he was the DH in game 6 and he came up with an rbi single. He's a pretty clutch guy. I want Contreras but Vazquez would be a nice consolation prize.
Yankees saying let's run it back so we can lose in the playoffs and delay our rebuild one more year...
