There's no "vitriol" or "anger" directed at you nor "veiled insults". Just pointing out that pretty much every trade you propose includes Brown. You obviously have no problem getting rid of Brown and thus we'll just agree to disagree. I didn't reply directly to you because I thought you had me blocked because I've asked you a few questions and you never replied back so no biggie. It looks like I value pitching more then you do and that's fine. As I said we just won a WS with a catcher who's good defensively but is HORRIBLE offensively. We were able to do that because of our dominant pitching. Joe Musgrove?? In the short time that Musgrove was with the Astros he never looked as good as Brown and it wasn't until his 3rd yr with PIT that he started to turn things around.
I have an old Subaru in my driveway. It is ugly but it runs dependably. I paid $2400 for it about seven years ago. About 4 years ago my knees got so bad that it became very painful for me to get in or out of it. I have three other cars that are all much nicer and I literally have driven it twice since then. When the roads iced up for about ten days I had to take a neighbor to the hospital (it being my only 4 wheel drive vehicle) it was literally a life saver. I also used it that week to round up some propane for emergency heat. My wife insists she wants me to keep it in case another ice age comes around but the truth is I spend more insuring it and keeping it registered than it is worth. A few days ago a guy stopped by and asked about it. He said I drive by your place a lot and i never see it go anywhere. What is wrong with it? When I explained about my knees he asked what do you want for it? Without even blinking I said It would take $4500 to pry it away from me. The thing costs me a few hundred dollars a year to keep in my driveway and get no use of at all. I could have been talked into paying him to take it If he was inclined to negotiate a while but he said thanks and drove away. Glad he is not making deals for the Astros. There is a magic price for everything and it is seldom the asking price.
I would be open minded about a trade for another Chas McCormick level player. A few high upside prospects in lower levels for a controllable slightly above average semi-proven outfielder. Im not including Brown, Lee, Diaz, or our recently drafted 1st and 2nd round outfielders, but this would be a way to fill a hole while keeping cash on hand. If you go this route, then maybe you make a big run a Rodon. Still think someone like Benintendi is more likely.
Yes to Jake McCarthy if the price is right. Although I think Jake Meyers has very comparable potential to McCarthy, but of course Meyers bats righty.
OPS of .695 isn't terrible for a good defensive catcher. In fact, there were not 10 good defensive catchers last year who had over 350 at bats and had a better OPS than that Vazquez isn't a star by any means, but people saying his offense is terrible and stuff like that, clearly do not understand baseball And judging anyone on 100 at bats is insane
Agreed on all points. There is nothing wrong with Vazquez He is simply and completely neutral FOR A CATCHER. It's the people who scream for his as the savior or want him to DH or play 1B ( or take a spot that could go to someone with upside at significantly lower cost) that make me nuts.
Hot take: Once the robo umps are in place, Hunter Brown will be a better player than Murphy as Murphy will lose his framing value and Brown's curve will get called a strike at the bottom of the zone (or the batter will ground it weakly to Pena).
Varsho would probably cost more than Murphy. McCarthy looks kind of interesting but he may also have just gotten really lucky hitting the ball so far since being promoted to the majors.
Who has more trade value- Brown or Garcia? I personally think it’s Brown and it’s not particularly close, but if you are of the opinion that he’s got less value than Garcia that could explain the disconnect. I suppose it depends on the organization. If you feel like you are 4 or 5 pieces away from maybe being a playoff team than Garcia is safe and he’s going to plug a real hole for you, and some of the Astros other guys in AAA getting ready might help too. If you suck and have no intention of competing for at least 2 or 3 years then Garcia is worthless to you and you go Brown.
Doing some digging on Alek Thomas, he might have the highest upside of the 3. High end defensive center fielder with an OPS north of .900 the past 2 minor league seasons in AA and AAA. He struggled offensively in his rookie season, especially in the back half. The defense was so good that he was a Gold Glove finalist despite finishing the season in the minors. He's also just 22 years old, so there might be plenty of development left ahead of him.
Playing this out a bit more- I could imagine a world where a team like the Pirates, if they thought they were an 82 or 84 type win team, could trade a Reynolds for a package like Garcia, Chas, Maton and Leon. That would give them a #3 starter, a better than average CF, a leverage guy for 7th or 8th inning bullpen and a high ceiling guy that you could dream on becoming a star. It would also save them money the next 3 years. They could decide that those pieces in aggregate are more valuable/likely to get them to the playoffs than Reynold and they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. They might think about it. The trade value calculator would have that deal titled in their favor I guess. You could argue that it’s the Astros trading then 4 quarters and a nickel for their dollar bill. If you made that same trade offer to Oakland they’d probably laugh at you and ask why they’d have any desire to maybe get 2 or 3 wins better today while filling 4 roster spots instead of taking more upside guys that are higher risk higher reward.
