Maybe B level FAs to plug holes. Brantley is the player I most want to see returning to pre injury levels returning as a FA. Meyers is that guy under contract. I know not all prospects turn out, but I want to be the one to find out on Brown and Diaz who I believe are greatly undervalued by the lists.
Having looked at his metrics, i would stay far away. He has declining offense and defense and would not offer anything other than depth. Maldanado, Barnhart and Lee would be just about the worse group of C in baseball. Fangraphs overall defensive ranking: Maldanado 21 and Barnhart 43. WAR rankings: Maldanado 33 and Barnhart 54. yikes
….probably because I liked Meyers too pre-injury I’m ok with centerfield being 100 OPS+ or slightly less if they are gold glove on defense. On this team they are the #8 hitter. I’m betting Alek Thomas can be league average with the bat. Struggling during first call up isn’t the end of the world to me and hopefully it keeps trade price more reasonable.
I'm intrigued by the idea of the Bryant trade. I have no idea what kind of package that would take. But outside of something like that, I'm at a point now where I want the Astros to maybe bring back Brantley, maybe add a mid-level SP as insurance in case there is some injury issues (though honestly I wouldn't even mind if they stayed pat on pitching and just made a trade if necessary due to injury). If Brantley comes back and gives you Brantley like production, great. He will be a steal. If not, no biggie, you role with guys like Meyers and McCormick and kick the tires on guys like Leon. I think that will still be a World Series level team, and they will have not hamstrung themselves with ridiculous contracts like so many teams this offseason. Then continue to stick it up the other team's collective asses in the playoffs. I do find it interesting that two of the teams that are viewed as being very smart with their money, the Astros and Dodgers, have been pretty quiet this offseason. I think they see what is happening now as a bad trend that will prove itself out as such in a few years. I know @Nook was expressing some frustration earlier about management, but I feel very encouraged that the team has been so disciplined this offseason with Crane basically running the show. All that talk about the Astros having baseball's Jerry Jones was silly. Crane may be more involved than most owners, but he clearly listens to smart people because I feel like they are making smart, considered decisions. So I now no longer have any fear that our team is going to get run into the ground by an owner that suddenly decides he knows everything about the game.
If he got the doors blown off his offer for Contreras rest assured he’s looking for a reserve C, regardless of what he’s saying publicly.
Just by the fact that they won't give out extremely long contracts they are protected from screwing themselves over very much. Yes they've given out a couple bad contracts but they've always been for like two or three years. The season is so long we have plenty of time to improve this team later through trades if need be. This is the best team in baseball right now. I know some people are excited about the New York Mets and I really loved Verlander however they are in a division that they're going to be in a fight for their lives. The Braves are another team that aren't spending like crazy. The Braves have plenty of talent. For us the Mariners are getting better but they still have a ways to go.
I’m definitely warming to the idea of Houston trading for McCarthy or Thomas. Either one would project to be Houston’s 6th best hitter and both offer high defensive value. Of course it all depends on the price and I won’t even propose what I think would be a fair deal in order to avoid the next 5 pages of the thread being idiots roasting me like I just kicked a puppy.
I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if we’re waiting on Rodon. If he‘s priority #1 and wants to be an Astro, that frees up Garcia and some prospects (not Brown!) for a Murphy deal. You also go with a cheaper bat in Brantley over Conforto or Benintendi. I expect our max offer to Rodon will be 4 years $120 million. It’s hard to tell how close other teams are to their spending cap, and the Dodgers still haven’t done anything yet. If Rodón goes somewhere else, that’s when I’d expect Benintendi or Conforto to make a commitment somewhere. This isn’t about “need” right now…it’s about getting the best player available at a fair deal.
cmon man, let’s have it. The people who complain about your thoughts on trade value are the ones who think we can gain valuable pieces with no pain on our end. If people like nook, redfish, you, wulaw, and a few others don’t post, it’s really not worth sorting through the sea of crapola that sometimes clouds this forum.
If Rodon could be had for 4/120, he would be an Astro yesterday I think. I’m not criticizing your post by any means, it’s just hard to think a reasonable price can be had for a top tier arm like Rodon. If the Mets want him and he is willing, I think he is a Met. If not, NYY, SFG are still out there. Of all the remaining FA, I think Rodon to the Yankees would move the needle the most among contenders. I am hoping that neither Bassitt or Rodon want to deal with pitching in the Bronx.
At this point I'd forego the look for a catcher and just sign Benintendi. You'll get him for a really reasonable price and won't need to commit past 3 years. Your lineup would be MUCH better than what you had the second half of last season. A lineup that you won the World Series with by the way.
Rodon, Conforto and Benentendi are going to the highest bidder. All 3 will be well above what the Astros offer.
Probably. I don’t expect us to have the highest or even 2nd highest bid. 4/$120 is his “fair value” IMO. He is a ToR, but not a DeGrom or Verlander.
With the inflation of free agent prices it does seem like trading could be the way to go. Just a week or so ago I was saying the opposite, as I felt like trade prices were too high. Hell, what would Jose Urquidy be signing for if he were a free agent, $70M/5yrs? It’s possible a trade for an unproven player might end up representing the best value way to address Houston’s relative roster weakness. Crazy offseason so far.
