Brown was not signing players because he was throwing money at them, it was because he was signing them early and absorbing more risk at a lesser rate and the players were WILLING to do so. It's like he convinced more players a bird in hand WAS worth two in the bush. Not that he would give them two anyway and eat the risk.
I think if Framber was still just a sinker/curve pitcher I would be more worried about decline, but he’s shown a willingness to adapt and change. He’s developed both an effective changeup and a killer “slutter” since he first broke out in 2020. To me that’s a sign of intelligence and work ethic that will reward him as he ages. He’s also much more of a power pitcher than Keuchel who relied on hitting a narrow window at the bottom of the zone with declining velocity over the years shrinking the size of that window. Framber just needs to get his pitch in the right zip code and he can find success. I really hope they extend Framber if anything because I love rooting for the guy and his style is so unique and unparalleled in the sport. I think he will be remembered for a long time if he continues to find success.
By a few orders of magnitude (I might be biased as Schmidt was my favorite non-Astro ... but I think still a defensible position). But the OP did say "one of" not "the" best.
Brooks Robinson? I was just trying to think of "the betters". Beltre is one of the most underrated players of my lifetime, which is weird to say about a no-doubt HOF guy.
Mike Schmidt was WAY better. He is the greatest .265 hitter to ever live. Still the best defensive third baseman I have ever seen. He was incredibly consistent. The most under-rated power hitter ever. He hit 550 homers but played in one of the worst dead-ball eras ever. Had he played in the 60's or late 90's he would have had 700+ homers.... and he got hurt later in his career, and it was an injury that now a days would easily be fixed. Won 3-4 MVP's if I remember right.
Catcher (2): Martín Maldonado, Yainer Diaz First baseman (1): José Abreu Second baseman (1): Jose Altuve Shortstop (1): Jeremy Peña Third baseman (1): Alex Bregman Outfielders (4): Kyle Tucker, Michael Brantley, Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers DH (1): Yordan Alvarez Bench/Utility (2): David Hensley, Mauricio Dubón Starting pitchers (5): Framber Valdez, Lance McCullers Jr., Cristian Javier, José Urquidy, Luis García Relief pitchers (8): Ryan Pressly, Ryne Stanek, Phil Maton, Rafael Montero, Bryan Abreu, Héctor Neris, Blake Taylor, Hunter Brown
But that's the point. Everyone equates the term Oxy with the drug. It sucks for the oil and gas company but I have always freaking hated the huge ass sign and I really hate that any ad is on the uniform much less one that reminds everyone about Oxycontin.
I know it's an old habit, but at this point I'm pretty sure Alvarez is the LF and Brantley is the DH who will occasionally take the field.
It is what it is. I just focus on the front and back of the uniform and ignore the sleeve. Doesn't do any good to let it ruin my day.
Diaz over Lee is the only mild surprise there. I do wonder if there’s logic behind the idea that since Diaz’s weakness is his passion for catching, it might be better for his development to be paired with Maldy rather than languish in AAA. In the majors, he can catch less (so he doesn’t feel the “grind” of catching as much), he will be mentored by the best in the biz (in terms of defense, bonus too that Maldy is a fellow Latin American player), and he can still hit almost every day (as he can get time at 1B and DH). Whereas since Lee’s primary weakness appears to be strikeouts, he might be better served in AAA where he can be assured of everyday at-bats. I kind of doubt that will be the primary factor in the opening day roster decision, but it does seem like a potential benefit to that outcome.
What worries me - and has worried me since Tucker caught that foul fly ball - is any injury to Maldy that requires an IL stint.
If Diaz is up, I think the Astros bring in a third catcher forcing out Meyers or Dubón. Dusty is not going to use Diaz as a hitter much if he doesn't have a third catcher. Granted, the third catcher can't be too good defenisvely or Dusty will never use Diaz to catch.
I was thinking that in spite of Lee getting the call up first last season between the pair, it makes more sense to have Yainer on the big league club to begin the season. Lee should only really be on the team if they believe he is ready for a fulltime platoon with Maldy as otherwise he's going to spend most of his days collecting splinters on the bench, which probably is not the best way of furthering his development.
Yep! Relegating Yordan to DH again. I'm totally opposed to that concept and reports are that he is too.
Why can't they use Diaz as a hitter? Worst case, if Maldy gets injured, the pitcher has to bat once or twice in a random regular season game, but beyond that, there's no real harm. They used Gattis as a hitter all the time with McCann catching and no 3rd catcher on the roster, I believe.
The Astros can use Diaz as a hitter. The coach is Dusty, though. His track record the past two years is that he does not use a good hitting backup catcher much as a hitter. Vasquez got 5 PAs in 2 months not as the starting catcher prior to the Astros bringing up Diaz despite being red hot when the Astros first got him and him being a good hitter lately in Boston. Granted, Vasquez sucked in September/October at the plate, but there was no way for Dusty to know that in August. Castro got 39 PAs in 2021 not as the starting catcher despite having a great year at the plate.
