Without a doubt Brown put him on the roster so he could DH, 1B and pinch hit, otherwise Salazar wouldn’t be here Dusty just don’t GAF what Brown did with roster construction
First, they can say Diaz' defense in uninspiring behind the plate based on the past when he would lose interest, but this year his defense has been fine. There are politics involved with Dusty Baker and the coaching staff, concerning the effort and and how Diaz does things. At least that is what I was told when I asked about it. The Astros believe in the bat and the arm and the ability to play. Second, there is a reason that Diaz made the Astros and Lee did not make the Astros and it has to do with ability. Diaz is a vastly more talented player than Corey Lee and will be the superior player with some tweaks. Third, we don't know if Diaz will or will not be the long term at catcher. The Astros targeted a similar player in Wilson Contreras this Winter. Contreras gets lazy behind the plate and training-wise and he also has admitted he loses focus and interest. Wilson Contreras' brother was the catcher in Atlanta and has a similar profile as well. The ideal is someone that can do both - but they know Lee isn't a good hitter, but they think they can possibly make Diaz consistent enough with his mechanics to be a long term solution at catcher. Fourth, the issue isn't that Diaz is on the Astros over Lee. The reality is that Diaz is one of the Astros most talented hitters and is capable behind the plate. If anything, he should be playing more - but Baker and some of the coaches don't like some things. If you believe what Diaz has said publicly, he doesn't know why he isn't playing more either or won't discuss it. Hopefully Diaz shows what he needs to from a preparation standpoint and he starts splitting time with Maldonado.... because it is clear Maldonado is still the leader of the Astros, but he is physically really struggling.
I remember hearing the same thing about Chas last season right before he was sent down for a brief second. Chas decided to complain less and focus on getting better. I guess Dusty didn't like how Chas handled adversity. I still think Dusty has a double standard for Chas versus his other outfielders.
I have nothing to go on re: complaints about Dusty handling the players/clubhouse at all, other than by all respects he's one of the best and players love him. My thoughts on him as a regular season strategic manager are, uhhh, slightly different. Dusty the postseason manager with the Astros is a different animal altogether, he's been basically faultless.
Sounds to me like we should've gotten that veteran backup C... if that's what the team needed why didn't the FO just make it happen? Now you got an aging C that needs rest and a bunch of catcher prospects that we have no answers on. Big whiff.
I totally agree with you. Dusty deserves the benefit of the doubt. He doesn't do things to win regular season games. He tries things out so he knows what to do during post season games. It's just frustrating to watch sometimes.
Sorry I mentioned it earlier, but: Prospect cost, and the cost of the A's not wanting to trade him to us We had Maldy! ...that's pretty much it, Braves re-signed him at a very nice contract We could have signed Realmuto as well. But we had Maldy! I do wish....
And do you know for sure the prospect cost was crazy or is it speculation like the Vazquez bs. Rumors were we didn't offer him money but then he said he didn't even get a call from us. Murphy was the MAN to get man.
December 12, 2022: Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Oakland Athletics to the Atlanta Braves. The Oakland Athletics sent Joel Payamps to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Atlanta Braves sent Royber Salinas (minors), Kyle Muller, Manny Piña and Freddy Tarnok to the Oakland Athletics. The Atlanta Braves sent Justin Yeager (minors) and William Contreras to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Milwaukee Brewers sent Esteury Ruiz to the Oakland Athletics. I don't know anything about any of these prospects, so tell me about it, and comparable kids from the Stros Farm. All I know is I would have loved Murphy on the Stros, I've been saying this for a few years. But we had Maldy. Realmuto was a FA in '21, btw...that might have been nice
Realmuto hurts man. I wanted him so bad. He's only making 23M a year. That would fit in how much we've left unspent the last 3 years. If you can't spend to the tax you could have just not signed Nerris, Maldy and Montero if it needed to be dollar for dollar with current payroll. I don't suppose that you could argue we'd have done any better with him in 21 and 22 ultimately since we lost in 6 in the WS and then won in 6 (and I don't think he'd have been enough to flip the Braves series), but it sure would have been fun.
Nobody understands him sometimes. https://nypost.com/2023/04/18/the-s...ana-brown-on-slow-start-injuries-dusty-baker/
