He had a lot of pressure to bring someone in that was not associated with the Astros Click was a mixed bag with the Astros. He does deserve credit for rebuilding the pen and not trading away the young players...... but he was just a bad long term. I wouldn't be surprised if he has success elsewhere. Sometimes there are no real bad guys.
Was it Jake Meyers? I definitely read an article from the Chron stating Crane was like, "You want to bet your career on Jake Meyers?" Unless it's someone else as well but that lines up with what I've heard and what you described.
It was Jake. Click literally betted his tenure on Jake Meyers, instead of going out and spending the money on Starling Marte like Crane asked him to.
In 3 years, we fans could have a completely different view of Click. What if the 2026 Astros win the World Series with a roster of: Diaz C Clifford-1B Whitcomb-2B Wagner-3B Pena-SS Melton-LF Gilbert-CF Dirden-Rf Yordan-DH Bench: Lee, Loporfido, Leon, and Dubon. Sp- Brown, Javier, McCullers, L.Garcia, Gordon, Arrighetti RP- B.Abreu, Dubin, A.Taylor, S.Martinez, Knorr, Batista, Murray. That team would be 6 guys all Luhnow, 2 guys that Click extended or they would have been gone, 1 guy Brown extended, and 17 guys Click brought in.
I would love that too, but he would cost a FORTUNE. I remember wanting to draft him back in 2019 in the mid-rounds, he's had a good K-BB rate everywhere he goes. Even though the Royals are on pace to lose more than 100 games I don't think they even entertain a trade. Along with Bobby Witt he's clearly one of their cornerstone guys, and if anything, I hear they may try and extend him.
Hot take: Astros CFs minus Dubon and with Chas's time in a corner will produce more fWAR than Startling Marte from 2022-2025 (on a PA basis since Marte is unlikely to play 162 games every season).
You are assuming that Abreu is not going to play better. It is possible that he has lost a step, but he has had an OPS+ of 135, 165 and 125 the last three seasons. The Sox changed his approach last year to cut down on strikeouts. This year the coaches think they found some issues with his swing and moving his head, which interferes with his ability to see the ball inside. This makes sense, as teams are pitching him up inside in the zone and under the hands and then going away, which he is protecting the corner of the zone and as a result he isn't lifting the ball and hitting a lot of grounders and line drives up the middle. Being in Chicago, and a fan of him since he was in Cuba - I have a pretty good grip on Abreu the player. He is a very hard worker, very professional and tends to go through funks before making adjustments and getting hot. Most likely he will start hitting well again and have an OPS of around 120-140 the rest of the this season. Everyone is freaking out because he had a poor month in April. He did well in Spring Training with an OPS of over .900 ...
I wonder if it might make sense for Houston to make a push to acquire Perez now instead of at the deadline, even if they have to overpay a bit. That mitigates the issue of breaking in a new catcher during the last 2 months of the season. The Royals are 7-22 so it’s not like they aren’t already out of the playoff hunt. I think Perez would be a great addition and I believe he and Altuve are good friends. Altuve Tucker Bregman Alvarez Abreu Brantley Pena Meyers Perez
It makes sense to me, especially with Baker stating he does not want to change catchers at the mid point. Perez is friendly with a lot of the Astros.... I know he knows Altuve, Abreu and Dubon.
As a reference on a 610 PA basis (Marte's PAs) to see were this is as off today. Astros CF minus Dubon plus Chas time in corners - 3.0 WAR Marte - 3.2 WAR I'm a little surprised this isn't in the Astros favor, already. Though, I expect it is because 2022 Meyers brings down the average and Chas didn't get many plays to add value defensively in LF in 2022.
I'm not sure the Astros should be using up their payroll flexibility and prospect capital for a catcher when they have 3 starting pitchers with arm injuries. Also, the Astros sit at around 218 million for CBT payroll after the Javier extension. Perez would put them over the CBT if the Royals didn't eat any salary because he is still owed about 16-17 million this season at this point in time. I believe they should be willing to go into the tax, but until I see it actually happen I'm going to be extremely skeptical that they make that commitment. Trading for Perez closer to the deadline makes more sense considering the Astros would have a clearer picture on their starting rotation injuries and would avoid the CBT. I get the concern of bringing in a catcher the last couple months, but lets be real. Either way this is going to be a huge issue in the clubhouse with the Maldy fanboys that love pitching to him.
I can see both sides of the argument. If the Astros wait, then the staff is adjusting to a new catcher in a shorter window of time. That was a big deal to Dusty Baker and some of the pitching staff last season. The Astros would be increasing payroll, but Perez is only signed two seasons after this one. I suppose the Astros could try to trade Brantley if they wanted to pare down their salary. Most likely I think they would keep everyone and any moves at the deadline would be for players that make less money. The positives are obvious, Perez is a major offensive upgrade over Maldonado and arguably a defensive one as well. Perez would also increase the Astros power. The line up would be really stretched out - especially if we assume that Abreu bounces back. Altuve Brantley Bregman Alvarez Abreu Tucker Pena Perez McCormick/Meyers
Pasquantino is the new JT Realmuto or Bryan Reynolds around here. At least 1 trade proposal a week when in reality it just isn't happening.
If Garcia is going to be out multiple months, or even need TJS then it would be interesting to see if they could work something out with the White Sox. Cease is the target, but Giolitto, Clevinger, or even Lynn could be back of the rotation guts to save the season if Garcia misses a bunch if time since McCullers is still weeks away and Urquidy will miss "significant time". It would not be cheap, but Garcia still has projection and an additional year of service while Cease has pretty much peaked and a bit down this year. He could be the biggest part of the trade and the Sox won't need him this year if they decide they are already buried. They also are probably looking to dump Grandel's salary which could be used to reduce the price Houston pays. They could end up trading several starters at the deadline so will likely focus on potential 2024 starting pitchers along with a young controllable MLB ready catcher to replace Grandal. They also need middle infield help but that's a weakness in the Astros system too. I'm thinking: Garcia, Korey Lee, Julks, and Spencer Arrighetti for Cease and Grandal?
I don't like baseballtradevalues.com but don't know of another trade simulator engine and database to work from. They have this offer still very much favoring the White Sox by about $12M and Garcia's value will drop when it gets adjusted for his injury (unless it's a day to day thing). Only Tamarez has more value than Arrighetti (2.2 vs 1.9) among Astros pitching prospects but it's marginal so I'm good with either of them. Julks is the issue. I was including him because he is MLB ready, had a good start, and expendable but has hardly any value and that makes sense (any team could have had him in Rule 5) and he really doesn't fit the White Sox needs. Replacing him with McCormick or Meyers would likely get it done but I think that either are overpays. Maybe replace Julks with a guy like Melton, Leon, or Barber? I hate to include one of them but you have to give up talent to get talent and there is a log jam at OF.
…which is why I began the sentence with “it won’t happen but…” I obviously agree it is highly unlikely that VP is moved. Just saying I would love for him to be a Stro (mentioned it in the off-season and second half of last year)…and with a 100-loss team, you can never say never.
I remember when Jackie Bradley Jr was hanging out in FA forever prior to 2021. There was a lot of talk about how he would be an improvement over Myles Straw. Then in 2021, the Astros had 5 CFs that were arguably better than JBJ (Straw, McCormick, Meyers, Siri, and Bryan de la Cruz)
