Thanks for listening man. Hope you enjoyed it. It wasn't the easiest week ever to talk about the Astros but we ended up having a good time amidst our frustration.
Or the 22 Phillies, 21 Braves or 19 Nationals. Literally the last 3 full seasons all featured teams that had a mediocre record around the 100 game mark who ended up going to or winning the WS. Astros fans want to pull the ripcord and rebuild at the first sign of turbulence.
Yeah, greatly gifted hitter as I have said for 3 years - however, he MUST start getting more selective at what he swings at or pitchers will start slowing him down some. He has a lot of power - he hit a homer like 470 feet last year to dead center.
This team can beat anyone in a series for a couple of reasons 1. In a playoff series Dusty doesn't screw around with stupid lineups, he plays to win 2. In a playoff series we wouldn't be throwing Bielak, France and Blanco out there Here are some facts When Framber, Javier or Hunter start the Astros are 26-16, that's a 100 win pace even with an offense with the 20th OPS in baseball When Garcia or Urquidy started we were 6-6, and when you can play .500 ball with your 4 and 5 on the mound, you are good. You can overcome a lot When Bielak, France or Blanco start we are 8-12, that's a 65-97 pace. Those guys can't overcome a 20th OPS which is at least partly caused by the managers ridiculous lineup decisions The last 15 games started by Framber or Javier we are 12-3 Making a trade right now would be really difficult, because only a few teams would be willing to move players at this point with almost everyone in the race. Wonder what kind of package it would take to pry Aaron Civale away from Cleveland. I'm sure it wouldn't be cheap as he is having a strong season and has two more years of control, that he is the kind of guy who could greatly improve our chances to get back to the playoffs, and honestly all we need to do is get there and be healthy and i'll take our guys over ANY
If the Astros let Maldonado walk - I really hope that they give the catching job to Diaz. A lot of his value is tied up in the ability to catch. He is more than capable to do it talent-wise. I can see Lee being called up to split time with Diaz, although I would personally like an experienced catcher back there. Maybe Mike Zunino to help teach him the ropes.
It's one of the reasons I was so aggravated by Dusty's usage of the him the first third of the season, which were basically a complete waste. He needs to be more selective, but it's pretty hard to make those kinds of adjustments when you are starting once or twice a week. He would still be rotting on the bench as a backup if Yordan hadn't gotten hurt. "You won't play for another 5 days, but go out there and be patient"
This AND Dana Brown isn't going to take a job as GM of the World Series Champions, and then sell off veterans for prospects in year 1. We are the Marlins Dana is going to do whatever he can to get us to the playoffs, trading a guy who is hitting .323 with an .876 OPS in June on a team that is floundering offensively, for prospects, isn't likely the key to getting us to the playoffs. Well, not unless you are trading him for Bieber and Civale and you think Gilbert is ready to come up and make an impact
Exactly Brown needs to trade for a bat or 2, not trade off a proven bat. Brown needs to make Dusty put out the best lineup possible each day. I get that Dusty is sticking to a prearranged schedule, but things change. Things like Altuve and Yordan playing 100 games in a year type changes how Dusty should be approaching things. Go out and get at least 1 bat even if you have to overpay a bit. Then hope Brantley can make it back. Play Diaz 75% of the time at DH/Catcher/1st base and take your chances. Also they need to add another top flight reliever and the bullpen will be much better. Pressly, Abteu, traded for guy and Maton is a pretty good top 4. Hopefully Dusty doesn't think Montero or Stanek are magically going to turn their seasons around.
JP also has near the worst run support in the league... and at this point we need Tampa him by limiting him to 2x through an order only...
I wouldn't mind a Diaz-Lee tandem at catcher, but I know this team likes the veteran-youngster combo...
The fate of the Astros will largely depend on the health of the Astros and whether some of their veterans bounce back. The emergence of Diaz is a big deal, because it allows the Astros, when they want to, to go 8-9 deep offensively. Altuve, Bregman, Tucker, Pena and Alvarez are not going anywhere and if they are heathy - they are all above average to great players. Abreu was horrendous, and is 0 for his last 10, but overall, his OPS is around 800 the last month. He has shown signs of being the player he has been in the past. We will know better in another 30 days, but if he has another month of 750-850 OPS, we can likely expect that he is still a good bat. At catcher we now have power with Diaz. The line up can runout strong line ups when everyone is healthy. C- Maldonado/Diaz 1st- Abreu 2nd- Altuve SS - Pena 3rd - Bregman DH - Brantley LF - Alvarez RF - Tucker CF - Meyers/Dubon/McCormick Every player in that rotation can hit if they are healthy. I still expect the Astros to get another bat like Bellinger if they are available, but I don't think they will push for two at bats. The Astros on the pitching side have some issues. Their rotation is set at the top with Valdez and Javier - Brown and I guess France likely have spots unless they fall apart. Even with Urquidy coming back, the Astros need another experienced starter that is also capable of starting a playoff game. There will likely be guys like Lynn, Giolito, Flaherty, Hendricks and Williams available and likely some guys on the Brewers as well. These guys in general are struggling, so the Astros would need to rely on their advanced scouting. The bigger issue is the pen. The Astros last year had the best bullpen I have ever seen in baseball. That was never going to be replicated. Still the Astros have a number of guys that will be free agents, and even more struggling. So the Astros will likely add one or two arms to the pen. I don't expect them to add someone like Chapman - but someone like Barlow, Bummer, Hernandez, Graveman, Hicks, Fullmer, Leiter Jr., Edwards and Harvey all are possible. The prospect cost for most of the players is not high, as almost none are great and most have less than a year left. The Astros should be able to add two of them without a lot of cost - for example Hicks (will be a free agent) and Fullmer shouldn't cost the Astros a lot. Both are flawed, but have some degree of upside and are an improvement of players like Seth Martinez. Hicks walks too many batters, but he is very difficult to hit and could take over a key spot. So the Astros come the playoffs could (with some degree of health) could trot out a line-up of: Altuve Pena Bregman Alvarez Abreu Tucker Bellinger Diaz McCormick That is a very deep line up. The rotation could be Valdez Javier Lynn Brown France The bullpen: Pressly Abreu Hicks Neris Fullmer Urquidy The prospect cost for Bellinger will possibly be higher for a rental because he can play multiple spots and there will be interest from several teams. The Astros can likely make a deal though, including possibly moving someone already on their roster. The cost of someone like Lynn or another inning eater will be very low. There will likely be some interest in Hicks, but he is a free agent and the Astros can likely add him for someone in the 10-15 range of their prospects. Fullmer would cost even less. I highly suspect that pitchers like Stroman, Giolito, several Brewers pitchers and others will be available, but may be cost prohibitive. Maton
FWIW I heard it wasn't all because Alvarez was hurt - Brown and Baker had a discussion and Baker agreed to play Diaz more. With Baker, you never know - but he and Brown have a level of respect for each other that Click and Baker did not - so they seem to be able to at least communicate now.
There never seems to be any updates on Brantley. He is like the ghost player. Supposedly coming back, but never comes back.
I don't know how he's throwing the ball this year, but I would love to bring Graveman back and add Lynn to the deal. Wonder what the cost would be? What would the cost be for a guy like Bellringer? I would also look into the Cards surplus of OF'ers. Can any of them play 1st also? Click made a great trade for Diaz,Maton.
At this point I am not counting on him at all. Even if he comes back, he hasn't really played baseball in a long time. If he comes back and hits well - great - but I am sure the Astros are operating on the idea that he isn't coming back and they will add another bat.
Assuming the Astros get Bellinger - I would love to see how this line up would do Dubon SS Altuve 2nd Bregman 3rd Alvarez DH Abreu 1st Tucker RF Bellinger CF Diaz C McCormick LF That is a NASTY line up and a strong defensive team as well.
