How would Pressly take it that he gets demoted to setup role after his postseason performance for multiple years and being the Team USA closer...?
Both? I think they kind of go hand in hand. Framber when he is rested and has good control of his stuff tends to meltdown less and have more ability to quickly get out of it. In the second half of this season, he clearly was physically and likely mentally taxed - and there were times down the stretch where his defense would let him down, and then it would mushroom into a 3-4 inning - same with Javier as well, except usually in his case, it was a dead arm and then not getting the borderline calls. Valdez is a workhorse. I expect he will bounce back from a rough end to the season. As for Javier, his stuff is elite but he has to actually train during the off season and not just throw - he needs to build stamina and strength and in the past he has avoided that and opted to work on throwing.
Better than most is my guess. He has gone over an inning before and come into the game earlier and has only complained once (the Orioles game). He just wants to win. Hader is more likely to complain and he is not going to come into the game and pitch multiple innings..... he is a 1 inning guy at this point.
We will not be a run it back. We won’t have the worst manager and catcher in baseball. We will have a healthy Garcia at some point and Diaz (maybe the best hitting catcher in baseball) and McCormick (one of the best hitting players in baseball) will be full-time. We had a horrible run of injuries this year, it is unlikely to happen to years in a row. Blowing up a team that made the ALCS for the 7th time in a row, despite the injuries and an idiot manager, makes no sense at all. I’m fine adding another bat or another pitcher, but I don’t think it is necessary.
I'm not really concerned about closers and egos . . . if they are pitching high leverage, that's what they are out there for . . . Chapman, the biggest headcase in the world, seems to adjust fine to not being an every day closer. I also think that with the right pitching coaches, a three headed monster is certainly manageable.
If you had pressley, hader, and abreu on your playoff roster . . . you could bring anyone in at any time in the game to shut down a problem and not lose much in the 8/9th. Just think about bringing pressley in to shut down the problem in the 1st inning of game seven and still having most of your lock down core and an elite closer still ready to go. Seems like a no brainer to me if you can make the money work.
I fully expect the Rangers to overpay Montgomery and go hard af after Hader. I don't think they will be outbid on either one. My guess is we will end up with Matt Moore
That's really the key and why I am pessimistic. Astros don't need to add 50 million in payroll but they can't go full Drayton level cheap and fill their holes with Salazar, Sousa, and Jake Meyers.... I would gamble on Severino. His stuff is still there. If the Astros can get him in their system and fix any mechanical issues and his pitch sequence he could be a weapon with some big upside. Something we are lacking right now especially in the minors.
A series of 1-2 year 7 figure deals for Grossman, Caratini, Moore, and Paxton would fill all of Houston’s holes while also allowing them a lot of flexibility with their SP and OF depth (either keeping as insurance or trading to rebuild the farm system), all without going (much) over the tax threshold. 2B Altuve (extended) 3B Bregman DH Alvarez 1B Abreu RF Tucker CF McCormick C Diaz LF Grossman SS Pena Bench: Dubon, Caratini, Meyers, Singleton/Kessinger/etc. Rotation: JV, Framber, Paxton, Javier, Brown, Urquidy, France Bullpen: Pressly, Abreu, Moore, Graveman, Montero, Bielak/Garcia/Whitley/McCullers/etc.
Agreed - the key will the Astros ability to identify the rehab starter they want and to get them signed. Paxton, Severino, Montas, Lugo and Ryu all offer high upside and all would fit in the Astros culture. I think Severino has the highest upside of the group with Montas potentially being really good too. Someone will overpay for one or two of these guys - but one or two of them will emerge as very good.
Not replacing McCormick. I'm replacing Brantley/Julks/Meyers. That's 721 plate appearances with a combined OPS of .660. That's data downloaded from baseball reference. .239 BA .289 OB .372 SLG Everyone complained about Abreu but we were getting the same production from an OF spot. We need an OF/1B or 1B/C with the missing spot filled otherwise. Not shopping for an allstar, just give me a bat that's 110 OPS+. I
What about JP France to Arizona for Kyle Lewis? Lewis destroyed AAA this year but only 50 PAs in mlb. He's a possible CF option to improve defense with McCormick in left and Yordan at DH. Arizona doesn't need him, he's blocked. 3 years of club control. Seems like a decent gamble.
This is the Astros' seventh consecutive trip deep into the playoffs: how do too many of you STILL not realize the postseason isn't real? In a down year for Framber, he was still better than Montgomery (better FIP; better WHIP; threw more innings). + he's (slightly) younger, definitely cheaper (by a lot) and has a much longer track record of success.
I agree. The amount of panic from a fan base whose team has been to 7 straight ALCS and has two new everyday bats in Diaz and McCormick is just silly.
Here are some names I like. None of them are perfect... Trade: Kyle Lewis Josh Bell Nolan Arenado Free Agents: Brandon Belt Lourdes Gurriel Mitch Garver
Just spit balling here... To Cardinals: JP France Rafael Montero Kendall Gravemen To Astros: Nolan Arenado Zack Thompson We replace Gravemen and Montero with Thompson and Hunter Brown. This is a salary dump for Cardinals. He has 35 / 32 / 27 / 15 left. That's why so little in assets given up. He had a down year and Walker/Wynn are ready on the left side for them. We then slide Bregman to SS, Arenado at 3B. Pena off the bench. After offsetting Montero and Gravemen deals, the net Arenado contract to Astros is: 16 / 21 / 27 / 15 He's an excellent defender. We can also DH Bregman and put Pena out for groundball starters like Valdez. Can also get a few bucks thrown in to level out to 15 per year maybe.
My Uncle just texted me this “Radio just reported from Brian mctaggart that crane AND BAGWELL will oversee search for new manager when baker retires tomorrow as expected. We are screwed!”
