Would someone like Perez come to the Astros to play 1/3 of the time? Maybe, it would bump up to half the time with some games at DH. Where is Evan Gattis when we need him.
Perez is under contract with the Royals so if they traded him to Houston he wouldn’t have much choice. Between C, DH, and 1B there’s probably ~300 pa for a player like Perez. Thats a lot less than what he normally has had, but at his age it would probably make him more productive. The 320 pa fangraphs is missing in LF would be split between Dubon and Meyers. Anyway, the fact of the matter is that Houston’s position player roster is stacked as-is and any upgrades (whether over Salazar at C or Meyers/Dubon in CF) are a pure luxury.
No mention of needing a bat to fill the role Brantley was supposed to fill. No mention of needing a starter considering Urquidy has had shoulder problems 2 seasons in a row, McCullers and Garcia can't be counted on for anything in 2024, Javier can't pitch an entire season, Framber has been overworked, Verlander isn't getting any younger, Hunter Brown fell apart the 2nd half, and if you look at JP France's advanced stats his success looks like fools gold. Also, the fantasy that the Astros might have anything in the minors to replace Neris and Maton is hilarious. Neris was an elite late inning reliever and Maton is a very good middle reliever. Paredes, Jon Record, Dubin, Whitley, Seth Martinez, Blanco, and Bielak can't be counted on for those roles. MAYBE one of them or Souza can give you what Stanek gave you but we need 1 really good arm in the pen to replace Neris and another solid guy. Sounded to me like backup catcher, maybe 1 reliever, and fill the other holes from within. That's not enough in my opinion.
They must be counting on one of Loperfido/Barber/Leon etc... to fill Brantley's role and to be honest if they get anything from one of the guys in the minors it will be more than Brantley gave them last yr. I looks like they're going to go with the 4 starters that pitched in the playoffs this year plus Brown/France and hope LMJ can comeback and provide a SP2 in the 2nd half of the season. I hope this works out but I wouldn't count on it. I'm hoping they spend what money they have on a guy like Chapman or Hicks to solidify the bullpen. If this doesn't workout in the OF or SP I expect a move around the trade deadline. It does appear that Crane has decided to go cheap and save his bullets for the trade deadline.
In all fairness, we have a legit chance even if he did stay. Probably a lower chance but still a chance.
Evan Gattis is living proof that you don't need a sober genius to be a functional enough to be a World Series caliber catcher.
I am ok with them biding their time at SP and OF. Between injured players and unsettled youngsters it’s quite possible spending big money there this offseason would be a waste. A backup catcher and solid 8th inning guy would be an acceptable offseason, considering their returning roster and payroll situation.
Dubin and Whitley have better pure stuff than any reliever Houston has outside of Abreu. Their ceilings as relievers is extremely high. Replacing Maldonado and Neris while giving the farm 6 months to mature and seeing if their injured SP come back is a fine plan.
