If they bring Maldy back then I think we can write off this FO having any hope of maintaining success in the medium-term. Hopefully we can win one more WS with the guys we have left bc this FO is cooked lol.
I agree with this. Maldy needs to retire and join the Astros coaching staff. Unfortunately this is the second place, today, that I have read Maldy returning is gaining traction. Apparently it's very likely he returns as the backup catcher and "JVs personal catcher" which I think is a recipe for disaster. It just feels like as soon as Framber has a bad game, then Maldy will be given a start with him, then before you know it Maldy will be catching both of them. Then Javier starts a day game after a night game when Diaz had started 4 in a row so Maldy catches him and has a good game. Before you know it Maldy is catching all of his starts too. By June, Diaz is getting 1 start pet week.
What is it with this Crane-led FO and bringing back retreads? Why are they so scared to bring in fresh blood? They have no money to spend this off-season but decided to trade for an $8M/AAV reliever in the middle of a terrible season probably bc they were familiar with him. Stupid.
I like this list. I am going to look at both Fangraphs and mlbtraderumors lists and compare. I'm not sure they will actually add enough payroll to exceed the CBT, which is very very close, but maybe they have decided its too close to be avoided and go for it !!
I'll take Kendall Graveman at 1 year for 8 million. I'll also take Justin Verlander back in 2024 and 2025 with the Mets paying down his salary. I wasn't happy with the Brantley resigning but whatever. Let's see what these relievers get on the market.... but Graveman at that length and at that price point seems very reasonable.
It's not a ton of money, but spending that kind of money on a below average reliever knowing we would be in the position we are in now is absurd to me. You can get the same production for pennies on the dollar from guys like Mushinski, Blanco, and Sousa.
I would be about as comfortable with them as I would be with Gravemen. In the case of Sousa, probably more comfortable.
Ehh... I don't think that Mushinski, Blanco or Sousa will be as good as Graveman next year, but maybe. Then again I don't think he is a below average reliever.
I don't get the hate for Graveman. I actually think he is typical leverage reliever. Good for 4 or 5 outings and nobody notices then gets into a funk and has a bad outing or 2 (like a kicker it could be even 1 bad batter or even pitch) and everyone is sreaming that he sucks. He only allowed runs in 5 of his 23 appearances with the Astros last year, and none in his 6 games down the stretch from 9/15 on. He allowed 0 or 1 baserunner in 14 of 23 games and did not allow a single inherited runner ( out of 4) to score. What is wrong with him? All relievers have some inconsistency but I don't get the hate for Graveman.
Who cares if we are spoiled. We need one more title to become a dynasty. The window is closing and Crane needs to go all out over the next two years. A 10 year run like this will probably never happen to us again. Raise your expectations and don't settle.
He walks a lot of guys and gives up too many homers versus how many guys he strikes out. Getting lucky stranding guys is not a sustainable skill for someone that doesn't get easy outs. Maybe he fixes it next season. Maybe he has another lucky season. It is hard to predict how the Ryne Staneks of the world will do one year to the next regarding ERA.
Last season Graveman had a 4.88 FIP, a 4.51 xERA, and a below average DRA. He does not strike a lot of guys out and last season he walked quite a few. He’s also been forced to move from his sinker to his 4S resulting in a huge drop in his GB%. A guy who doesn’t get a lot of GBs or Ks while having iffy command just isn’t going to be very good. It’s also not like he has a track record of success as a reliever. He was a crappy starter who was good for a couple of years once converted into a reliever, but has continually gotten worse since that transition. His sinker losing its effectiveness is killer as he needs it to maintain his GB%. maybe he will turn things around next season, but why bet $8M on it when you are scrounging for every penny this off-season?
Funny thing. Graveman walked 6.4 per 9 innings for the Astros last year and 4.7 per 9 as an Astro in 2021. For his career, even including those numbers it's 3.0 per 9 and 4 1 is the worst he has ever been anywhere else. He K'd 9.7 per 9 innings for the Astros last year and 10.6 for them in 2021. Similarly those are the 2 highest totals of his career which he averages 6.8. His ground ball rate was the lowest of his career and line drive rate the highest for Houston last year. Here's an idea - stop treating all pitcher's the same and thinking you can change them by pitching "the Astros way". If a guy is successful pitching 1 way and your changes have a bad result - change him back to what he was doing that made you want him.
I'm guessing by the "Astros way" you are meaning preferring high zone 4S over sinkers, which is the direction he began moving towards in 2022 and thus isn't being driven by the Astros. Here is Graveman's biggest problem - his sinker went from a .291 xwOBA in 2021 to a .393 xwOBA in 2023. That pitch was responsible for his mini-renaissance in 2021 as his other offerings really aren't that great, and it went to total **** last year. His 4S does have potential, and if he were to get fixed I bet it's by scrapping the sinker entirely and ramping up his 4S usage, but he has been hesitant to fully lean into the pitch given that it has a low zone% and a weak chase% so he's probably scared of walking even more guys by using that pitch more often.
