There are 2 sides to the game. He's super elite with the glove and coming off his best offensive season. His value is the highest it's been in a while, maybe ever when you factor in his extremely friendly contract. If he can simply repeat last season offensively he has the value of a star player, and if he can't he's still worth his contract.
That's interesting, teams must really not like his stuff. He's been consistently amazing at getting lefties out in the majors and minors. I get that the LOOGY has been nerfed with the new rules, but it's still weird no team is willing to even give him a shot in a regular role.
I have had a lot of people ask me about 3rd base after next year. There will be options if the Astros fail to resign Bregman. The most likely candidate is Zach Dezenzo. He is someone the prior minor league director loved (Gross), and he is likely a boom or bust prospect. He has done well thus far in the minors and has a lot of tools if he can work around the swing and miss inside the zone. If he does that, he will be a top prospect in the game and likely be handed 3rd base. Lots of power and can run some, great size and good glove… again, cut down on swings and misses in the strike zone. Other options could be Chapman (who the Astros have talked about) if he settles for a one year deal this Winter and is a free agent in 2025, JD Davis, Hayes, Torres, etc. The point being that if the Astros need a 3 bagger, they can get one.
I agree he could be on almost any team as a spot starter/long relief guy, that's what he did here. Brown should get on the phone now and see what team would like him. This team has plenty of arms that need a look and need innings. Unless he is going to go next level and figure out a pitch nobody can hit, he is what he is. I really just don't see him having a future here.
Also - Ken Rosenthal confirmed what I had heard before the deadline. The Astros had a trade in place to get Hader and Snell at the deadline and the Padres decided to keep them and see if they could make the playoffs. So for everyone grumbling about Crane and some about Brown - they at the deadline had a deal for Snell/Hader and a deal for Verlander. How many other owners are that proactive? I don’t agree with everything Crane does - but he is BY FAR the best sports owner in Houston sports history and when he finally sells the team, we will likely miss him.
Wait, they would have gone after Snell and Verlander? Backup plan wasn't Verlander? If Clifford and Gilbert went to the Mets, I wonder what was going to the Padres.
Yes - they were going to try and pull it off. One of the players that went to the Mets was headed to SD along with other pieces. The Astros are not the Dodgers or Yankees or Red Sox or Phillies when it comes to finances created by the organization…. But the ownership is serious about wanting to win.
From what Ken Rosenthal said over weekend on MLB network radio, the answer is yes. The trade the Padres were looking for was MLB ready pitching talent from the Astros. They were also looking for money hence why we saw these articles talking about Padres having to take out loans to cover player salaries. The cost to get Snell and Hader would be much less because they were free agents.
I hope they can get a deal done with Bregman personally. He should be an Astros for life imo. I think he is very underrated. It was interesting over the weekend about some of the national guys talking about the Hader move. They kept stating how signing Hader doesn't help the Astros long-term when you have Altuve, Bregman, Valdez, and Tucker going to be FAs. I know Crane has caught a lot of flak for the lack of spending, but it does take two to tango. It's not like they haven't tried to sign Tucker an extension. This guy is hellbent on hitting the FA market. There is not much you can do when someone isn't willing to meet you halfway.
I do not think the Astros even think about going outside the organization. Dezenzo is a no doubter unless there is some way to extend Bregman.
Blue-Jays seem to be the favorites for Soler now. Also read they're trying to get out from under Springer's contract.
Springer’s contract is not really even under water. If they want to dump him they will be able to. How awesome would it be to get him back to play LF.
3 more years at 22 million per isn't horrible. The problem is he is seldom healthy. Has he ever had a full season with the blue Jay's.
I’ll never understand that mentality on here. Springer played hard, was a ****ing World Series mvp, and a huge fan favorite. He was the first player brought up that gave us hope from the rebuild. So what if he wanted to get a bag and was pissed at the way he was handled by the organization. Dude deserves respect from all Astros fans.
It is an absolute blessing to have the Astros owned by someone committed to winning championships. Jim Crane is always looking to improve, and he knows the game, too. Not to mention, for the most part, he lets his baseball people have their voice heard and do their jobs. Think about this: If the Nationals and Padres were willing to sell in recent deadlines, Crane would have authorized trade deadline deals for Justin Verlander (twice), Bryce Harper, Zack Greinke, Josh Hader and Blake Snell.
