Offense has a lot of ways to improve: Alvarez and Altuve health, Diaz playing more, Chas batting more even if he regresses some at plate, Bregman and Tucker may have a bounce back, playing guys when they have a platoon advantage, even removing Julks and playing Meyers over minor league heroes should help. Somethings will go wrong. Provided guys more or less hit like they did last year (the bad is even with the good), the Astros offense should be much better. Personally, I'm expecting one of two outcomes regarding hitting, 1) The Astros offense is dominant making upper 90s/100 wins easy. Diaz has a really great year at the plate and the pitching staff is miraculously unaffected or better with Maldy. Chas is treated like a big dog. Meyers hits about average, is involved in numerous trade specualtion on this BBS, but ends up producing more WAR than most of the guys he's speculated to be traded for. 2) Meyers really sucks like he did in 2022. Chas regresses, but is still a good player. Pitchers perform poorly and blame Diaz despite sucking regardless of who catches. Guys are hurt. Overall players don't play like they did last season and people are like..see it isn't Dusty's fault.
Teams are interested in Jake Meyers - but not at what the Astros were hoping. There are a number of guys that are good gloves in center but with a questionable bat. The Astros have financial realities to live with like every other team not in Los Angeles, so they have decided to see how Meyers does healthy and with more playing time. If he doesn't improve, then they will upgrade when it is practicable and the cost is reasonable. With Diaz catching and hopefully Abreu healthy, they can give a little longer leash to Meyers and Pena and see if one or both of them improve with the bat. Plus, the system is full of potential centerfielders in a season or two down the road. I personally would have tried to sign Aaron Hicks, but I know that the reason he is going to Anaheim is he thinks he will get more playing time.
The Astros have stated their intentions. I'm simply trying to be optimistic and give reasons it may work while staying positive. I hope Meyers succeeds, but would be very very surprised, even if he's good in 2024 and/or 25 if he is among the top 4 Astro OF in PA by 2026 or after
Just messing with ya. You are always dying on that Meyers hill. I hope he has a good season. I hope Espada plays Chas everyday, regardless of what he’s doing with Meyers. Chas has earned it for a while now.
If you didn’t ask for money coming back for trout they should trade him for very very little. He’s not likely a surplus value contract. You shouldn’t have to give up much for him. Like- Meyers ought to do it.
Agree with all until the last paragraph. I prefer Meyers for free to signing hicks. If you are going to upgrade on Meyers really upgrade (LF) and slide Chas over to CF. He’s fine there.
It's not about the money or the value with Trout He is an MLB Mt Rushmore type of player. No way the Angels trade him anywhere unless it's is a huge overpay. No way they actually pay a large % of salary and/or trade him for players that don't excite the fanbase. And that is the problem with wanting him. He is no longer worth anywhere near what it would take to get him.
I infered that Brown said he was going to try to trade Meyers and 29 other GM's have a different opinion of Meyers value than Brown or you do. Nothing more or less, we will get a chance to find out if Brown and you are right. Let's put it this way. Game 7 down 1 run men on 1st and 3rd with 1 out, how comfortable are you about Meyers getting the tying run home?
You're probably right about having to go outside the org to find an OF. Hopefully Meyers works out and this is all a moot point. I'm thinking Loperfido/Corona/Melton can play CF close to or better than Meyers. I've got little doubt they can hit better than Meyers. (Except maybe Corona) Baez can hit better than Meyers but will have to play LF and Chas CF which means they can cover ground but their arms are weak. But how much better is Meyers arm than Baez? Not much from the very little of the highlights of Baez I've seen. BTW, I dont dream about MLB players.
Right now I am more comfortable with him getting the tying run home than: Singleton, Kessinger, Julks, Pena, Salazar, or Caratini ( 0 for 3 w/3 Ks last year)or anyone w/o any MLB experience Jake was in that very spot twice last year and homered once and hit into a FC and scored a run in the other. He was up w/ runners on 1st and 3rd (any out situation) 7 total times last year and only Kd once and did not hit into a DP.
I am in the same boat as you when it comes to the offense. I think this offense can be a top 5 in baseball, but I can also see where this offense can struggle. If this team can stay relatively healthy, they should be fine. My concerns are Bregman and Abreu. I know Bregman is in a walk year so he might be dynamite, but he is a very streaky hitter... I really think Abreu will be better in 2024, but it's imperative that Yordan has protection. We need people to get on in front of him and be able to provide the protection he needs. He also needs to be batting third in the lineup. One thing that bothered me about Tucker last year towards the end of the year was his personal agenda for chasing stats. It started at the end of August, and it bleed through October. He was pressing so hard to get to 30/30, and it was obvious. He got outside of his comfort zone chasing for the long ball. I hope he has a killer 2024.
We were a top 5 offense last season, with Abreu sucking plus a lot of Julks and Maldonado, so I don't think calling us top 5 this year is being particularly optimistic. You think we could struggle because really good hitters won't be good?
Yordan needs to hit 2nd. Him hitting 3rd is old fashioned thinking. The best hitter on the team should hit 2nd. The next best hitter should hit 1st The next best hitter hits 4th The 4th best hitter, hits 3rd. The reason is because the #3 hitter gets more PAs with 2 outs and nobody on base than any other spot. The only outcome that likely ends in a run there is a HR Hitting Yordan 2nd keeps him from that fate while guaranteeing he hits in the 1st inning every game. If he hits 2nd, even with bases empty he can get on base with only 1 out good hitters behind him leading to a solid chance to score.
Altuve Yordan Bregman Tucker Abreu Diaz McCormick Meyers Pena Pena hits 9th so Altuve and Yordan give him that protection everyone says he needs.
And that's why they are the Angels For well over a decade they have prioritized many things over winning
