Signing Bregman has always been the Astros top desire - but they were not going to over pay. Why is Framber the only starter that it makes sense to trade? Have you seen what starting pitchers are getting that are not even healthy? Sandoval will miss at least half of next year and got 2/20 and another pitcher went 0-10 and got 10 million. Right now the value of quality starting pitching under team control is very high. If the Astros are convinced in their depth or upper level minor league arms - they could solve several holes by moving a younger pitcher under team control.
Yikes . . . 1st? I would have thought Left would be better suited. Never really thought about his arm though, maybe he doesn't have much distance.
RHP 3B Paredes good 2B Altuve good DH Alvarez great C Diaz good OF TBD 1B Singleton good OF Dezenzo average with upside OF McCormick average SS Pena below average LHP SS Pena great 2B Altuve great DH Alvarez great OF TBD OF McCormick great 1B Paredes good C Diaz good CF Meyers good 3B Dubon good Effectively 2 platoons in Singleton/Dubon and Dezenzo/Meyers, with Caratini a switch hitter always available. Another balanced bench bat would be nice but not required. The lineup against righties would need one elite hitter, Dezenzo to be plus, and would need McCormick and Pena to be serviceable. The lineup against lefties would be among the top 3 in the league. Bregman is an obvious answer, but I still think Pederson is the shortest highest value route to addressing Houston’s main issue. He is a top 10 hitter in baseball against RHP, and while he is NOT a good defensive player, I think his negative impact in LF would be minimal, especially given the fact that the Astros would have Meyers available as a late game defensive replacement most games. If they do add 2 bats, one of them needs to be a player who hits righties well AND can play CF (or SS). I would be willing to give up a ton to add Correa and Buxton from the Twins if they were required by their owners to slash payroll. Those 2 would elevate these lineups to all-time great status (with the obvious health risks),
I honestly don't think it's about the money. Deferring money doesn't shorten the commitment and keep a possibly negative player off the roster in 2031.
I could see that. I just think if Framber, as a proven TOR, is really more valuable than a guy like Arrighetti who has TOR upside, but is established to about 4th SP and 5 years of control remaining, then it's unproductive to trade Arrighetti and keep Framber. Framber would bring more. Framber is gone in 2026 anyway. Arrighetti could blossom into a TOR (25%?) MOR (40%?) BOR (25%?) SP or regress and be out of the league (10%?) Trading Arrighetti makes 2 holes in 2026 rotation instead of 1 and you got a lesser return.
I think injury luck is finally going to swing in the Astros favor in the rotation after 2 really bad seasons. Framber, Brown, Blanco, Arrighetti, and Garcia each make 20+ starts. Wesneski, McCullers, Javier, France, Gusto, Gordon, and Blubaugh all pitch effectively at various times and in various amounts.
It's luck because this is today's MLB Max effort and manipulation of your arm on every pitch. Every pitch is a crap shoot. Garcia, Javier, France. These guys weren't old or broken down.
Another? Abreu was 36 when we signed him. If we had signed him to a 3 year deal when he was 34 the contract would have been fine.
If the Stros think they can extend him they will. If they think they can't, trade him and maximize the return.
No room for Singleton on this roster. He has no trade value unless it's a throw in on a bigger trade to a non-contender. DFA time
We're an OF signing away from having a lineup next year that is indisputably better than this year, while also being better positioned for the future. I've been down on this front office, but the vision is pretty clear now.
