Dude Jake is the best player plus value on the team. Trading him would be a losing move. We still have years of control with him. Plays gold glove d and is a capable hitter. That is crazy talk
He brings no run production. This team does not have a problem getting on base. It has a problem driving in runs. 240 players had at least 350 PAs. Jake was 187th in slugging and 230th in ISO !!! He averaged 1 HR every 128 PAs!! A starter simply must produce more. Wanting to hold on to him, knowing that ensures mediocrity.
Fair point but his defense seemed to slip this year. He’s great chasing balls down going left and right but he isn’t that great around the wall. Maybe because of his injury a few years ago. Plus his arm is pretty weak.
And if you have paid attention I have always been a Jake supporter. Oh, and FWIW both Cam and Dubon had an even worse SLG. When those 3 were in the lineup together you were basically accepting a shutout before the game started
The front office should have a sit down with Altuve to discuss reducing his playing time, so that he plays at most 110-120 games next season. He is declining and has reached the point in his career where it's no longer realistic for him to be an everyday player while remaining healthy. Plus there seems to be serious concerns about his foot injury. I'd also like the Astros to end the "Altuve in LF" failed experiment. Stick with 2B and DH for him. Other than that: - get healthy - hope that Cam Smith, Zach Cole and Brice Matthews can take the next step - get another starting pitcher (although I still believe that Javier and Arrighetti can bounce back)
He played 147 games in 2024, I think. hopefully he has a great bounce back year. Imagine if we had his .970ish ops in the 2 or 3 spot all season. We probably make the postseason with ease.
I think adding a top-of-the-rotation starter will be a top-2 priority. Options: -Framber (despite his comments about wanting to be back, I highly doubt Astros entertain) -Dylan Cease (vocally against coming to Houston) -Ranger Suarez (great option) -Zac Gallen (potential discount, Astros lab project?) -Michael King (injury concerns) -Trade candidate (will cost considerable prospect capital)
If they move Pena for a SP1 and trade Walker/Meyers/let Chas/Garcia walk they should be able to sign a FA SP1. I'm think trading with the Marlins for a SP1 would be the way I would go. Adding an contact OF bat with speed is something I would give up Matthews and some young pitchers for. The Cards, Orioles/Twins/Nats would be possible trade partners. I'm making Cole the everyday CF. Main thing I would do is move Altuve down in the batting order and play him less.
Disagree that the team does not have a problem getting on base Obviously Yordan is a great on base guy but he rarely played Pena .363 Correa .355 Jake .354 Paredes .352 Those are the only 4 that get on base as an above average clip Now i'm not saying that keeping Jake is a MUST, in fact I think part of the problem on offense is we have a lot of "ok" guys but need at least one more legit I can carry a team kind of bat C: Yainer is solid 1B: Walker was poor 2B: Altuve is solid SS: Pena is very good, but not studly 3B: Correa is solid RF: Smith was solid for a while and hopefully will be with more seasoning CF: Jake is solid LF: Mix of players that were below average DH: Yordan is a stud, if ever healthy All those solid guys could make for a very deep and great offensive team if we have Yordan + one more offensive stud. If we need to move Jake to open a spot to bring in that type, then fine. But however it is worked, this team needs another true offensive stud
We could turn Zac Gallen into a true front of the rotation type For about 6-8 starts then the IL We need to go get a Sony Gray type to pair with Hunter. Someone that the only tinkering we would do is with his pitch mix, not something that rips his elbow up
Lmao you have no ****ing idea how many games Yordan plays next season, but regardless if your viewpoint is shared by other teams, then he doesn't have much value anyway.
He averaged 135 games the previous four seasons before this one. You've got to be weird as **** to have watched our offense all season and think "we should trade Yordan"
Easy to forget, lots of names to keep track of... Alexander Bla Must be trolling. That's like Dodgers fan saying they should trade Ohtani....
I can't get over what an odd prospect Zach Cole is. He ended up hitting 255 after a strong start. Even without a high batting average, he still managed to walk a fair amount. He also was on pace for an 8 WAR season over a full season - and defensively graded very high. His arm tested highly - his foot speed tested high. He stole bases and certainly hit for power. He was on pace for 40/40 in his short time up, but overall looked very good. He looked dynamic - stealing home, getting to balls not many people could track down. His strikeouts were again a major red flag, as it was a staggering 39%. 39% should not be sustainable - if he can get down to 33% it is possibly sustainable but narrow. What he has for him is that he has a good eye - he doesn't swing at balls often, he just misses a lot in the zone.
