Maybe Salazar does not make Diaz expendable? The backup C should be the 13th position player. It is a complete luxury to have a backup C who will see pinch hitting duties. All the backup C has to do is start 40 games or less, be good defensively and hit his weight. César Salazar fits the bill.
To me, nothing. But it seems pretty clear the front office wants to bring in someone in front of him.
Is there no appetite for Paredes playing LF? I thought there were discussions of that last off season when there was still some hope that Bregman would stay.
Yeah no- they don’t get it both ways. They get the benefit of signing guys like Ohtani and Freeman etc. They can get criticism for poor signings as well, and the realization that they can just go out and sign another player to replace them the next year. They all but certainly do not win the last two titles without endless resources and they barely made the playoffs this season. As I said, they are certainly not poorly run but their level of success is far less without their resources. When you by geography get the best high end talent from Japan, have the ability to defer hundreds of millions of dollars, can spend literally a billion dollars in one off season and can spend twice as much on amenities and player development - you sure as hell better win and win a lot of the times. The Dodgers have smart people in their front office and scouting departments, but they aren’t IMO better than a handful of other teams - the difference is the resources and proximity to Japan culturally.
Elon Musk is working on building them a multi billion dollar cyborg Japanese/Dominican set of outfielders. They will hit after Ohtani and will use AI to improve angles to fly balls. No they aren’t humanoid but the league said it is fine, and the costs will be deferred… hey it isn’t cheating though.
Get that on the hammy...but what a great way to keep his bat in the lineup, should he be willing and if we don't make moves otherwise, especially at home. Would he really rather be a super utility player which is what he'll be should he or Walker not get moved?
In a vacuum this is accurate. But if a team is trying to compete, either he, or someone in AAA, needs to be able to replace the starter if that starter gets injured. Not to mention, the better the catcher is the less important the back up is. The happier an organization is with the starter, the less important the back up is. The backup is pretty important to the Astros.
Pete Alonso age 31. Averaged 2.8 fWAR the past 3 seasons 5yrs / $155M Christian Walker age 35. Averaged 2.7 fWAR the past 3 seasons. 2yrs / $40M Any chance teams now look at Walker as a fallback?
There are at least a half dozen free agents still available who can play 1B and project to hit better than Walker. There are probably teams willing to take on Walker, but only if Houston eats a ton of his contract. Alonso’s contract doesn’t change the underwater value of Walker, as despite the trailing fWAR analysis, they are two different tiers of players.
Astros took a RHP Roddery Munoz from the Reds in the Rule 5. Munoz was the Cardinals #21 prospect in 2024. Upper 90s fb with a good slider but big walk problems in AAA/MLB. Interesting that he was already in the majors and passer thru waivers. He is out of options so can’t be sent down anfter this year even if he sticks in the majors this season. C Daniel Susac was selected before their turn and no other catchers were drafted. Houston’s 40 man roster is now full so they cannot select anyone else.
Maybe. The Dodgers do have the resources they have and have won those titles using their resources smartly. If they act like a small market team with their resources, they don't win those titles. The purpose of an MLB front office is to win a title, and not to avoid bad contracts that are meaningless to a large market team. One can say the Dodgers have an easier path than other teams, but taking "risks" with pocket change is what smart front offices do when $70M over 4 years is pocket change.
