Walker has 2yr/40m left on his contract, and they have surprisingly similar stats over the past 2 years. Theoretically the Mets could have had him for a couple of low-level prospects (I'm totally assuming the Stros would have done that, hell if I know though).
The idea that we can't find playing time in the lineup for a 26 year old who's one of our best hitters is false. And on a club controlled contract? Eat money on Walker's deal and find a suitor. Move Correa and his cannon arm to left. Something. Paredes is not the problem. Our only guys with OPS+ above 103 were Pena, Paredes, Correa, and Altuve (and Yordan for <50 games). I don't think we can afford to lose any of those bats without adding a similar hitter to replace them.
Or they "trade" for free agents 2 years into their long-term deal, at a discount, and have the other team pay a chunk of their salary. (what the Astros got with Correa... or what they're trying to do on the opposite end with Walker).
Not to mention all of those player (including Paredes) aren't going to play a full season no matter what. They're just not in a great position. Their big contracts are for past-prime/injury prone guys on the downside. They don't have enough viable starting pitching. They don't have any standout prospects on the cusp (both in terms of everyday impact or trade factors). And they're not going to exceed any tax concerns to add a truly impactful FA (and even if they were, they refuse to outbid any other team in terms of years). They're meeting all criteria for a total tear-down, but there's enough salvageable/redeeming factors in a weak division to still make a go of it.... and attendance will never plummet here unless the team is awful with no stars, and that's a testament to the "brand" they've established.
Yeah, it's a difficult path to contention. Involves a lot of luck with health and probably needs a healthy Yordan at MVP level and a healthy Brown in Cy Young contention. I do think there's a bit of a sunk cost fallacy going on with some of the bad contracts. I don't like paying bad players big money. But that's already going to happen. They don't need to compound that by getting rid of better guys so we can play the worse ones. At least I think we've moved past the idea that Lance and Javier are definitely filling spots in the rotation. Just because they're being paid like mid-rotation starters doesn't mean they will pitch like that.
Maybe we are just in the era of mediocre overpaid first basemen. Jeff Bagwell and Frank Thomas aren’t walking through that door. No one talks enough about Bagwell and Thomas being born on the exact same day May 27, 1968. That should be as well known as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson dying on the exact same day - July 4, 1826.
I agree but he is equally inept in left field. So far what I have heard from Joe Espada is the want Yordan to DH as mych as possible and have talked about Altuve and 2B multiple times without mentioning left field once. My educated guess is Altuve plays 75% 2B, 15% DH and 10% LF unless Yordan gets hurt. And unless Paredes is traded, Yordan would only open a DH spot for him, not move Altuve into that role.
Lol. Also the Astros could… just maybe… try and develop a 1B? Because the last one they promoted from the minors and had sustained success in the majors was….?
He may because the Dodgers do have the best prospects to trade. The Tigers aren’t being forced to trade him there…. But having the best devleopmental system possible will give you these sort of options. Any team can also choose to throw resources at player development and it doesn’t cripple any sort of profit margins. You just have to make it a point of emphasis (which the Dodgers have always done moreso than other teams). Yes, of course, they have no risks of ever having a “bad” contract.
Maybe I’m wrong, but it feels like the Astros are 100% going to make minimal moves and then pull a “we were injured last year. We believe in the guys we have coming back.” That’s a recipe for going all out for a wild card spot.
I had my doubts when only looking at 2025 but when including 2024. The hope is Walker still has some 2024 / post all star break 2025 in him.
