I conveniently forgot about him, but perhaps because he wasn't even close to the MLB leader Olson who had 139 that year to Tucks 112.
Stat-pad box scores look awesome. Imai has now earned his money 3 straight games. The walks were high but he countered with high Ks. Then Blubaugh and Claus finish it off, both going multi. Then, the offense. Beautiful box score. Great first 2 games... but unless we sweep, it's a losing home stand. Mr Multi-run Bomb is tomorrow's momentum. Yordan is on early Tri Crown watch. DH wins MVP.
Mauricio Dubón is a career .676 OPS backup infielder making 6 million. Trading Dubón was a salary dump which allowed Dana Brown the "cap space" to sign FA pitchers this last offseason like Imai, Lambert, Pearson et al.
I think painting Dubon with his career OPS is selling short what he actually is, but otherwise agree. He put up 5.1 fwar from 2023-2025, He was a ~$12M//yr player making $6M. So the question was does freeing up that ~$4M and adding Allen provide that much value. For me it’s probably a yes: Allen is a ~$4M/yr player making $1.4M. Allen does have 2 more years of control and he will probably carry a small amount of surplus value next season even if he doesn’t improve. The rest of the money you can say was allocated to the cheap free agents they added (Vazquez, Pearson, Lambert, Wade). I don’t think trading Dubon had any bearing on signing Imai. I think you can evaluate this trade pretty simply as Dubon for Allen and Vazquez. Considering what Vazquez has meant to this team so far I think that’s a win for Houston even despite the difference in war production. Dubon is the same player he was last year, balls are just finding the sweet spot of his bat more frequently this year. I expect him to recede over the rest of the year and end up where he’s been the last 2-3 seasons.
The division is subpar, but the entire AL is mostly mediocre too. Mariners are barely above 500 yet find themselves 2nd in differential (+30). The Astros are directly responsible for both of those fraudulent statistics by sucking 1-7 with -27, head-to-head. Tampa's best record comes with a weak +10 run-diff If the Astros get decent health going forward, they could realistically finish 2nd or 3rd seed. The rotation and pitching staff (sans Abreu) is already sorting itself well... next, Hunter's return. The offense is MUCH better than last year --- runs scored 21st --> 7th.
He has almost surpassed last year’s WAR… and he’s a valuable contributor on a team that is most likely to give the Dodgers the most competition for the NL. Dubon is the type of player you have to have on championship teams. On meh or mid teams, he’s probably too expensive.
the bitter irony, the AL almost seems wide open. if no other consolation, Yordan possibly winning the triple crown would be so badas*
Dubon wouldn’t have made a material difference on the team this year. We should have just rolled with the youngsters (Matthews, Dicenzo) instead of signing Allen. Taking a flyer on Shewmake was alright, but in the end having or not having Dubon with his 6M (arbitration next year) contract really didn’t amount to hill of beans.
I think working Meyers and Wade as a platoon (Meyers plays against lefties, Wade plays against righties) could result in middle of the order caliber production from them. That would leave the Astros just needing to cobble together the other OF spot. Career wRC+ vs R/L: SS Pena 101/131 DH Alvarez 163/169 3B Paredes 115/131 1B Walker 111/111 2B Altuve 122/143 OF Wade/Meyers 113/106 OF Smith 77/121 OF Trammell/??? 97/??? C Vazquez 76/86
Loperfido looks like a platoon bat or 4th OF (wRC+ 104 against RHP, 62 against LHP). I think the only reason they optioned him is because he and Trammell are basically the same player and Trammell is out of options (and has been hitting well). But either way, between those 2 guys and Cole, Houston should have one OF spot covered against RHP. If Smith can improve against RHP (or if Houston is just willing to sacrifice offense for defense), Houston’s OF lineup against RHP projects solidly (Wade, Trammell/Loperfido, Smith). Smith and Meyers cover them against LHP, they just need one more. I think Matthews and Dezenzo are the 2 guys who have a chance to stake a claim to a roster spot. especially Matthews. If he can show he can hit lefties he becomes pretty valuable as the short side of that 3rd OF spot and a bench player who can cover 6 positions, pinch run, and offer power as a bench bat
Might've been worth it to play Lamonte Wade again and see if his bat is still hot. Brice sucks at Daiken.
