Haven't donated so I can't get edit post but Free agency starts 5 days after the last game of the world series so Saturday?
Yeah, feel that, I don't think this is necessarily the end of Qualls in Houston. I wouldn't be surprised to see a ST invite or MiLB deal potentially.
From what I gather, Tony Sipp is pretty much a lock to return. Kazmir & Qualls aren't returning, Rasmus if the price is right could return. I'd say it's 50/50 right now. Astros are also in on Alex Gordon & Justin Upton. Preston Tucker is likely offered in a deal for a closer like Aroldis Chapman or Craig Kimbrel if they lock up a left fielder to a long deal. Astros will have money to spend on another power arm in the bullpen and a backend rotation starter to pair with Dallas, McHugh & McCullers. Doug Fister is on the radar. Jed Lowrie is almost certain to be traded. Astros may look to upgrade at first &/or third as well. And move Carter & Valbuena as well. I feel very certain that most of the 5-6 or so holes on the roster will be shored up in the next few months. Royals bullpen & contact hitters/gloves should be all in on and not settle for less.
We are not going to copy the Royals. We are likely gonna add some OBP, but we aren't going to specifically target contact hitters. We may add one this offseason, but it certainly won't become an overall direction. Putting the ball in play, not walking, and not hitting HR is pretty much the exact opposite of moneyball.
"Moneyball" is evolving and changing, it is about finding under appreciated/valued measures and assets. Theoretically it could be contact hitters if they were severely under valued in the market. It isn't a static idea or focus in that way. The measures that were valued at the time, now are conventional measures. I don't think the Astros will emulate the Royals, there will be a number of teams doing that and that will drive the value of those "tools" up. However the idea that moneyball is necessarily always attached to homers and OBP isn't accurate either.
The Royals had 6 players post an OPS over .809, and 5 guys that posted an OBP over .360. Regardless of how they came about those numbers, they are impressive numbers for an individual player. I don't think a contact hitter who puts up mediocre numbers is gonna suddenly have more value than it previously did. The goal will still be to look for productive players.
The Royals also don't strike out a lot... and that doesn't always get reflected in the OBP, OPS or batting average numbers (as they also don't walk a lot either). As we saw all post-season... putting the ball in play is an underrated asset that can be quite lethal in the highest of pressure situations.
You are right it worked for them, and you can't take that away. Once they added Zobrist they had 6 really good hitters in their lineup. It isn't as if theses guys were doing it by simply not striking out.
That wasn't even what I was addressing...... I was addressing the idea that moneyball is static, it isn't.... it is entirely dependent on the market and finding undervalued assets. Moneyball will not always target homers and OBP.
Do you have a source for this or is this personal speculation? I'm curious, as I haven't read a lot of rumors so far this offseason.
Brocail will be Texas' pitching coach. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Doug Brocail, Houston's Double A pitching coach, interviewed twice and is expected to replace Mike Maddux.</p>— Jeff Wilson (@JeffWilson_FWST) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffWilson_FWST/status/661948044863115264">November 4, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Greinke will be getting between 25-30 mil a yr. IMO it's a pipe dream to think the 'Stros would lay out that kind of $.
Well, hopefully he will be the first free agent to actually value the tax break between Texas and New York, allowing us to slide in a tad under that. One can hope at least.
You're probably right. If there's one thing I know for sure is that Greinke will sign with the team that offers him the most money. It's the reason he signed with L.A. instead of the Texas Rangers, at least that's what he said at the time: During that time, he wasn't a big fan of the American League. Source for those quotes
With the way Luhnow constructed teams in STL, I don't ever see us inking that type of deal. STL never really signed any marquee free agents to crazy contracts, and they let Pujols, maybe the greatest Card ever, walk for 10/240MM.
There's no way to assume this. These ain't ur daddy's Astros. They are a handful of moves away from being the best team in the majors. Their payroll is infinitesimal. They are operating under a different set of circumstances than any Astros team before them ever has. If I had to bet, I'd bet on us coming out of the offseason with Price or Grienke. Makes too much sense not to. The time is now. They felt the need to upgrade the staff at the deadline. Kazmir turned into a bust. I don't see how they could justify going into next season with that hole that needed upgrading still being there, and I think a safer bet at another ace would be logical.
