It's nice to see Fiers put together some quality starts. I hope to see McHugh back in a month and may be rusty but in mid season form by end of season. It could be worse with Keuchel, Musgrove and Morton but I am optimistic that the rest they are getting while spending short stints on the dl for minor injuries can help more then hurt in the long run. Our offense looks great and is finally clicking. We have a big lead in the division and can afford the losses ...just trying to put a positive vibe out there.
Of all the ideas that have been proposed on this board, this was amongst the worst. There's a reason Centeno is a mediocre career minor leaguer that hasn't stuck anywhere. 2 major league home runs don't change that.
Besides the pitching woes, which we can hopefully alleviate via a trade or two, I'm a bit worried about Beltran. I know we have a long way to go but he's striking out a lot and not being the run producer we need. Hopefully he's saving his best for the stretch run and playoffs.
No, but many teams wait until then to decide if they are in the race or sellers Tampa wouldn't move Archer now, but if they struggle over the next month they might at the deadline Lot of other guys in this same situation
Right. Luhnow also mentioned, during the pre-game show, the Astros likely target time is late-July. He said they'll probably be aggressive, but not until later.
He was a top ten pick by Detroit. Dombrowski traded him and Andrew Miller for Miggy several years ago. He has had a lot of injury and consistency issues.
Matt Holliday is looking like the smart one-year DH signing. I get that he's a righty and didn't fit our team as well but yeah. Hopefully Beltran gets going soon.
Personally, I think Archer is a pipe dream. But yes, some teams could join the seller ranks over the next 6 weeks. While I didn't elaborate, my thinking was we need two starters right now. 1) Tor - for the playoffs 2) Bor - to eat innings right now to offset our injuries A Bor type guy isnt nearly as hard to find and should be out there right now. This is our immediate need and IMO, we should have gotten him a week or two ago. The Tor guy, yes, I can see the logic in waiting.
There is something to be said about how and why losses occur. Picking up a Bor guy will cost us little and there is no reason (IMO) why we shouldnt have pulled the trigger already.
Capable MLB starters do not come cheap. It will almost certainly cost us a significant prospect. Musgrove will be back tonight. McCullers and Fiers are both capable starters. Morton and Keuchel should be back in week or two. We expect McHugh back and we will add one significant pitcher at the deadline. That's seven pitchers. So basically you want to give up a prospect for maybe 5 or 6 starts while our rotation is in really bad shape. If he's as cheap as you think he will be, it's because he sucks and won't help us.
That is what a strong farm is for. I only have complete confidence in one of those guys. When Morton and Keuchel return is pure speculation. Especially Keuchel who already missed a game with injury, came back and went down again. I am pretty sure no chances will be taken this second time around. He could very well miss a number of starts. Back next week or the next could be way off. Its not only about mitigating a injured SP staff, but also about saving the bullpen from depletion. Not to mention maybe winning a few games that we may lose having to use guys that clearly are not ready like Martes, Diaz, Guduan and Paulino. Getting Musgrove back will help a bit with this.
Since you said this twice already.. This team was/is up double digits in the division. They have guys who have shown promise through different channels/paths (Peacock, Feliz, Martes, Paulino) as potential starters. If there was *ever* a time to give them a shot on a winning team, this is it! Great bullpen, great hitting, comfortable lead, 100 games still to play before the playoffs. Perfect! And now you're going to say "no reason we shouldn't have traded for a bottom-of-rotation guy" (who, by the way, you shouldn't have any more confidence in than you do in Fiers or Musgrove) *already* ? As in, not even tried the in-house options once? Much less given them a chance to work out the kinks? If Keuchel was out for longer than a week or 2, then you can start thinking. I don't see a need to trade depth for a 2 week stopgap given the current situation. Letting minor leaguers languish and do nothing isn't good for the system either. Some early experience could mean a lot if any of these guys need to come up big in September/October unexpectedly.
In response to different posts Maybe you are willing to sacrifice our lead for developmental reasons, But I am not. I want to take full advantage of possibly the best chance we have had in a long time to go far in the playoffs. Part of that is maintaining our lead to make sure we have that opportunity in the first place. This isnt 2012-13 any more. The days of unnecessarily experimenting with unproven rookies is over. Id rather have two more Fiers's on the team than drain the bullpen. I am all for giving unproven guys a chance. But I want it to happen in a calculated way on a timetable that suits the player(s) in question rather than promote them prematurely in a desperate attempt to fix a problem at the ML level. Minor leaguers are in the minors for a reason. Why would you say they are languishing for being there? Doing nothing? Really?
I'm not trying to "sacrifice" a lead. I'm suggesting leveraging depth to stay afloat over unnecessarily giving up pieces who could be used in more important deals. And potentially not sacrificing the lead much, given that this team is good/balanced. Also, losing a couple of games now doesn't mean a lower chance of going far in the playoffs. In a vacuum, yes. But it depends what the cost is. And then what you do with whoever you get when guys get healthy again. Also, how did you know the bullpen would get drained vs. Martes, Peacock, or Paulino developing into a better Fiers...or possibly even an upper rotation arm for late this season? It wasn't/isn't worth finding that out given the impact it could have this season?
