This is pretty clearly not the Astros intention with Hermann, as the scenario for him to end up in Round Rock is complicated and unlikely.
There's not really any hate for Kemp, he's just an awkward fit for this Astro's team. Marisnick is a more prototypical 4th OF, and his handedness fits better with the Astros having Tucker/Reddick in the corners. The Astros seem to like having 12 position players, so with 2 catchers, Reddick, Springer, Tucker, Diaz, Tuve, Correa, Bregman, and Yuli all seemingly locked in, you have two spots for Kemp, Marisnick, White, and any outside addition. White and Marisnick seem to be better fits than Kemp. If the Astros trade either Reddick or Tucker, Kemp absolutely makes sense on the team.
If they trade Tucker, Kemp still doesn’t fit. This is all assuming we pickup another OF upgrade, of course.
I was making that statement without the assumption of another added OF, but it would depend on the other OF. If the Astros added Brantley, Kemp would again be an odd fit. If the added Pollock or Haniger or something, that would give them 2 CF capable RHH OF, so maybe Kemp would be the better fit, especially if they felt Diaz could play LF to spell Reddick vs lefties sometimes.
Good point, Although I don’t think that someone like Pollock would need Kemp to split time with him. What would be really interesting would be if we signed somebody like Cruz to play DH, would be trade White, or hope that he can play left field on a consistent basis?
Kemp has the clutch Gene and isn't nearly as bad as some on here make him out to be. If you want a guy to give you what Jake gives you then call up Straw, hesh much cheaper. I get that there are alota of Jake fans around here, but he's not all that.
Kemp wouldn't really be splitting time with Pollock, he'd probably mostly be a PH (for Stassi or something) or play LF when one of the other OF needs a day off. Pollock mostly makes Jake redundant, so it's more of an even match between him and Kemp, and Kemp is probably the better player independent of context. If they had White and Cruz on the roster together, they'd probably play Cruz in LF, and White at DH.
Nothing, in fact he was one of the more clutch hitters on the team last year. People who have love them some Jake have to find a way to keep him on the roster. They usually do this by saying Kemp's defense is bad. While Kemp isn't on the same level defensively as Jake, he's not bad at all. Certainly not as bad as some on here make him out to be.
Hate is too strong a word, but there is a good chance he is not one of the 3 best hitters among Astros outfielders. As Astros lead a lot of games, the Astros can use a defensive OF more often than they can a PH. I'm not sure what will happen, but it seems Astros have a lot of 4th OFs. This may be the year the Astros do favor offense over defense as Kemp is a better competitor than Jake has had in the past.
Is it Kemp vs Jake then? Rather than compare stats, maybe we should look at overall team strengths and weaknesses. IMO, the offense suffered more than the defense or pitching. Hitting depth might be more valuable than defensive depth right now. What Jake brings cant be ignored. But for me, its not so much I favor one over the other, more, I think the right answer depends on what other changes happen to the roster. It might come down to this. Which bothers you more? 1) Miscues in the outfield that give up a base or a run. 2) The guy who kills your inning when guys are on base.
I think the more pertinent question would be how many more runs could Jake theoretically save than Kemp.
Kemp out-performed expectations, while Marisnick under-performed. And Kemp is cheaper. I certainly see the value of Marisnick and his defense, but I was really impressed with what Kemp brought to the lineup, and loved him in the second leadoff spot.
That is a tough question to get around. If Jake were not here, Straw is maybe the only guy. And then, you have additional problems. Maybe our "big bat" acquisition is a CFer? (unlikely)
With the way Kemp played last year, Marisnick saved about as many runs in the field as he cost the Astros at the plate versus Kemp. Kemp costs less and has an interesting upside. Marisnick has more value in games Astros are winning. Kemp has more value in games Astros are losing. I'm leaning towards Marisnick because I think Astros will win a lot of games (i.e., they can use defense more than offense from a reserve player). However, I don't have a strong viewpoint as I think both are valuable players.
Does that mean we adjust expectations going forward, or that Kemp should be expected to be worse this year while Marisnick should be expected to get better?
