Pillar will earn $3.6MM this year. There is a $2.9MM player option with no buyout or a $6.4MM club option with a $1.4MM buyout for 2022, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Interesting deal. Would have liked to have had him. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/02/mets-kevin-pillar-in-serious-talks.html
Signing Brantley is the biggest offseason move and paying Castro pennies to significantly upgrade a key defensive position is not bad.
How big of an upgrade is he vs if his $$$$ had been spent on say Pillar? BTW, Castro sucks Would you rather have Colome and Pillar or Baez? Misused funds. IMHO
Pillar agrees to 1-year deal with Mets The Mets have not announced the deal, which is pending a physical. The base guarantee is $5 million for one season, a source told MLB.com, with a structure that allows it potentially to become a two-year deal worth up to $10 million.
ZIPS, Streamer, and Depth Charts all project Straw to be better than Pillar in 2021. While I am not a big believer in projections, there is reasoning behind them. My guess is that the Astros analytics says the same. So, I am fine with letting Straw play instead of Pillar and seeing what happens. If Straw absolutely sucks, I am sure the front office will figure something else out quickly. As far as Colome vs Baez goes, each are showing decline, holding it together with a lot of luck. Each are getting paid the same AAV for the year, but less actual money this year for Baez. Not enthused by either personally, but I just do not see one being significantly better than the other. So to answer your question, the numbers say the smart money is to take Straw and Baez over Colome and Pillar, if those are the choices. As far as Castro goes, just like Springer, there was never going to be money to sign Realmuto or even McCann, and Molina was never going to sign anywhere but St. Loius IMO. Of the remainder, Castro is exactly the type guy I would expect the Astros to look at. Maybe it is just me, but the Astros seem to prioritize defense in their catchers. Castro is still an above average defender and pitch framer (better than the other options), walks at a decent rate, and while he strikes out way, way, way to often, when he does hit the ball, he has learned to hit it with authority (55% hard hit rate last year, 47 the year before). So while your bias says he sucks, the numbers say he sucks less than the other realistic options, even for the money involved. I think it obvious that the Astros are not going to exceed the luxury tax this year. Maybe they overspent on Castro by your measure, but it is better spent on him than Avila or Ramos. Certainly not worth giving it to Pillar if you consider projections.
Straw doesn’t have to be a good hitter to be a significant contributor to this team. If he can hit .230-.250 while playing really solid defense in CF and stealing a bunch of bases (hopefully still a solid OBP even if his average isn’t high), then he’s a perfectly fine starter since he’s probably the 8-9 hitter in this lineup.
Word. Someone with Straw’s speed can generate a lot of offense just by getting on base; walks and singles are more valuable to a guy like him. He can have a sub .400 SLG and still be really good if he gets on base enough. At .330 OBP he’s a viable everyday CF. At .350 OBP he’s an above average everyday CF. At .370+ OBP he’s a star.
Baez. Cause Colome sucks and Pillar is well below average defensively. Castro doesn’t suck..I don’t give two ****s whether he can hit. Astros lineup is plenty strong enough. Castro is the type of backup catcher 95% of the league would love to have.
For me, Pillar wasn't just about starting in CF over Straw. He also was insurance. Souza has never played significant time at CF in MLB. He has 4 career starts in CF and he will be 32 in 67 days. That means you are likely relying on McCormick to be your backup in CF. Also, I was thinking you could play the late inning game after Brantley's last AB and slide Tucker to LF, Straw in CF, and Pillar in RF. Doesn't matter anymore though with Pillar going to the Mets. You aren't just gambling on Straw. You are gambling on McCormick as well with zero MLB ABs. Considering that guys like Bregman and Tucker have long slumps to start their careers, the idea of having a lesser prospect with zero MLB ABs as a critical bench player is not the most confidence inspiring. Especially when there were cheap CF options out there, and everything I said about Mccormick is true about Siri. Zero MLB experience.
I think that a competent CF with MLB experience is such a low hanging fruit to improve the team, even just as insurance for a Straw injury. The Astros FO isn't dumb, so I imagine they feel confident in their ability to land someone still, or they feel a lot better about the current internal options than I do.
I’m pretty excited with what Straw can do as a nine hitter. People are down on him, because of a bad 2020 and an inconsistent start to his career. He has elite speed and a pretty good eye. The available CF’s are not much of an upgrade if any. Click is a victim of the what have you done for me lately crowd. Signing Brantley was an underrated accomplishment on this board. We also don’t know what’s in the works where Correa is concerned.
I don't believe in those projections. I thought they should go really cheap on the backup catcher and spend the money between Castro/ Baez on a everyday CF. Hope I've seen enough of Castro to last a lifetime. What has Click done to improve the team over last year?
Straw hits for no power and is barely avg defensively and he's your starting CF. Billy Hamilton at best. If they spend that money on Correa then that's a different story. But there won't be any parades unless there's a trade made or the rest of the lineup way out performs what's expected. This goes for the young pitching too. Tell me what happens is inevitable injuries happen to the of? Bet you will wish they would have added a LB then.
