You could do that, or you let Correa walk and just target a centerfielder. I am curious to see if Alvarez is able to play any 1st after the surgery. He did not the last few years because of pain in his knees and legs. If Alvarez can play first, that long term helps the Astros.
With his defensive value, if Pena is a 20+ HR hitter then he is likely a 3-5 win, star-level SS. That would be a HUGE development for the Astros.
Honestly I don't like tying up 1/6th of the payroll going forward on one guy that has a chronic bad back, is injured often and inconsistent. There is no way I would give him a 10 year like he has asked for in the past. He may stay healthy the next decade and prove to be great, but I think that is too big a risk for the Astros. Then again from the numbers I have recently heard he wants, I think no one will come close to meeting his asking price.
Agreed. When the Astros drafted him I was a little puzzled. Nothing seemed special about him and he wasn't even that young.
Still would hate to see Springer and Correa leave in consecutive offseasons though. I know Correa's history isn't good with staying healthy, mixed at best. Still though hate to see him go if his asking price is crazy.
Then he’s a bench player. You don’t move a gold glove caliber SS who’s the face of the franchise and has won a championship. Correa and Bregman aren’t shifting positions.
He has played 2 games in LF in the majors. He would be a good defender in LF and passable in RF but I do not think he would be very good in CF. He is quick but not very fast.
He probably would not be a good centerfielder unless he gets really good reads. I think that we likely see what Straw does up in the big leagues and what Leon does in the minors. If both struggle this year and we lose Correa, we likely see Pena at SS and go out and get a centerfielder. With so many spots open next year on the team, having Click as the GM is likely good... he will give young players at bats even if they struggle. He knows that the possible reward of playing Straw (many years of cheap control) out ways signing a veteran.
I think Altuve to CF would be a fun experiment if he were in his early 20s. I don't actually think the Astros should/will move Altuve to the OF, I just think he's the worst defender of the bunch and it's too bad that he probably isn't a realistic 1B option. If I didn't think it would hurt his hitting, I think it would be fun to give Bregman everyday at bats as a supersub and have a Correa-Pena-Tuve-Yuli lineup. I think there's a chance Correa gets a rude awakening in FA and leans into the narrative of wanting to be an Astros for life to justify a lower-than-expected contract, and the Astros can get him for a deal that makes sense. That likely means your 3 biggest contracts and one of your best prospects are all probably best used playing the middle infield. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out.
If Alvarez could play 1B without it affecting his health then it might make sense to put Altuve at DH. But regardless, if Houston resigns Correa it likely means they plan to trade Pena or use him as a backup.
I hope whoever pounded the table for him is still around - it did seem like a very unexciting draft profile that seems to be working out.
Bregman's hopefully not going to get moved to supersub so that Pena gets in the lineup. But when Yuli drops from the lineup in the next year or so, I could see Bregman moving to first. Bit of a waste of his defensive value but I'm sure he could man the position. I'm not sure Altuve would be a much worse CF than Craig Biggio or Lance Berkman, who manned the position for some pretty damn good Astros teams. That just shows how little the team valued defense at the position in the Jimy Williams early 2000s era, and how slim their other options were.
If Correa wans 300 million he can go to free agency. Anything over 8 years 200 million is too much for me. Rosenthal made a good point about Shortstops aging. "Since 1995, the start of the wild-card era, only nine players age 32 or older have had more than two seasons of 500 or more plate appearances at shortstop. Four (Derek Jeter, Omar Vizquel, Jimmy Rollins and Barry Larkin) were either Hall of Famers or are in the Hall of Fame conversation."
Altuve obviously had the speed to play CF, it would be shades of John Cangelosi out there. Yeah, I suspect that the Astros are not saying much because they don't want to insult Correa by making it more clear that his demands are not realistic. I could see a situation in a different time period where Correa could get 300 million but I don't see it, the teams with huge revenue flow have already targeted and signed players (Cards/Red Sox/Yankees/White Sox/Dodgers) or they already have an elite SS..... plus this is going to be the best market for buyers. Kevin Goldstein was strongly in favor of Pena. I am sure there are others.
Correa is probably looking at the Tatis deal, like, “he got that for 60 games?” I’m guessing the inevitable Lindor extension won’t help either. Sad that an extension with Correa won’t happen this off-season, but it’s hard to blame either side. I don’t fault Correa for not bending, especially with his post-season resume. All he needs is one clean, monster year and his mega offer may just be there. Even if it’s not there, a strong season may surely catapult him above the number HOU has him at right now.
If I am Correa and the Astros offer 200 million over 8 years I take it and ask for an opt out after year 2. Problem solved. If he puts up a couple monster seasons he can renegotiate with the Astros or hit free agency and still be in his 20s.
