With Stanton and Cole both having $300+ million dollar contracts I have a feeling that the Yankees will elect to go with a cheaper/shorter term contract for their SS. There is also some injury concern with Correa and they are already dealing with that on a yearly basis with Judge and Stanton.
If Carlos thinks he can make a go of it on the Mets and will be in playoff contention year-in/year-out, he's more than welcome to.
The Astros are spending $75MM this year on Verlander, Greinke, and McCullers. The argument for spending on offense is the injury/randomness factor. Pitchers are notoriously fickle relative to position players, and their injuries are more often season-ending (or multiple-season-affecting) and/or change the trajectory of their careers. Offensive players often have shorter injuries and when they return, they can quickly get back to what they were doing. Obviously it varies by player, but that's the general risk factor. You can often reliably solidify your offense with money. With pitching, it's much more of a crapshoot. Beyond that, the Astros already passed on Keuchel at $15MM, Morton at $15MM, and Cole at $30MM. Not sure what kind of quality pitching they are willing to invest in - you're probably looking at more Odorizzi types, which are really no better than what they have now once you add some maturity/experience and build up their innings counts. Young players also need time to develop. The Odorizzi signing is what ultimately bumped Javier from being a starter, which might be a net negative. Out of the following, who do the Astros want to delay developing for the timebeing? LMJ, Javier, Framber, Garcia, Odorizzi, Urquidy, Whitley and whomever is in the pipeline? You'll of course have injuries, but each player you sign bumps one of these guys down the totem pole.
We're lucky to be seeing the Golden Age of Astros baseball, and Altuve and Correa are the heart of the team. You have to keep them in Astros uniforms for the duration, as long as they want to be here, even if it means ignoring the conventional cost considerations. The calculus is just different this time. If the Astros were to let Correa slip away, there's a good chance they'd come to regret it later on. I don't think they will.
Im not aware of Wander being a defensive plus... they don't have anyone unmovable at 2B or 3B. My point wasn't that i thought it would happen, only that there are few contenders with payroll low enough to pay him... Most teams with the money to burn aren't contenders...
Not accurate. Verlander 33 million Greinke 24.7 million (Arizona paying the remaining 10.3 million) McCullers 6.5 million (extension starts next season) =64.2 million
Hunter Brown and Forrest Whitley (hopefully healthy) are added to the Astros pitching staff next year. Alex Santos needs a big jump in improvement
What do you think happens? Correa signed and Pena traded for pitching help? Pena given the chance to compete for SS and someone like Stroman signed in the rotation? Does Verlander accept the qualifying offer? Do they take a shot on someone like Jon Gray instead of the upper tier rotation guys? It'll be fascinating to see what they do. I'd love it if they sign Correa but that most likely means you're sacrificing someone like Yordan or Tucker later??
Santos is pretty far away. Had a decent first full season and has a lot of potential. Not sure what happens with Whitley? Can you imagine if he comes out of nowhere and is awesome again? Doubt it though. I can definitely see guys like Hunter Brown and Solomon getting legit shots at the big league level next season. Curious to see if Verlander is back? Or if they sign or trade for some more arms? Will be interesting for sure.
I think they make an offer to Correa but it gets soundly beat by another team. I could see them making a run at Semien or Story. They are going to have potentially 3 2nd round picks if Verlander declines the qualifying offer like Correa will. So giving up their 2nd pick for signing a player with a qualifying offer attached won't be that painful. If they sign one of those guys Pena could become trade bait for pitching. Or if they like Pena enough to be the SS next season I would expect them to at least bring in a veteran SS like Jose Iglesias or Galvis as a backup plan. Personally, if they go with Pena I want to see an offensive upgrade in CF (Starling Marte) or possibly catcher (Contreras) to offset the loss of Correa. I hope Verlander accepts the qualifying offer but I expect him to get a 2 year deal in the 40-50 million dollar range plus incentives. Jon Gray had arm trouble at the end of the season. I doubt the Astros go that way. I don't really consider him an upgrade over what we have anyway. If the Astros go after a starter in free agency it needs to be Gausman, Stroman, Verlander, Ray, or possibly Syndergaard. The rest of the free agents don't seem like an upgrade over what we have and Rodon doesn't interest me with his shoulder issues.
What do you think about trading for a guy like Glasnow??? Pretty risky but the guy just oozes stud and you'd think Click would have some inside info. Luis Castillo and German Marquez somewhat interest me as well if they become available.
Hunter Brown I heard is a Justin Verlander, Tigers Fan. His delivery looks like Justin Verlander. Lance McCullers was asked who is the most impressive Pitchers to him. Lance said Hunter Brown and Forrest Whitley.
It was cool to see after Astros scoring runs Carlos Correa had his arm around Jeremy Pena as a friend. This is tough knowing Carlos might leave Pena is next man Up.
What if Carlos Correa gets signed and Alex Bregman gets traded for Luis Castillo of the Reds. Jeremy Pena plays 3B
