This wouldn't make sense to hold a guy down for this... but if you thought he could be a rookie of the year candidate next season you could wait to keep him down so he doesn't lose rookie status, and the team could get a draft pick if he is a rookie of the year level player. If you get 130 ABs or 45 days on the active roster you lose rookie status. That means a call up around the end of August would fully manipulate service time and maintain rookie status. Again, I seriously doubt that would be a real factor, but if for some reason you are looking at bringing him up August 15th.... maybe you wait 10-12 days.
2020 is the epitome of small sample sizes, I don’t read much into it. This year he is having a bad start but I’m confident he can return to form. When he’s on he’s great. Not quite Soto/Trout but the tier below.
It's weird, but he does have an ob about 100 points above ba; which tells me he's seeing the ball ok... maybe change of scenery or hitting coach...
I have not seen anyone bring it up but if I was looking to trade pitching I would start by shopping McCullers. He has value, is controllable and he is extraneous. Should be worth a couple of really good prospects and the team is better off for it.
Nah- you are never better off without that guy in the playoffs. He’s not necessary for the regular season. We probably don’t win the WS without him in 2017, we probably do in 2019 with him and we might well have in 21 without him. You don’t trade that guy for prospects in a competitive window, especially when he’s only making 17 million per.
It's funny you should mention competitive window. Continued winning seasons is why you do trade McCullers for seriously good prospects now.
Don't know if they've run out these configurations yet, but the Phillies have Schwarber listed under LF, Castellenos under LF/RF. If those two are the corner outfielders, pretty much that's the worse OF defense in the league no matter the CF.
The Astros are going to have needs. Waiting until the trade deadline and not the off season lets the Astros target players on shorter deals and commitments that in many cases will not require massive talent costs in trade. It also allows the Astros to make sure they address what actually are weaknesses and not what are anticipated being weaknesses. My observation with the Astros is that the offense is a lot more explosive when they can extend the heart of the order. If the Astros are going to keep running Maldonado out there (they are), then they need 8 genuine hitters in the line up. So adding someone like JD Martinez could make a real difference. Because the Astros don't have any major glaring holes, and with the playoff system the way it is, the options are more limited. The Astros are not going to improve at most positions.... the only real possibilities are 1st if Gurriel shows his age, SS if Pena flops and centerfield if the Astros decide they don't trust the in house options. There is an off chance they could go a corner outfielder that is a hammer bat like JD Martinez. So possibilities at 1st would be Josh Bell. He is a free agent at the end of the year so the prospect cost shouldn't be too high. The question is whether he is really an improvement over Gurriel. The assumption is that the Astros will stick with Maldonado. If they don't, they can get Contreras from the Cubs where he would be a massive offensive improvement but so far the Cubs are asking a lot for a player that will be a free agent. The other options would be in centerfield and those are Ramon Laureano and Cedric Mullins. Both are under multiple years of team control and likely would be fairly expensive, with Mullins being very expensive. The question is are they really that much better than Jake Myers if he comes back? Laureano can hit for some pop but he doesn't have a very good on base percentage and Mullins was very good last year, but had never been a really strong bat before then.
If you add JD, then either he, Alvarez or Brantley is on the bench everyday unless Brantley plays right and Tucker moves to CF (#yikes)
Yeah, you basically have to determine that Martinez is a big enough upgrade with the bat over Brantley to make that type of deal.... and I am not sure that is the case. The Astros are somewhat pigeon holed to CF and C, and while they have tinkered with adding Contreras in the past, I haven't heard anything about them adding a catcher this season. I think it is CF or bust, and with how they feel about Myers pre-injury, I don't think they make a move in CF unless they don't think Myers will return to the player he was pre injury.
Josh Bell seems to make just so much sense for this roster if everything stays as-is (it won’t). He adds an elite left handed bat that can play both positions currently manned by aging players (1B and LF). He is also a rental who shouldn’t be too expensive. I will say Bell will likely be more expensive than most people expect. He shouldn’t require any of Houston’s top 4 prospects (Brown, Lee, Leon, or Whitley), but he will very likely require at least one (probably 2) prospects from the 5-20 range on Houston’s list, which is a steep price for a rental bat who is limited defensively and doesn’t have a long track record of being a dominant hitter. Something like Peter Solomon and Grae Kessinger would be a steep but acceptable price for Bell.
I would love Bell. He came up as a corner OF but moved to 1B for the Pirates and has stayed there since. Not sure if he can still play LF/RF. But he’s having a great season and actually has shown signs of this type of success in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately I have a feeling they just roll with Yuli even if he doesn’t have much pop, but Bell definitely improves the lineup and makes it deeper by adding another power threat. And he’s a switch hitter, too.
Doubtful Pena flops so bad he's not worth putting out there even for his defense. Keeping him playing everyday will help him and the Astros in the future. In CF, the Astros are getting above average offense and arguably the best defense with their starting CF hurt and Chas having a few too many almost catches. I could see the Astros trading CF to help them upgrade another position once Meyers is healthy. The options to me for the offense are upgrade catcher, upgrade 1B (Yuli upgrades backup IF) and/or backup IF. I know the Astros like MM defensively, but I doubt Astros don't acquire another catcher if MM or Castro don't start hitting soon.
I think Pena will be fine, but if he isn't giving them anything offensively then they will have to make a move there or at catcher and there are more options at SS. I don't think they would theoretically give up on Pena either. McCormick is a good platoon or 4th outfielder at little cost, but if he has value I can see the Astros moving him if they either get a CFer or are confident about Myers. The scare with Myers is that he isn't completely established and his injury is worse than people think to recover from. There are concerns about his arm strength in center going forward. Almost every team in the league would add a catcher to at least platoon with MM if not replace him but since the season has started I have heard nothing being discussed. They have kicked the tires on Contreras a number of times but the Cubs have wanted way too much so far. Plus the most popular player on the Astros with the pitching staff and the coaching staff is Maldonado. How much is that worth? I would usually say not much but the Astros pitching has exceeded expectations and the pitching coaching duo gives a lot of credit to MM. I spoke to KG this winter about how the Astros view catching and the Astros are on the more extreme side valuing the defense, pitch handling and leadership over the bat. Who knows though, maybe the Astros go out and get Contreras tomorrow. I would be excited to add Contreras, as his bat is far better than even his numbers show. He hits good pitching well.... and with the Astros in the playoff hunt he may keep his focus for the rest of the season. Let Verlander pick who he wants catching him and the other guys can take Contreras.
