Bentiendi is a FA after next year, so not a long-term solution. Nobody has really given a good reason why the Royals would trade a young, cheap, good player like Melendez.
Astros get: C Sean Murphy 1B Seth Brown Athletics get: RHP Hunter Brown OF Colin Barber C Yainer Diaz 1B JJ Matijevic Astros pay a steep price but get a top 10 catcher with 3.5 yrs of control and a lefty hitting league average bat who can still be optioned; at worst he can be part of a platoon replacement for Yuli but at best he’ll make an everyday 1B for a few years. A’s get a potential ace and 3 potential core lineup pieces. This trade would really sting as I am extremely high on Barber (and of course Brown), but this trade deepens Houston’s lineup this year and solves the problem for 3 more years.
The reasoning is that the Royals love Salvador Perez and he's under contract for a long time. Melendez was highly regarded as a defensive catcher and only one player can catch at a time. The Royals do weird things like try to give Eric Hosmer a lot of money or intentionally giving alcides Escobar playing time. So moving a young catcher in favor of a vet doesn't seem out of character for them. I think that they very likely see Melendez as one of their guys, and so are content having him play out of position to get his bat in the lineup.
i don't love Seth Brown. I'd rather give Matijevic a shot. Personally, I think the price of Murphy will be too high for the Astros. If we are looking for a player that is not a rental I'm all in on Garrett Cooper. He has another year of arb next season. He's only making 2.5 million this season which means he won't make a ton next year even with a really good season. That could give the Astros some leverage in trying to extend him. He's not a huge power guy like Goldschmidt, etc but between this season and last season he has an OBP over .380, an OPS of .845 or higher since the 2020 season, and coming to Minute Maid and getting away from the big stadium in Miami might up his HR numbers. He would also slide into the lineup perfectly between Brantley and Alvarez or Alvarez and Tucker. I don't believe the Astros need to address catcher with someone that has multiple years of control. They can get a rental if they do address the position at the deadline and then sign a free agent. The potential upcoming free agent catchers are pretty good with Contreras, Narvaez, Vazquez, Zuninio, and Barnhart leading the group. Zunino and Barnhart are struggling at the plate but would still be an offensive upgrade over Castro and Maldy.
The thought would be to give Benintendi a 4 to 5 year deal to stay in LF while letting Brantley walk and Yuli walk. MJ Melendez Could play 1B or they could essentially let him Back up Maldy while watching Castro kick rocks. I would pay a step Price for those 2 players but only those 2 players. We would be getting back a long term solution and cheap and under team control. Maldy cant play for ever but we can have a better batting solution then these 2 .100 Hitters Lorey Lee isnt showing much at the Moment and Yanier Diaz should be up to AAA very soon with his skill set
The issue is do the Astros view Diaz as a catcher? And if so do they have both of them on the same team splitting time behind the plate? AAA is already getting really crowded.
I really don’t think the Astros make any significant acquisitions in the field. They are going to run away with the division and just hope their veterans fix their issues before the playoffs. No way they spend significant assets on a rental bat. They might go after a pitcher if McCullers doesn’t come back and kill it. Rental bats no way. Contreras is a pipe dream. They will just try to rely on pitching and defense and hope they catch fire in the playoffs. They still have to get Tucker wrapped up so going after Contreras and hoping to re-sign him can’t really be on the table. The have proven time and time again that Maldi’s putrid bat is not a factor for them.
Maldonado’s bat wouldn’t be such an issue if Yuli Gurriel were hitting anywhere close to his career numbers. But with Yuli being a very poor hitter, the Astros suddenly have a lineup fraught with risk: beyond their 3 consistent studs, they have Brantley (age risk), Bregman (injury/slump risk), Pena (rookie), and whoever is in CF (unproven). Bottom line is that the Astros probably have pretty solid analysis to tell them if Yuli’s struggles are fixable. If they think he’s done then they need to (and I think will) make a move (to replace one of Gurriel or Maldy).
Murphy is one of the best catchers in the league. Over the last 3 seasons he’s 6th in the league in fwar and projects to be one of the 5 best catchers in the league over the next few years. He can hit and he has a good defensive rep. He’s a huge upgrade from Maldonado in terms of traditional production. Of course how you value/evaluate catcher impact on pitching could change that dramatically.
The front office has 7 weeks to decide if this team, as constructed can win a World Series. They also have 9 weeks of history to observe and review for this. This team has made it to the ALCS every year since it won its World Series in 2017, making it to but losing the WS in 2 of those years. This ownership wants another WS title and every year that there is a chance, the current year becomes more and more of a priority over future years. Especially as players responsible for success leave this team. There are only 5 players left from that 2017 team, and next year there may only be 3. Both the starting and relief pitching have been stellar but there are spots where inconsistencies mean improvements can be made. The lineup's production has been a fraction of the past. There are clear strengths and clear weaknesses that can be improved. We will see if the front offices chooses to make moves but I think it's essential and they also see the need and will make some moves. This is already longer than I intended so I will start a new post for my ideas.
#1 need: A RH run producer to break up the LH bats and punish teams for bringing in LH to face Brantley, Alvarez, and Tucker. Bregman has been terrible vs LHP and Gurriel has just been terrible. Brantley is a platoon player at this point of his career. Bregman is playing 80+% so this hitter needs to be primarily a 1B or OF. #2 catcher: This is clearly a need. If the team can't score runs it doesn't matter how good a catcher is outside of the batters box. But there are so few options that are real improvement without a step back in other areas that I do not expect a move. #3 CF: This is a position of weak and inconsistent offensive production but the team feels Meyers could fix that. There are also few options available that are an improvement. #4 bullpen depth especially LH. The bullpen has been great but can always use better more consistent arms at the back end or to bump a guy down. #5 a consistent #3/4 starter This will be mostly just insurance if McCullers returns healthy. Verlander and Framber have proven to be TOR arms but the other 4 guys are hit and miss. They can throw a stinker any start. That can't happen in the playoffs.
Yuli has another month to get it together. Unfortunately out of C,CF, and 1B, I think he’s the short end of the stick, and we slide him into a UTIL role/late game DH type for Maldy. Not sure what’s on the market, or maybe we slot Brantley to 1B or something else out of the box, but I think Click is going to have to address the lineup in some fashion.
Wy not see if we can Garner trade Interest in Yuli? Blue Jays come to Mind shift Vladdy to DH full time would be a god send to them. plus it unites the Brothers in Toronto.... See what the Interest level is maybe pull off a Reliever or bring home Cavan just for grins.. to me 1B is a clear Hole along with Catcher I think we would be ok with one Siri or Meyers if he gets Healthy there. Hows Brinson Doing in AAA? Yanier Diaz needs a chance in the Majors or at least in AAA we need to see what he has. As for targets I would think Benintendi in LF would be Ideal platoon Brantley every where make him see that the writing is on the wall that he is gone next year even though he hits decent its just and age slash Salary thing I think using Urquidy and Odorizzi as bait is the key to this entire ordeal. Also we don't need insurance at SP we have a guy waiting to pitch as we speak in Hunter Brown. I don't necessarily think we are a WS team yet wit this roster but I do believe we are close with some Injury's coming back and maybe a trade or 2.
Wonder if the Padres would swing a Michael Brantley and a PTBNL for Eric Hosmer and Luis Campusano? opening the door for Yuli Gurriel for Adrien Hernandez?
That’s one good thing about the Astros weaknesses. Both Yuli and Maldy would make fine bench players. Both are great in the clubhouse and excellent mentors. Yuli can still handle 4 positions adequately (1B,3B,2B,LF) and doesn’t strike out much, so you can at least count on him to make some contact as a pinch hitter. Maldy is excellent with the pitching staff and as a late game defensive replacement at catcher. It would be a bummer to just cut Castro, but he’s been bad enough he’d likely clear waivers and not get any major league offers, so for a minimal amount he could be resigned to a minors deal and kept in AAA as a 3rd catcher and mentor to Korey Lee. since McCormick and Siri both have options, Houston could add a 1B and a C and the only casualty would be Castro. Maldy would be the backup C, and Diaz (2B, LF), Yuli (1B, 3B), and Dubon (SS, CF, RF) would be utility players. Downside would be Dubon would be the only bench player capable of CF but that would be at most a 1 game issue with so many capable options waiting in the minors.
