With Maldonado turning 36 later this month, I would love to see this be a trade that locks down a longer-term catcher and could help Maldy transition into more of a leadership/possible coaching role down the line. Maldy is so beloved in the clubhouse and so close with some of those guys; it'd be outstanding to find a way to keep him in the organization even he clearly isn't an everyday starting catcher anymore.
Agree Vasquez needs to play quite a bit But Maldanado has an .852 OPS the past month, he isn't going to immediately be relegated to a backup.
Hopefully we win it all, Vazquez has a great experience, and we sign him for 3-4 years with Martin as his backup. Apparently the two are pretty good friends too
People complain about machetes bat all the time... if he's the only hole in the lineup I'm good with it. Not many elite defensive catchers who can also hit. If you're going all defense somewhere catcher is first follwed by ss then centerfield...
I can see Maldy and Valdez splitting the duties helping both to be fresh for the post season. Sharp and Rested sounds like splitting sharing the workload.
Maldonado: .175 BA .241 OBP .342 SLG .582 OPS 42 Hits 83 Strikeouts -0.3 WAR Vazquez: .282 BA .327 OBP .432 SLG .759 OPS 83 Hits 51 Strikeouts 1.8 WAR You're trying to win a World Series. Who are you starting?
⁸ Depends on matchups and situation but all things equal Vazquez. If Vazquez catches 11 innings the night before a day game i would lean Maldonado next day.
Something like this seems best for everyone. I would like to see Vazquez catch at least 3 out of 5 games and then he can DH or play 1st in 1 of the games Maldy is a Catcher especially if he is on a hot streak. Vazquez and Mancini both seem like guys that can get hot at any moment. Hopefully we catch lighting in a bottle with whoever we acquire like the Braves did last season with their 4 OF acquisitions that helped them win a World Series.
This is EXACTLY what I was hoping the Astros would do. Going into the playoffs with an "easy out" at the bottom of the lineup is not a good idea. They addressed the problem in a big way. This team is good largely because their management is smart. The opposite is true of the Texans.
Ideally he's a first so he can serve as a backup catcher... Maybe Yuli gets a day off which he probably needs at his age and stage in season... You don't want to lose the DH because Maldy gets hurt. Wouldn't impact extra innings as much since relievers are pinch hit for routinely but in the playoffs the automatic runner isn't there so games can go longer.
Yuli needs days off from time to time. Vazquez or Mancini can sub in some depending on situation at the time.
For all the talk about how important it is to have a catcher than can hit, the one year that Boston actually won the World Series was the one year that Christian Vazquez hit worse than Maldonado ever has.
2B Jose Altuve SS Jeremy Pena DH Yordan Alvarez 3B Alex Bregman RF Kyle Tucker LF Trey Mancini 1B Yuli Gurriel C Christian Vazquez
