So what, now Click is gonna have to go work in plumbing bc he bet on Meyers? Just kind of a pompous way to describe the situation.
why couldn’t he rotate between catcher and DH? He’d improve both positions easily . Maldy is likely on his last year or will be relegated to back up - dude just can’t hit. At some point we need to improve the offense at catcher - to at least above the Mendoza line
It seems like Click was either just so used to operating with no budget that it just became part of his routine or he just thought he could look like a genius with his moves. He almost acted like it was his money, if your boss wants you to spend, SPEND.
good point. Would still want Astros to go after him for C, Abreu at 1B and either Haniger/JD Martinez for DH
Yeah, that was my takeaway as well. Crane wanted to spend MORE money and make more splashes than Click did. Usually this situation is reversed... where the GM wants to spend big and the owner squashes it. In a way, I respect Click's discipline, however Crane knows the window is now and we have to be aggressive. OK now that Click is gone, let's go out and sign Judge and DeGrom!
I think some have missed the point. Crane is willing to spend more for a Good Deal and the right player. He's not interested in just throwing money away. That's why he shot down the Urquidy deal.
If we could bring back Vasquez, which I know is probably impossible, that could alleviate some of our immediate 1B concerns. We could platoon internally w/ Yuli and our young guys with Vasquez getting more C reps. It would be ideal if Maldy could take more of a backup role who still has a lot of influence with the staff, but not sure if that’s possible. Korey Lee becomes expendable as well. If we could literally manage to bring back JV, Vasquez, Yuli and Brantley, already with Montero…whoa buddy.
Can you imagine this lineup if we got both Abreu and Martinez and they both bounced back to their regular power numbers?
Abreu yes; Martinez no. Martinez XWOBA has dropped off for 3 straight seasons. Abreu dropped in 2021 and spiked to his highest ever in 2022. There is a lot of upside with Abreu, even at age 36. JD isn't the same anymore.
I love Yuli and Brantley, but I would not be happy with the same lineup as last year, minus our trade deadline acquisitions. Another year older does not equate to good things. Now, if we address 1B with a player that adds strong value AND bring back Yuli and Brantley for DH/depth, OK. I'm not a fan of just dumping the youth though. Lee, Hensley, Yainer, Leon, Julks, Whitley, Brown--we need room for these guys to grow. This is where the value lies.
I do not know if you heard this or not but Dusty will be back next season. That means Maldonado will be catching 4 out of 5 games in 2023. no matter who else is on the roster.
Was passing on Marte in favor of Meyers or McCormick even the wrong move? They aren’t as good as Marte but maybe they can be close enough that it makes better sense to use that money elsewhere.
It looked like the wrong move heading in to the postseason. End of day, it was the right one. This new era will more than likely be very aggressive.
What is the fascination with Christian Vazquez? He had an OPS+ of 99 for the year (68 with the Astros) He has a career best of 111 in the shortened 2020 season and exactly 1 other season above 100 (103 in 2019) He is decidedly below average at 1B or DH and Maldy is back so he won't catch more than 1 game per week. He would be a terrible signing.
