I sometimes like to try to think about looking at a problem and attacking it the way Luhnow might have. How far away is my best in house guy from getting a call? I would look at the best upper minors third basemen, center fielders, or shortstops for one that is blocked or otherwise in a wrong situation. Thinking about how they might perform at first base and fit into the clubhouse. Left handed switch hitters get moved to the top of the list. All that happens before I look at major league players except if I am Luhnow I already have a list of those. That is an ongoing chore of someone in the organization. Then there is the who are the best two or three first basemen in MLB approach. Pick the one you want and go get him and worry about the consequences later. It is a very complex or a very simple way to problem solve. Since I can't really be in his head there is no way to really guess what he might do, but whatever it was it almost always a surprise to most of us.
If these are our options, Jose Abreu every single time. He is the PERFECT free agent add for us. Older, so he isn't going to command a crazy amount of years, or a crazy salary. At the same time, has an approach to at bats that we love. He's a middle-of-the-order bat that lengthens our lineup. His also always starts the season slow, probably due to the cold weather in Chicago. Give him a nice, climate-controlled stadium, and he should be hitting for us from Opening Day. I am 100% on the Jose Abreu train, and I think he is absolutely perfect for us. Even when Rizzo was available, I much preferred Abreu. Out of the Snake's options (and considering his contract commitments), #1 is the clear-cut option for me (and the most obvious one), and then my second option would be #5, just re-signing Yuli.
You took the words out of my mouth. Abreu is perfect. And like you said even when Rizzo was available I still preferred Abreu. I think signing him and hopefully getting Uncle Mike back on a team friendly deal would be a great off season. I would also reach out to JD Martinez people. Just to see what kind of salary they are expecting. Go Stros
I think Yuli fortunately for us found the little bit of hitting ability he had left in that bat in the playoffs. He has no power left to speak of. And if he's going to hit .240 on top of that and not take walks, then it's time to move on. Your first baseman certainly can't have an OPS approaching .650. Don't under think it
I want the Astros to make 2 moves. 2 bats, at least 1 LH or switch hitter. 1B/DH/LF/C are the positions they can potentially fill. If they resign Yuli I want it to be in addition to a primary 1B and with the assumption he is a bench player and work him back into 2B and 3B. I read somewhere that Bregman recently said Yuli is still good enough to play SS in MLB. May be hyperbole but I trust his assessment. I like Abreu but if they sign him and Yuli the team will be very RH heavy. They need another LH bat which is why I like Bell over him. If they resign Brantley that's no longer an issue but it's looking like it may be spring training before anyone knows how healthy he is. Maybe sign him to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training that becomes $10-12M if he makes the team and has an opt out if he doesn't
Altuve Pena Alvarez - contact hitter Bregman - contact hitter Tucker Abreu - contact hitter Brantley - contact hitter Vazquez - contact hitter McCormick Good luck against this lineup.
Those numbers don’t concern me, being he was the batting champ a year ago. He showed up when it mattered most. It isn’t always about the numbers; chemistry matters also. Let’s not forget he was a gold glover as well. Again, don’t overthink it.
Yuli coasted in the regular season. He hit when it mattered....spring training and the playoffs. It would be neat to see him try the Aledmys role.
I think Yuli comes around next year, but over the next 2-4 years he will surely decline even more (who know how long he can stay in the league as a primary player). Because of that, I'd much rather have Abreu for the next 3 years. I don't see any first baseman becoming free agents soon that will be a better fit for us now and over that span. I want Yuli to stay if possible but he ain't resigning for peanuts. Another club will surely give him an opportunity and pay him more. If we can lose Correa and Springer in their primes then we can lose Yuli when he's past it. That said. He may very well hit .280 with 15 bombs next year and 60 RBIs.
I hope this is the Astros first baseman next year. He is a major upgrade and is capable of hitting in the heart of the order. He is a hard worker and stays in great shape....fits the Astros chemistry well too.
I dunno. Yuli didn't really up his FA prospects even with the strong playoff performance. He's still a guy entering his age-39 season who was below average on both sides of the ball last season. There's not really a good reason for another club to offer him a starting gig or pay him more than whatever the astros would. He's definitely not getting more than the $8m he got last year. Abreu would be a great pickup.
Since 2014, most RBIs in MLB: 916 Arenado 863 Abreu 562 XBH in 8+ seasons (Springer 399) Abreu contact% 2020 69.9% 2021 72.3% 2022 76.8% Again, he will hit 30 HRs in an Astros uniform playing at MMP. He rarely is injured. Like almost never. He's a machine. Pay the man $36 mill/2 years. Let's get this over with.
I guess my ideal scenario would be Abreu for 2 years while transitioning Yuli to the Aledmys role. I do not want Bell but admittedly maybe am wrong on him. Yanier Diaz is the big question mark but we unfortunately can’t plan around him. I don’t really hate a Yuli/Diaz timeshare for a while if it means not giving Bell or someone just a ludicrous amount. We’ll see where the market falls I guess. As some have said, for all the negative press, Crane seems to be quite pragmatic to the contrary. I think my prefs would be 1. Abreu, 2. Vinnie P or Christian Walker for trade 3. Bell. I know this is crazy, but I’ve always wondered if we consider moving Bregman to 1st at some point in his career. He’s not big but neither was Baggy, and they are actually incredibly similar baseball players in many regards.
I like Bregman to 1B if our best bat option is a strong armed 3B like Correa or Arenado. But it would not be because of any shortcoming at 3B. I was concerned injury might become problematic before last year, but not now. If the Bat add is in the OF and precludes an additional outside Bat in the IF, I'd love to see Hensley/Diaz/Matijevic to see if anyy can be this year's breakout prospect. Hensley for height and range, Diaz for Bat and C backup and Matijevic for LH bat option. But none of these trump adding an Abreu if possible.
Y'all are talking as if Yuli is 29 years old. He's gonna be 39 before the All-star break. He's for all intents and purposes, done. As in end of his career as we knew it. We thank him for his service and move on.
