Imagine this guy batting 6th If we sign Brantley or Contreras, he could be 7th or have great protection at 6th
Contreras isn’t good enough too bump Abreu down in the lineup and not having a third LH bat with no shift moving forward is a huge waste. LH hitting is a huge commodity. So much better off with adding Benentendi, Brantley, etc too hit seventh. Let Lee and Diaz develop. Add a veteran expiring contract defensive catcher at the deadline if need be. Too many negatives for me. Handling of the pitching staff, length and money he’s projected getting that will have a huge impact on future core guys we should be extending, the lefty hitter, defense in LF, blocking your #1 prospect and the AAA player of the year from a chance of making it, etc
I will trust Crane's evals over yours. I don't go deep into the numbers but somebody posted numbers in the other thread about Contreras peripheral numbers being slightly better than Tucker's. Sign me up for that. BTW, I think Tucker wants to hit FA and won't do an extension. His numbers should really rise with the new shift rules. I could see him hitting close to .300.
That's called stacking the lineup during the window to win a championship. You should be happy Crane is willing to spend the money with the big market teams to give his team it's best shot to win a couple of more championships. You must have an aversion to wearing rings or something. You're also going to need a regular catcher after next season and Contreras working 60 games or so next season at catcher with the pitching staff and then stepping into a full time catching role in 2024 has a lot of value. IMHO
He's MVP talent on a short contract that hasnt shown any sign of slowing down. No way he was getting any less AAV. Only a 2 year contract. The third year isn't going to hurt us much since most of guys we have to make decisions on won't expire until after 2025. This coming years squad will be the one we go to war with until 2025. We may lose Bregman after 2024.
When people say they want LHB, they typically mean they want a batter that can hit RHP. Contreras hits RHP as well as Benitendi. Unlike Benitendi, Contreras mashes LHPs as well. Contreras's contract would only have one year of overlap with the guys due big raises if extended (i.e., that won't affect extensions). The Astros have better defenders in LF than Benitendi available (if it is between Alvarez and Benitendi, I don't care about defensive difference). Contreras doesn't pitch so he's not blocking Brown. If not talking about Brown, Benitendi is much more likely to block better prospects than Contreras (i.e, Contreras can play DH or C, Benitendi forces Alvarez to DH and blocks OFs, bat-first guys, and catchers not good enough to catch). On the handling the pitching staff, that's mostly Maldy who is the one blocking Lee/Diaz if one of those is ready as a catcher. On Brantley, I'm hoping for Contreras and Brantley. I don't see the money preventing those two from being signed.
That is mostly true but much of it is also simply L vs R. See Robbie Ray vs Yordan and Jose Alvarado vs Yordan I know this proves your point ( which I agree with 100%) but sometimes coaching staffs just want a lefty hitter to face a RHP or want a LHP to face a lefty hitter. Actual ability and performance should be used more.
We haven't won a world series without McCullers or Yuli either but I still wouldn't pay them 40 million a year.
Discussion of how to reduce those should not be bannable. Hitting behind Tucker may be the best situation for him to hit with Tucker's baserunning skills.
Astros GIDP leaders (on roster): Bregman 20 Abreu 19 Altuve 17 Tucker 12 Alvarez 12 I like the idea of Tucker’s speed in front of Abreu. Im sure Bregman is the leader because of hitting after Alvarez. If we sign Contreras, who had 14, hitting him behind Abreu isnt terrible, who had 40 doubles.
If you are consistently hitting with men on base and you consistently put the ball in play you are gonna ground into a lot of doubles plays unless you have great speed. The only way to avoid that is to strike out a lot or hit behind people that don't get on base. Joey Gallo is extremely good at not hitting into DP's, and Altuve's DP's have magically come down since he starting hitting behind the 8 and 9 hitters.
