"Rated". Gullo Toyota is rated #1 in Texas... I'll tell you what, since money doesn't matter let's just give Contreras 50 million a year and ignore what we could do with that money otherwise... Sheesh... one bad hitter in your lineup isn't a terrible thing. He's cheap and a good mentor for 2 possible long term replacements. It's getting old repeating how bad a hitter he is as if no one knows that... duh, if he could hit he wouldn't be making backup catcher money.
I'm less worried about Framber when its more about pretty much the rest. With LMj it's obviously the biggest issue is he never stays healthy and its pretty obvious they'll try to maintenance him as much as possible. It's much different for the other guys when the expectations are now higher.
Save the prospects for a deadline move. Now that JV won’t re-sign I’m sure Crane will look to stay under the tax this year. Cot’s shows ~41M in space remaining under CBT. That should be ~enough for (MLBTR forecast): C - Vazquez (3/27M) OF - Nimmo (5/110M) or Benintendi (4/54M) SP - Vet innings eater like Kluber (1/12M) That puts your right at the tax or just under. Could go over to resign Brantley if he is medically cleared in the Spring or at the deadline.
The one positive if the Astros aren't able to bring in another big bat, is that we can always bring back Uncle Mike. If he is healthy we already know what he will do and having him batting 7th is pretty amazing.
But there is more to it. Let's say 2022 pitching was a 100 Subtract JV and Odorizzi and add full seasons of LMJ and Brown- now sits at 90? Position players 1-13 were a 70? Losing Yuli, Diaz, Vazquez, and Mancini from WS roster. Add Abreu plus young guys currently scheduled to fill other 3 spots. - up to 85? Net +5%
Do the first two. Skip the 3rd and save for the deadline if we need pitching then. Would be more impactful that way.
Almost as old as what a great game caller he is… a stat no one can actually measure… or yuli’s ability to pick throws…
If Yuli doesn’t come back that’s serious addition by subtraction. The difference between Yuli and Abreu will probably be a greater win in the astros favor than the loss going from JV to Brown. Brantley and Castro and Odo losses don’t count because they were already gone. Losing the Mancini we had is addition by subtraction. Losing Vazquez sort of sucks in a vacuum (because he’s be a decent Catcher #1) but how we used him it’s more or less irrelevant. Tucker and Yordan should be better. Altuve likely to be worse. Right now I’d bet this Astros team wins between 100-110 unless something goes very badly or everything breaks in their favor.
At Least the picking throws is sort of measured. Yuli like picks a half dozen more than the worst guy in the league by numbers, do with that what you want. It’s at least quantifiable. You can’t look at any numbers and tease out a benefit for Maldonado and his game calling. I’m not saying it can’t exist, and it’s just completely unmeasurable, but I’m skeptical.
Hunter Brown and LMJ can't be relied upon to give more than 130-150 innings. We need to add more pitching to cover for them. Abreu will be 36 going into the season. He's been excellent, but players tend to hit a wall after 35. His defense isn't bad but it is a downgrade from Yuli. He should be clearly a net upgrade over Yuli from 2022 though. Hopefully, he's on the Nelson Cruz nutrition program.
I’d be looking for anywhere to trade Y. Diaz at this point. Any PROSPECT that plays a position of extreme need on a WS contending team but refuses to try and get better at it because he would rather play a position that is not as big of a need can get shipped off to play somewhere else. If anything, you would think these kids try to maneuver themselves into positions that aren’t being blocked on an elite team. But whatevs. Trade him high.
Most likely this is the case but it is baseball you never know Brown could come out and have a Cy Young season. Jose Abreu could have a career year be mvp again. Maybe Pena is going to hit 35 bombs. Let's face it last year no one expected JV was gonna win the Cy Young. You just never know.
I think some of the younger arms could an even better season is crazy as that seems. And Pena may actually be really awesome. He's definitely not going to be lacking confidence.
Korey Lee is 23. He's a year more advanced than Contreras at the same age. You prefer to drop him to AA to pad some stats and feel better about him? He's not perfect but he has power and an amazing releasecto second. It's something to work with...
I have concerns about the rotation depth. Bondo is a huge McCullers guy, but health is a major concern with him. I've several times this team was so lucky that they didn't have a ton of injuries with their rotation. Personally, I would to see two bats and a pitcher. A left fielder and someone that can replace Diaz. Nathan Eovaldi is someone I can see Houston getting at a bargain. He is from Alvin.
If they sign another outfielder they will be 8 deep. Hardly a disaster.. also a good bet for 20+ homers from the position. Choosing to reallocate resources more efficiently isn't a disaster. They could deal Javier for Murphy and still have 5 starters and upgrade catcher. That would be foolish though. Developing a cheap young Lee is a valid course of action.
He's probably my least favorite name out there. He's a great left fielder that can't really play center, and his value as a LF is muted at Minute Maid.
I love how this writer Susan Slugger for the Giants keeps throwing shade at the Astros during two segments on MLB Network about the Astros being tarnished, but she keeps pushing how the Giants need to sign Correa.
