That's fair, and I don't know follow the market enough to know how accurate this is, but if Nook's right: Cubs, Rays, Astros are the primary teams left that want a catcher. The catchers still on the market include: Gary Sanchez Omar Naevarez Tucker Barnhart Austin Hedges Jorge Alfaro In trade: Danny Jansen Yasmani Grandal Travis DÁrnaud (maybe) Luis Campansano That leaves 3 teams looking for a catcher and 5 FAs plus some trade possibilities. Some catchers are going to be available at some point for low prices - similar to the Zuzino signing.
Yes; Urquidy (or Meyers if they prefer an OF over a SP) and one of Melton, Perez, Barber, Santos, or Dubin would be a fair deal.
The narrative arc is entertaining here (and understandable, as we are all fans). We sign Rafael Montero, coming off of a great season, and a great World Series run. Some criticism about us overpaying by a few million. We then sign Jose Abreu, an optimal fit for our team (approach at the plate, plus an area of need at 1B). Aggressively signed him early, had to outbid several other teams to do so. Sidebar; these current contracts are crazy. I think when the dust settles, the Montero and Abreu deals are going to be relatively great values for us. Now we pass on Vazquez at 3/$30M (a bit of an overpay, I mean I wouldn't have complained if we signed him to that, but definitely no complaints for us passing on that deal). And with plenty of the offseason to continue to add to an already-stacked roster (I am currently leaning towards Michael Conforto being a great opportunity for us). I see it as a win-win; why would he not want to join this stacked lineup for one year, re-establish his value, and then leverage that into a nice deal for himself? As far as catcher, I am personally glad we passed on the free agents (all were overpayments in terms of years and dollars). I know the prospect cost will hurt, but I also believe in the front office to replenish our farm system with talented players. First preference would be Varsho to catch (although it's been brought to my attention that his defense in the outfield is fantastic), or I would make a run for Altuve's friend, Sal Perez. The Royals have their catcher of the future in Melendez, and Sal isn't cheap (especially for the Royals), so he could be a great fit for us as well. I also think nabbing one of the Blue Jays' 3 catchers would be a nice get for us as well. Potential line-up: 2B Altuve SS Pena LF/DH Yordan 3B Bregman RF Tucker 1B Abreu LF/DH Conforto CF Chaz/Meyers (not quitting Meyers just yet, but maybe I should?) C Varsho/Sal Perez/Danny Jansen That's a monster of a lineup, virtually no weakness at all.
Yep I've been on this train since JV left for the big apple. No need to overpay. The was no world beater Center fielder or Catcher, Nimmo was good but way over paid. Contreras was a good hitter but terrible catcher and 5 years is incredibly too long. Good deals will fill the roster out now. Nothing sexy but for the price very good insurance. And they'll still be primed to take on salary in a trade if they need to at some point in the future.
If the holdup for Conforto is the 2nd year player option I’d probably go ahead and do it just to lock it up.
Agree with the vast majority of what you said. But I'm not sure why people have given up on Meyers due to a major shoulder injury, while we're willing to pay Conforto (or Brantley) with a major shoulder injury and assume they'll be back to normal.
Knowing something about the jewelry business helps a little. The average mark up on jewelry is well over 100% and at the local mall it is probably closer to 200% You should be able to get your wife that ring for $1000 and have lunch money for a week left over.
Those are 5 FA catchers left. They can likely be had for a low price. I see them more as more of depth (i.e., the Astros become less likely to have injuries hurt as much) than as helping win more games when the Astros are healthy.
Makes total sense. I like Meyers, but if I am the front office, the question becomes "can you count on him to be an asset to the team, and not a liability?" I certainly hope so, but just seems like more question marks and uncertainty compared to other options. But as we know, hope is not a good strategy. But definitely a valid point on placing similar hope to Brantley and Conforto. I think Conforto is the highest risk/highest return option out of the viable/realistic options. And if we are talking about our 7th hitter (or around that spot in the lineup), let's go for the home run.
That is 9 catchers and 3 buyers. Sounds like a very strong buyers market. Nothing motivates a seller like simple arithmetic. Travis dÁrnaud is at the top of my list, after that I am looking for the ones who still have options.
Conforto has a lot of MLB experience as being a great player. I don't think people are expecting him back to normal as I've not seen people speculate 6 years, $120M for him (this may be off by a bit, but likelier under than over).
Jansen is a serious upgrade from Maldy/Lee. Narvaez, Grandal, and D'Arnaud are moderate upgrades worth pursuing. The other guys I would only do if Houston really doesn't believe in Lee/Diaz or if they are just intent on adding another layer of depth/insurance; none of those guys should get more than the $6M/1yr that Zunino got.
Thanks. Maybe it was a bad example. The bottom line is that if you have a number in mind but are continuously unsuccessful eventually you should reevaluate that number. If you don't you end up the Tampa Bay Rays or the Pittsburgh Pirates never spending because you are unwilling to spend what players require or other teams do.
Jansen would be great but it does not appear to be a good fit. It looks like Toronto is looking for a LH impact bat just like Houston is.
Winning a WS is hard. The Rays give themselves a chance by accurately evaluating talent (more WS appearances ion the last decade than the Yankees and just as many division titles). They should not be treated like the Pirates.
I would be ok with the 2nd year option if he got at least 250 PA. Otherwise no thanks. He was having a down year and then got hurt in 2021. If we just give it to him for nothing he could get hurt in spring training and blow out his shoulder and be done.
We are not thinking long game on this board. Unless, everything goes wrong this season, we will be a playoff team and most likely be the best team in the AL again.We got a former MVP at the position we most needed in Abreu. We are are most likely going to resign Brantley if he is healthy since he wants to be here and won't be expensive. We only need players for the playoffs, there is no reason not to wait until the trade deadline to get a rental in a position of need unless they fit into our long term plans. At that point, we will know where we need them and who is playing well.
Using your analogy, it's like Taking $1200 with you to get a $1000 ring and each store having a distressed buyer bidding $1300 for the $1000 ring. The contracts have been insane. You can claim it's the new market, but if you aren't familiar with an overbought market, you will get hurt. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/overbought.asp
