It’s early December - and I am surprisingly fired up about signing a back up catcher…. My response has thrown me for a loop.
Not at all I am hoping Brown can deal him for a piece like a backup catcher. There appears to be enough OF depth to make this kind of deal.
Add Yariel Rodriguez and Jordan Hicks and I’m ready to go to opening day with that roster. 2B Altuve 3B Bregman DH Alvarez 1B Abreu RF Tucker C Diaz LF McCormick SS Pena CF Meyers Bench: Dubon, Caratini, Kessinger, Singleton Rotation: Verlander, Valdez, Javier, Brown, Rodriguez, Urquidy Bullpen: Pressly, Abreu, Hicks, Montero, Graveman, McCullers/Sousa, Garcia/France
Can also bring him in as a defensive replacement in the 9th for when Hader is on the mound. I'm assuming they overlapped in Milwaukee and are familiar/comfortable with each other.
Never noticed Carantini's game. I wanted Garver, but did not expect even getting a backup C that could put up the stats Carantini has the past 2 seasons.
I would be thrilled if they landed one of Hicks or Yariel Rodriguez. Both would be awesome. I'm pleasantly surprised the Astros didn't go super cheap on the backup catcher.
2/12 is about what I expected Caratini to get… the Astros were competing against some teams that needed a starting catcher and some contenders that wanted a good back up. In an ideal world the Astros would have internally drafted and developed a back up catcher and would be paying him pennies. However you cannot expect a team to pay all their reserves team control figures. The Astros have Dubon and are not going to pay him much and have some middle infielder reserves they won’t pay much. The Astros have a young and inexperienced catcher starting behind the plate so if something happens (regression or injury), the Astros would have an adequate starter in Caratini. Also - the Astros improved their offense more than most realize because Victor is going to start at least 50 games behind the plate and likely sub in if the Astros have a big lead late in games as well. The offensive difference between Caratini and someone the Astros could get for 3-4 million a year for those at bats as a catcher is pretty large. Also don’t be surprised if Victor gets an occasional start at first against righties if Abreu needs a break. Victor doesn’t kill you against righties and is solid at first.
They still went cheap - but they just were not stupid about it and paid an extra couple million a year to get the best of the reserve catchers. The difference between Victor and Tanner is well worth a couple million. The Astros know what Hicks will cost and they still have discussed numbers with him.
If the Astros wanted to go really cheap in the bullpen, they could have signed Luis Garcia of the Padres as their 6-7th inning reliever. He has had some degree of success the last few seasons for the Padres and just signed with the Angels for $4,000,000.
Man I hope they can get Hicks. A bullpen of Pressly, Abreu, Hicks, Graveman, Whitley, Martinez could be pretty strong. I could also see one of the lotto tickets getting a spot. Brown has a history of finding guys like this that really contribute to the bullpen. A lot of heat in the bullpen if they can add Hicks.
I would be excited if they added Hicks. His stuff is playoff talent stuff in high leverage spots. He does have some red flags though between health and the walks. Astros tried to get Hicks last year at the deadline and very early this off season targeted him. From what I have heard they prefer the Cuban that pitched in Japan though… Astros really like him. Let’s wait and see what Hicks gets on the open market with his young age and stuff - he could get a big contract from someone that cannot afford Hader but want a closer.
If the Cuban can eventually become a starter then I'm on board. Has Javier changed his workout regimen?
The raw OPS doesn't look impressive, but the difference between a catcher that gets on base 26% of the time, and one that can get on base 32% of the time is f**king huge. The best news is that Maldonado is gone and we will have 9 MLB hitters every game finally.
