Wow. His contribution at catcher was actually a very positive one. He was a huge upgrade offensively and defensively for the Astros. He will also only get better as he is like 25 or 26 years old. A really good hitting catcher is rare and is an advantage over almost every team. They can find another answer at 1B
Same thing can be said of Blanco and Brown. They are our #1a and #1b pitchers for the next few years. This coming season Arrighetti starts out behind them and Valdez. As the year progresses he will be competing with Garcia, Javier, McCullers and France for his place in the rotation. If he progresses as expected he should stick as a #4 and when Valdez is gone in 26 we will be counting on him to be a reliable #3. Corpus will have an absolutely stacked rotation next season and by mid season the Asheville guys will be pushing them up. Our "weak farm" looks like a dynamo by 2026.
I did not say he has no value. I said he has negative value. He had 20% less than no value as a catcher.
Even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while. It does not make him good at it. Calling a no hitter once in a while does not make Diaz a good catcher. We drafted the best catcher in the 2004 draft class and he will be pushing for the job sooner than anyone is thinking about this Fall.
Hahahaha. Your first sentence. "Because Diaz has no value as a catcher." QUOTE Like I said, Diaz is not a perfect catcher, but his results with a catcher's mitt on his hand were much more positive than negative. +4 defensive runs saved (16 out of 102) Blocks above average 82nd percentile Caught stealing above average 76th percentile Again, he isn't perfect and there are some negatives, but please tell me how he is 20% less than no value as a catcher? I would like to see how you came up with that number.
If you think the team had no chance to win that wild card round based on 2 game results, you should be looking to get rid of Kyle Tucker, who went 0-7 with a brutal GIDP in game two with two on. Trade for proven hitters like Andy Ibanez, based on a 2 game sample size, that guy can deliver in the clutch.
You need to get your head out of the spreadsheets. Diaz caught what was probably the best pitching staff in MLB and for you to say he was a negative just makes me SMH. You're basically saying Diaz had nothing to do with the pitching staff being dominant this year and that's just not the case.What more did you expect from him? Diaz is the future at catcher for the Stros particularly when the electronic strike zone comes into existence. The only reason to move Diaz is if you think his bat is more valuable at 1B than C.
We drafted the best catcher in the 2004 (Strike that, thought 2024 while my hands typed 2004 draft class.)
That pitching staff was on collapse mode in May/June... everyone finally found the proper rhythm i just enough time
The value of a catcher isn't always black and white. The Astros had one of the 2-3 best staffs in baseball the last 100 games of the season and Diaz deserves some credit for that. He was league average at throwing runners out, and only had one passed ball all season. His advanced stats mostly have him close to average as a catcher. Personally, I would let Miller and Murphy say if Diaz is harming the pitching staff. If he is, then I probably look at trading him to a team that would let him catch. I do know that I don't want him playing 1st base, he just isn't good at it. I would let him play LF full time before having him at 1st. I would be surprised if the Astros don't have Diaz behind the plate next year. Indeed, what I have heard out of the Astros people is that they are looking at trading their back up catcher (Caratini) and going with Salazar as their back up and/or another minimum cost option. That frees up money for other positions.
That is debatable - there were a couple of other catchers in the draft that some liked. The kid from Cal has long been a favorite for example. Some teams like the guy from Stanford the most. Even if we believe that Janek is the best catcher in his class - that doesn't mean that he is going to be good enough to start on a playoff team - and even if he is, that is likely not going to be the case for several years. He was in A+ ball this year and had an OPS of around .500 The league is full of guys like that - including the catcher we dealt to the White Sox.
Do you mean Walter Janek, the guy who had a .503 OPS in his first experience in pro ball? And you think he is going to be pushing for a spot on the Astros in 2025? He displayed some encouraging traits, especially defensively, but he also showed that he has a lot of development to go. 2027/2028 is much more likely than 2025.
