For an overweight dude who’s not particularly coordinated, he did fine. But Walker is elite. I think when you’ve got a minus defensively at 2B, having a gold gloves at SS and 1B will really help cover that weakness.
Astros: It’s possible to imagine the Astros being content with their current starting depth after adding Hayden Wesneski to the mix in the Kyle Tucker trade and likely welcoming right-hander Luis Garcia back into the fold in time for Opening Day after he missed the 2024 season due to injury. With that being said, the club did lose both Justin Verlander and Jose Urquidy from its rotation depth this winter and is known to be shopping right-hander Ryan Pressly on the trade market this winter while searching for left-handed hitting outfielders. Arizona has a surplus of left-handed hitting outfielders and is known to be on the hunt of late-inning relief help, so perhaps there’s a fit here involving some combination of Montgomery, Pressly, and young Diamondbacks outfielder like Alek Thomas. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/looking-for-a-match-in-a-jordan-montgomery-trade.html
I think Jake McCarthy is a great fit for the Astros and I think Arizona is the type of place Pressly would go to. Astros get: OF Jake McCarthy P Jordan Montgomery $7M Diamondbacks get: RP Ryan Pressly P AJ Blubaugh P Miguel Ullola
I would be so underwhelmed if our OF trade was for a light hitting OF. Also seems like a really high price with AJ and Ullola included. Not sure getting rid of Pressley is worth that price.
McCarthy easily has twice as much power as Straw. Theres a difference between a double and a HR, and McCarthy strikes out a lot less than Meyers.
Statcast says otherwise. In fact, Statcast shows they're essentially the same player when it comes to exit velo, barrel % and hard hit %.
If the Astros get McCarthy I would be happy but not thrilled. He is cheap, still has upside and is a big improvement over Trammell. He is actually quite good vs RHP. He walks more and hits for more power. (.276/.353/.419=.772 in 2024) Now that this team has 4 everyday infielders + Dubon, it is perfectly fine, IMO to have 5 outfielders which allows for platoons. Trade away Meyers, or Chas if nobody will take him. Trade for McCarthy Bring in a guy like Heyward or Winker. Let 2 of Dezenzo, Leon, or Whitcomb be part time starters in LF/RF the first half to see if there is any gold to strike.
I take WAR with a large dose of salt --- but the last three seasons has seen Pena produce WAR totals of 5, 4 and 4 .... and he has been somewhat of an ironman (by 2025 standards) playing 140, 150 and 155 games the last three seasons. He has been an average MLB hitter with an OPS+ of like 102.... he doesn't walk but gives you enough extra bases to keep him from being a black hole. Ultimately I think he is "fine" as a big league SS and if he was on a team surrounded with great bats, he would likely be viewed overall as a good to plus starting big leaguer. At this point - I think that the most obvious answer is that you in the short term change the players around Pena and not him.... if he is hitting 8-9 in your line up, he is a positive...... the problem is when he starts popping up at 5-7........ because he just isn't a talented enough hitter for that spot. He either has to walk a lot more or hit for more power to progress to that type of player. He tried selling out for power and it wasn't great. He may be better trying to get his walks up, would make a big difference with him. Defensively - I expect him to be better with Walker and overall from what I understand, he has a better situation off the diamond so its possible he has a big year in 2025.
He's in the bottom 1% for exit velo and in the bottom 5% for hard hit %, barrel %, sweet spot %. I'm not sure he's got twice as much power as a single player in MLB. He's fast, he's got good range but a weak arm. Doesn't strike out. I'll stand by my lefty Straw comparison, although Straw is older and has more arm strength, McCarthy gets on base a bit better and has legged out some triples. None of that is "power" and he doesn't have a profile that will age well.
Baseball reference's WAR model tends to overrate defensive value IMO. You see guys like Myles Straw posting good WAR despite being complete zeros with the bat. Its why I prefer Fangraphs, and Penas been a 3 WAR player which is exactly what an average hitter/above average defensive value guy who stays healthy should be.
Question. If Boston's SS position is in flux why wouldn't they just sign Bregman as a FA and throw him there. It's the position he grew up playing, correct?
