There are always several ways to look at trades including prospects. FanGraphs' Eric Longenhagen recently ranked Bello as the 31st best prospect in the system, concluding that he "has enough projectability and existing stuff to be forecast in a depth starter role, but he'll need to harness his secondaries in the zone more often to consistently get more advanced hitters out Pressly's salary ($14M) likely covers his 2025 value as the Cubs closer. Having to send $5.5M cash to the Cubs might mean that some of that cash is the Astros buying the prospect Juan Bello.
I only expect people who understand baseball to get my takes, so there is that. I am sure with time that I will learn to live with your disapproval and disappointment in me.
FWIW I would love Heyward on this team as a 5th OF as long as it does not require the team to cut $$ somewhere else ( $5M or $14M is up to Crane) He is still a good defender in RF and able to play CF and hits RHP well. If he is not expected to get over 300 PAs and used correctly, he would be a great addition.
His arm might be the worst OF arm in MLB. He’d be average for LF at getting to most balls and fielding them. He would be terrible at getting to warning track balls and a non factor at robbing home runs. And of course given his inexperience for at least this season he’d probably be mistake prone and suffer some big gaffes. For this season he’d be in the bottom 10% of the league in LF defense. He might get to be just well below average with enough experience. His arm and height prevent him from being even an average defensive LF even in the best case scenario.
If signed and played in RF against all RHPs, Heyward might get north of 300 PAs. :shrug: Let's see what the cap sitch is after we sign Bregman
I think the height is a very minor thing at LF (what are you talking about- maybe 3 or 5 plays a year where that comes into play) and the arm is completely overrated by fans. The most important thing by far is catching balls hit in the air or keeping them from getting through the OF if possible. His athleticism should be top quartile for LFers so if he can track balls well he could be average there. If he can’t track balls at an excellent level then he’s probably more or less unplayable out there with the other disadvantages but the problem is he’s almost becoming unplayable at 2B, so they really need to hope he can track/run down fly balls at an elite (for LF- low bar) level or the last 3 years of his contract are gonna kind of be a disaster.
If we get Bregman I don’t think you need to sign another OF. Done of the young left handed bats will be fine, and Chad and Jake should be just fine against left handed starters. The lineup with Bregman is plenty deep enough and I’d rather they leave the position open for a young guy. You need one of the young guys to be able to hold down an OF spot well for 6 years of club control.
F it, give me a Trammell/Melton/Dezenzo OF against RHP platooning with a McCormick/Meyers/Dubon OF against LHP
Pena is the everyday SS. Question is and I think Altuve answered it, Altuve is going to play LF. They're going to have to add a good defensive OF in RF. Maybe they use a guy like Melton in RF. Or they platoon in some shape form or fashion Chas/Meyers/Dezenzo and sign a Vet min guy like Gamel. Of course they could trade Caratini and sign a guy like Verdugo. They do have options.
if Altuve is playing LF I don't want to see him running full speed into the LF wall like my man Tony Kemp used to
But who says he has to play vs all RHP? What if he mentors and helps coach Dezenzo (who has hit RHP well) in RF and split the starts vs RHP with him?
No the horrible irony will be Altuve sprinting in from left on a shallow fly and colliding with…Alex Bregman.
