There's a chance that the Astros and Bregman already have a deal set for him to come back. They're just not formalizing anything until the Astros clear some room first. Perhaps Crane thinks it's easier to make a deal if other teams feel the Astros don't absolutely need to make one yet, and Bregs is okay with waiting it out a bit longer knowing he'll be back regardless.
Little late on the Altuve to LF chatter but I think it makes perfect sense. Is he going to be bad there? Of course. But he’s already bad at 2B and 2B is a much worse position to be bad at than LF. If he can track balls well he will be fine, as he still has enough speed to run them down. If the only problem is a rag arm at LF in MMP it’s not that big a problem compared to the issue of him being bad at 2B. I out the chances of Bregman remaining an Astro at like 5% going into the offseason. Quite frankly I’m shocked it’s almost February and he’s not signed and the astros are the betting line favorites to sign him.
Why do I feel like Altuve will be diving for balls every game and the ball goes rolling to the fence. He uses terrible judgment on his base running.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...astros-return-ryan-pressly-trade/77959860007/ The Astros offered Bregman a six-year, $156 million contract in October trying to keep him, but he instead chose to hit the free-agent market, trying to see if a team was willing to meet his $200 million price tag. The Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers all made offers, with at least two teams proposing deals of at least five years, but no one was willing to give him $200 million. The Astros, according to the two executives, reached out to Scott Boras, Bregman’s agent, on Wednesday to determine if Bregman still had interest in returning. Bregman informed the Astros he still had strong interest in coming back, but needed a resolution quickly since he already had teams willing to give him multi-year deals. The intriguing aspect of Bregman’s likely return, after spending his first nine years with the organization, is that All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve will now move to left field, two officials said, with Isaac Paredes moving from third base to second base, where he has played 53 games. Bregman is a two-time All-Star who won the Gold Glove last season. Altuve, who also assumed that Bregman was gone, informed the Astros that he’d be willing to leave second base after 14 years and move to left field only if it meant brining back Bregman. “For Alex, I’ll do whatever,” Altuve, 34, said Saturday. “He’s one of the best players in the whole league and he’s definitely one of the best players on the team. We want him to stay so whatever I have to do for him to stay, I’m willing to do it.” Espada, knowing that Altuve has played all but six innings of his career at second base, says he has no doubt that Altuve can handle the position switch. “Yes, because he’s so athletic and he can do some things on the baseball field that not a lot of people can do,” Espada said Saturday. “If we get there, we’ll have that conversation with him, but his willingness to do whatever it takes to win, it’s important to us. He’s a cornerstone of this team, he’s the heart of this organization, so he understands that.’’
I do not like Altuve moving to left. Will be interesting to see how he tracks balls. I am not looking forward to seeing his lack of arm strength on important plays. Maybe the Astros feel like he will be better there than how he’s aging at 2nd. We shall see.
We are talking about an Altuve/Alvarez platoon in LF with the other playing DH. I’m ok with this. Altuves career may get extended with some more DH appearances.
I've always liked Alvarez in LF more than most. Most of his injuries have come running the bases r ather than fielding and he does have a strong arm. do like having a strong infield like we used to have.
