I believe that the Astros would only need to be under the tax at the trade deadline. The Astros made an offer for Polanco and the M's offered more. The Astros signed Walker and made a major trade. They have left their offer on the table for Bregman. There really hasn't been a lot out there for the Astros in a while - after they didn't overpay for Santander. They sound like they may make a minor signing for an outfielder and reliever. However - any bigger move will likely be signing Bregman or via trade.
Heyward and Neris would be 2 familiar faces that wouldn’t necessarily make a huge impact but would raise the floor of their 2 weakest areas. Sure would be cool if they could get Andrew Heaney super cheap.
“Splash” (apparently Dana Brown announced this at the season ticket holders “town hall” meeting tonight)
Was just about to post this. I thought he was pretty underrated for us last year. and totally fine for a cheap platoon lefty / PH bench bat based on the slim market right now. Good zone control, sees a lot of pitches, gets on base, and makes contact. Someone that can hold it down until Melton gets called up (hopefully in first half of the season).
Not a bad add for minimal cost. I would rather have had Heyward but Gamel is fine. He gives them a league average hitter against RHP to shore up one corner spot. Gamel/Dubon and Trammell/Meyers are fine platoons at the bottom of the order. If that’s the position player roster they are rolling with it’s fine but puts a lot of pressure on McCormick to rebound and for none of their big 5 to slump or get hurt.
1.2 Mil, 200K signing bonus with 1 mil non-guaranteed. I like it. He was solid with his bat and glove.
It really puts pressure on one of Melton/Matthews/Smith or Baez to contribute to the MLB roster at some point this season. I really like the Gamel signing.
