At this point I would be guessing - the information I have now is the same as a week ago. I did read somewhere that Arenado has not included the Astros on his list of teams he will play for. The Cardinals after the first blocked trade decided that they would try to include Arenado with a more valuable pitcher and try to extort prospects in a Arenado deal. If I had to put a number on it - maybe 25% or 33% ...... I think there is a 50% chance he is dealt before the start of the season, and there is always the chance a team decides to add him... but its mostly Astros or bust.
When it comes to the outfield, Brown is not as concerned about game action as other organizations and not as concerned at on the infield. They can put him out there with a couple other outfielders and hit balls out there - and sometimes go as far as simulating games.... they can figure out pretty quickly if it will work or not.
With Melton - I will just add that if he becomes a strong side platoon hitter with an OPS north of .800 against righties, he will have a lot of value for his salary because he can play CF well, has a good arm and he is the best base stealer in the organization. His base stealing isn't just based on speed, he gets an excellent read on pitchers and doesn't get caught a lot. We all hope that he hits well enough against lefties ..... because then he is like a 5 WAR guy, but I am happy with someone that can hit righties at a good clip that bring the other tools to the table. FWIW last year Melton had an .800 OPS against righties in 300 at bats, with 14 homers and 16 doubles and a .480 SLG. Against lefties he had an OPS of 600 with almost zero power.... he had 1 homer and 4 doubles. He did draw a lot of walks because his counts were deeper. At this point he appears to be targeted to be a platoon player, but likely a very good one. With his salary, the Astros could realistically put him in CF and sign any weak side platoon guy that they wanted and get a lot of production from CF relative to the rest of the league. I know that I was told a year or two ago that the Astros believed that he could steal 70-80 bases if he played every day and was a reasonably good hitter.
Sounds like a Cedric Mullins level career is a pretty realistic “good” outcome for Melton. The one year Mullins hit lefties, he posted 6 fwar, but generally he’s been a 2-3 win CF who hits for power and steals bases but mostly needs to rest against LHP.
Right - and that at first glance doesn't seem great when seeing his numbers, but he has 15 WAR over the last 4 seasons with the Orioles and has only cost them like 23 million dollars. The key for Melton is going to be staying in CF and being an above average fielder out there.
I really want the corner outfielders to hit. In center field I am more concerned with defense and leadership. Center fielders are like catchers and short stops. There are a lot of things you want from them. If they are great at the plate too, all the better but not disqualifying.
Man the AL really is wide, wide open this season. The Yankees seemed like slight favorites in some projections and now it looks like Cole is gonna need TJ surgery A lot of people complaining about how this offense "clearly" isn't good enough. I don't see a single team I would say is clearly better than the Astros, and that's assuming we have no breakouts. Every one of the contenders has an underwhelming lineup except the Orioles, and they have an underwhelming rotation.
The Rangers might have the best lineup in the AL, especially if Wyatt Langford’s September wasn’t a fluke. If Degrom and Eovaldi somehow manage to stay healthy, they are going to be tough.
Get the story straight On November 29, 1979, Metzger lost the tips of four fingers on his right hand (index to pinky) in an electric table-saw accident. This is what was really not like the others: Metzger won the 1973 Gold Glove Award at shortstop, the first one for an Astro at the position; no Astro shortstop would win a Gold Glove Award for the next 48 years. He led the National League in triples in 1971 (11) and 1973 (14).
The Mariners have the best pitching in baseball… and refused to add just a few more resources when finishing 1 gb last year. Justin Turner was spot on.
Their pitching is good but it is highly overrated. Just look at the home/road splits. Their offense was actually above average on the road while their pitching wasn’t good.
Nice to see Melton use his speed today. Legged out an infield single and then immediately stole second in his first at bat. Per the prior posts in this thread, I just hope the bat is serviceable, because he brings so much with his speed and his defense.
Jake Meyers just had a hell of an at bat against Kevin Gausman and then took him yard. I'll never be able to quit him.
That was a really nice at-bat. Hard to take spring training stats seriously, but Jake has hit really well this spring. It'd be amazing if this was a breakout year for him offensively.
