Is that just this year? I just don’t think it’s a coincidence our franchise player for the past decade is all of a sudden struggling extra at the same time we moved him to LF. He’s still been out of his comfort zone all year. He’s fine at DH, but I didn’t push for that as ideally Alvarez would be in that spot. Altuve is perfect at DH until he returns but I’m more thinking about October than July games against the Rockies
Altuve HAS been the franchise player for the last decade. But he no longer is. He's more face of the franchise than franchise player, He's still a perfectly fine 3rd or 4th best hitter on a contending team and a terrible defender that needs to be in the defensive spot that touches the ball the least, if he's not a DH. The Astros have handled him perfectly this year and need to keep adjusting for 4 more.
We definitely disagree on him being handled perfectly this year, but that’s ok. I just think trading a bad defensive 2B for a bad defensive almost disaster at LF was silly. Made more of a problem than solved one for what is overall a really good defensive team. It made sense when trying to keep Bregman, but after he left the move to LF was an unnecessary distraction. EDIT: We’re waking up on 4th of July morning with the 3rd best record in baseball, big division lead, and like 17 games over .500. So most of this is nit picking what has been a great year of managing an injury filled roster so far
I would agree about the nit picking. But Altuve having the fewest chances in LF per game and fewest chances at 2B per game in all of MLB is absolutely master class. It's almost like they are reducing the negative impact his defense has on a game which contributes to a winning record. Weird.
Brandon Donovan and Sonny Gray + $8M in 2025 and $8M in 2026. For Brice Matthews, Ryan Gusto, Colton Gordon, Shay Whitcomb, Brendon Rodgers, and Chas McCormick. It would add approx. $2.6M to 2025 CBT payroll. 2025 2nd half/postseason Pena SS Donovan 2B/LF Paredes 3B Yordan DH/LF Altuve LF/2B/ DH Smith RF Diaz/Caratini C Walker 1B Meyers CF Bench: Dubon, Melton, Dezenzo Rotation Brown Framber Gray ( Arrighetti/Javier once healthy) Mccullers (Garcia once healthy) Walter Alexander/Ullola (France once healthy) Gray is under contract for 2026 and club option for 2027 so adds another playoff caliber SP. Matthews becomes expendable because Donovan has 2 additional years of control. Cadinals do it because: Gorman, Whitcomb, or Rodgers can slide into Donovan's 2B spot and Matthews is 2B of the future starting in 2026. They finally get rid of Gray's contract that they have prioritized since the offseason while gaining 2 young starters controllable for 5+ years.
Could Altuve play 1st or is he so small that he really doesn’t have the reach to sometimes go out and put some of these more errant infield throws.
1st base is a tttt he only position where you can't overcome size. In a normal world we wouldn't have an Astros legend that is 5'5" tall that is aging and a 6'5" DH who is made of glass. Normally one of them would be able to play 1st and one would play DH. I'm not for trading Alvarez because we would never get equal value back but at some point Altuve and Alvarez can't be regulars on the same team. It may not be this year or next but eventually Altuve will need to play DH.
My wish list of likely/potential available players is different than most on here, but here they are and why 1. O’Hearn 2. Bernard 3. D Santana 4. Thairo Estrada O’Hearn would be like by all. Well most, there is always one or two. He fits a huge need as a RHP basher and can play LF which fits potential upgrade spots Estrada because I think he would be a great fit also, even though he bats from the right side. He is a good defender at 2B, a good bat to ball guy with more upside than most realize. But mainly he would be a strong upgrade over a lot of the junk we have filled the end of the bench with, and the cost would be low The two relievers would probably be my biggest target though. We obviously have the 8-9 covered, and yes we have others who have had nice years so far. Bednar looks like he is fully back though, and no one outside of Abreu/Hader comes close to him as a leverage playoff guy. Our offense is not likely to be top shelf at any point this year. But if we go full strength pen like 22, any playoff games started by Hunter or Framber we are immediately a big favorite That’s probably our best path to bringing home another ring
Is this a LF when Frambler is on the mound and 2B when Javier is on the mound strategy you’re alluding to? If so, I like it more than originally thought
If they sell, yes he would be a good fit also They are one good week from being in the wild card race though, and with their injury prone guys and Castro able to play anywhere, he has a ton of value to them if they are trying to win
The first thing they are taking into account is the park If it’s a big LF Altuve hasn’t played out there. Don’t go out there in Pittsburgh nor did he in Colorado. At Daiken they don’t worry about it as much Then they look at who the SP is I’m not a huge Espada fan, but he has been spot on when it comes to where to play Jose
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/07/top-40-trade-candidates-for-the-2025-deadline.html The best player on this list who would help Houston the most is O’Neil Cruz. Lefthanded elite ceiling hitter who can play plus defense in LF and could also probably play 2B. Mullins, Abreu, Duran, O’Hearn, McMahon, Sanchez, Benintendi, Naylor, Tauchman, and Reynolds are the other LH hitters on the list. If Houston believes in Melton then only the rentals make sense unless they could get somebody like Cruz. Pitchers I think would be a decent value: Andrew Heaney, Charlie Morton, Dennis Santana, Seranthony Dominguez, Mike Soroka. I think Soroka could be a great fit for the Astros. Guys from the honorable mention list that might interest Houston: Gavin Lux, Willi Castro, Merrill Kelly, Carlos Santana, Nick Martinez, Steven Matz, Erick Fedde Astros get: OF/IF O’Neil Cruz Pirates get: OF Jacob Melton IF Brice Melton P Miguel Ullola P AJ Blubaugh P Michael Knorr
O'Neil Cruz is way to K prone and hyped by this big swings to be a target for this team. He's not a very good player
He does strike out a lot but he also hits a lot of HR and steals a lot of bases and has defensive value. Hes not a superstar but he is a good player.
He has a plus war..thats good enough for me, but he does strike out a lot and will frustrate alot of fans.
How much club control does O’Neil Cruz have? If it’s through 2027 to match Pena and meyers and Paredes and Walkers timeline then yes- I’d swallow hard and do that.
Oh ****/ I saw its through 2028. that pits jim on the Yordan and Diaz timeline. yeah- I’d do it. That means basically you don’t have a single minor league position player that profiles as having a chance at being a good big leaguer, but… you have all 9 positions locked down with average or better major league regulars through 2027 do you literally have 2 full years to develop before you have a single open position at the big league level. Pitching you easily have enough arms to get through in fine shape but you will have traded away both the highest upside guy in the system (Ullola) and the guy o think most likely to be a good big league pitcher. Better re-sign Framber then or hope Arrighetti takes a star turn.
