Definitely a logical take. But it’s looking like if Houston wants to actually add a legitimate ToR SP they’re going to have to do something drastic. Pena and Smith are the 2 guys who might move the needle.
Yeah. I’m not saying he will break out in 26, and if they think he needs some time in AAA, I think that’s fine. I do think he is one of the players that can keep us from a full on re-build. I keep going back to Luhhow’s comments about the Cardinal way in which they were in contention virtually every year. With an owner that is not cheap, but is not going to break the bank, we need to develop a few stars internally. I trust Dana to recognize talent and I think, not know, he sees a special player in Cam. Everybody wants a LH OF bat, but we have one that had an 880 ops in his first chance in the majors.
Ragans is exactly the type guy I expect Dana to trade for. SP1 stuff with a spotty track record and an injury history. He's the type of guy that the Stros pitching coaches are probably dying to get their hand on. I'm thinking Meyers/Sullivan/Ullola for Ragans.
That will not be nearly enough. I will be utterly shocked if Houston gets Ragans without giving up Smith. I realized that Brown has made comments to downgrade both Smith (“he might need time in the minors”) and Arrighetti (“if he’s healthy”) recently. Could be nothing but also could be softening up the fanbase in prep to trade them.
I'm hoping Cam made the swing path changes and learns how to recognize the slider better. He's uber talented and seems to have a great work ethic, so I expect great great improvement from Cam next year. No way am I trading him.
You think an often injured pitcher who has pitched over 100 innings once in MLB once in his life is worth a potential superstar talent like Cam? At the most I would trade Meyers/Matthews and Ullola for Ragans abd I would consider that an overpay, A GG caliber CF, The Stros #1 prospect and a high end arm that should be MLB ready next yr with great stuff for Ragans seems overly fair to me.
I think Matthews is needed unless they get another 2B ( unless they think Paredes can play there) I don't think they want Altuve to play even 100 games there and I hope Nick Allen isn't the other 2B on the roster.
You can label Smith a “potential superstar”, but the reality is he is a guy who got almost 500 pa in the majors and posted a below average (90 wRC+) slash line.
How many 21 year old college draftees make their MLB debut the next year and immediately set the the league on fire?
Pete Incaviglua is the straight to MLB guy I remember. As a 22 year old he had over 600 PAs and did have a 109 OPS+ but only 0.7 bWAR But he also lead the league with 185 strikeouts and 14 errors in RF
Good call. Incaviglia was a behemoth in college. Will Clark: 2nd pick 1985*, debut 1986... In his first major league at-bat on April 8, 1986, on his first swing, Clark hit a home run off Nolan Ryan. [via wiki] 1985 Draft top 12: BJ Surhoff Will Clark Bobby Witt Barry Larkin Kurt Brown (who?) Barry Bonds Mike Campbell (who?) Pete Incaviglia Mike Poehl (who?) Chris Gwynn (younger brother of Tony) Walt ****ing Weiss Cameron Drew (Astros pick)
That can be A TOR SP with only one or two years left on his contract accomplishes both without sacrificing our future. Pena and Smith are critical to the next several years for the Astros. A long expensive contract is exactly the thing they must avoid.
Meyers being an overpay for Ragans is one of the most insane things posted here in a long time. Under what method of valuation could you ever come to this conclusion. If Ullola and Matthews were enough, Ragans would already be an Astro.
