He's gonna get his barring any injury setback. He will get it going again. We have him locked until 2019. He will be nearing 30 by then, but until this time. He will remain an Astro and I'd be willing to bet he will stay as productive. Now if the Astros don't like a 2B who hits near 200 hits a year and competes at a high level (Batting Title contender) or if by some stroke of luck we come across another Altuve. Then I'm all for it. But until then there is no reason to doubt him staying in Astros uniform till he retires. He's marketable in Houston as well. The fans love him and he's about to voted/picked into his 3rd All-Star game by the AGE OF 25. Biggio didn't even accomplish this.
Based on... all those years and years of production? And what, exactly, is "his"? He's had one exceptional season and two fairly average/below average ones. And this year, thus far, has been meh (though, in the shadow of last year, disappointing, too). This idea of him being "near" 200 hits is overly generous. He's never had more than 177 prior to last year and is on pace for 185 this year. And "near" 200 hits doesn't really matter if he's "near" 35 walks. While I couldn't give two flips about All Star games, I 100% agree that the team would be fools to trade him right now. And I'm not advocating that, anyway. But as Springer, Kuechel, Correa, McCullers, Valesquez start to establish themselves as the new faces of the franchise, I don't believe Altuve will hold the same long-term value if his numbers aren't better than they've been in every season other than 2014.
It would take a massive set of nuts to trade Altuve, but I believe he is not untouchable especially by this regime.
[rQUOTEr]Jacob Nottingham making mark as top Astros catching prospect The Jason Castro era in Houston is likely to end some way or another by the 2016-17 offseason, when the backstop will be a free agent and the Astros may let him walk to in favor of a less expensive option. By 2017, the next great Astros catcher could be on the cusp of the majors. Jacob Nottingham, a 20-year-old who was sixth round draft pick in 2013, has burst on to the scene with the Low Class A Quad Cities River Bandits this season, hitting .337 with eight home runs, a .392 on-base percentage and .573 slugging percentage entering Thursday night’s play. That batting average was the 15th best among qualified players in all the minors. Taking April out of the equation (he hit .273), Nottingham’s batting .366 in May and June. He’s a Midwest League All-Star, and the youngest starter named to the roster of the Western Division. Quad Cities (39-19) leads that division and has the best record in the entirety of the league. “When you take a high school catcher in the draft, there’s a lot of things have to go right for that player to get to the big leagues,” general manager Jeff Luhnow said. “I remember hearing the video and watching the scouts talk about him and seeing him that first year in Florida, and I was thinking, ‘This is a guy that has a chance, but we’ll have to wait and see how it develops.’ “He has taken advantage of the opportunity this year and has turned into a top prospect based on both what he’s doing behind the dish as well as at the plate.” ... ********** Tony Kemp, a 23-year-old fifth round pick in 2003, finally hit his way out of Class AA Corpus Christi. He was promoted to Class AAA Fresno on Thursday, leaving Corpus with a .358 average and .457 on-base percentage. He’s not a power hitter and at 5-6, 165, pounds, a utility spot is most likely in the majors. He’s played mostly second base with a tiny bit of outfield in the minors. The .358 mark at Corpus was the third-highest batting average in the minors among qualified hitters. … Akeem Bostick, the 20-year-old righty the Astros got back from the Rangers in the Carlos Corporan trade this offseason, has a 1.45 ERA, 23 strikeouts and two walks at Quad Cities. “He’s a great pitcher,” Nottingham said. “He has three good pitches, he commands the zone really well. He puts away batters when he needs to and he attacks, he’s a great pitcher. He’s a bull dog on the mound.” … Besides Jake Marisnick and besides the 37th overall draft pick that became Daz Cameron this year and besides Colin Moran, the Astros also received a minor league pitcher from the Marlins in last year’s Jarred Cosart trade, a righty Francis Martes. The 19-year-old has a 1.50 ERA with 13 strikeouts and seven walks with Quad Cities in 18 innings. … The Quad Cities team couldn’t have been happier for Derek Fisher upon his debut with High Class A Lancaster. Fisher hit three homers, two of them grand slams and finished the day with 12 RBIs on May 30. “Amazing,” Nottingham said. “We were heading up on the bus, and we were just looking on Twitter and see him have two home runs, and then about 15 minutes later it says he has another grand slam. Just sharing it with the guys, we’re all going crazy. Who hits two grand slams one in one game, you know?” Jon Singleton, making $2 million, has a .925 OPS at Class AAA Fresno and Domingo Santana a 1.007 OPS. Simply put, at some point, the Astros have to do something with these guys: bring ’em up, trade ’em. In a pennant race, it starts to feel like a bit of a waste otherwise, even with the importance of depth. Alex Presley, making $1 million at Class AA, is hitting .319 from the start of May on. … Catcher Max Stassi, 24, and regarded as a good prospect, has had a very tough season, hitting .189 entering Thursday. This is his second year at Class AAA, after hitting .247 there last season.[/rQUOTEr]
After 10 straight losses to open up the season, the DSL Astros' Orange team finally won their first of the year as they topped the Nationals 3-1.
To take Joe Musgrove's spot on the Lancaster roster, Austin Chrismon was promoted from Quad Cities. Chrismon is 4-1 with 2 saves and a 2.97 ERA in 11 appearances (7 starts) for the Banditos this season. In 48.2 innings, he's allowed 20 runs (16 earned) on 45 hits (2 homers allowed), walked 5, and struck out 31.
Why would you rather have Hoes than Grossman? Hoes has been worse than Grossman. He's Grossman without the walks.
Not sure if you're being serious. But if you are: Grossman barely walks at a higher rate, but Hoes bats 0.322 compared to Grossman's 0.215. OPS of 0.861 compared to 0.630. They're really not comparable and Grossman is just wasting space on the roster at this point.
Grossman has been the far superior player in the majors. Grossman has been the better defender. Hoes has been better this year in AAA than Grossman's 100 or so ABs in AAA. However, Grossman has always had a high BABIP in AAA and his 0.264 BABIP this season in AAA will likely be temporary. Granted, Hoes has seen a power increase this season. Both appear to be up and down players at the moment. Hopefully one of them clicks in majors while still with the Astros.
